Chelsea should be further ahead in title race - Mourinho

17 minutes ago

London - Chelsea should be more than five points ahead of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League, according to a morose Jose Mourinho who reluctantly returned to speak to the media on Friday after refusing to talk last week.
Mourinho, asked why he looked so glum, told reporters: "You know why I am here, so you cannot expect me to be super-happy to be here. I am here because I have to be here."
Asked whether he refused to talk to the media last week because the FA sanctioned striker Diego Costa for stamping on Emre Can in the League Cup semi-final, Mourinho gave a typically cryptic answer.
"If you want you can make a silence very noisy," he said.
"It depends what you want to do. You could make a noise with my silence because you know the reason for my silence. If I was a journalist I could make lots of words."
Asked if he stayed away just because of the three-match ban the FA imposed on Costa, he replied: "Not just."
Asked how he reflected on the ban, he replied: "I don't reflect. Because maybe I am punished if I reflect so I don't even think about it because maybe they can read my reflection."
Mourinho also seemed unhappy that Chelsea were only five points clear of champions Manchester City after last week's 1-1 draw between the top two at Stamford Bridge.
"I feel the distance could be much bigger, because if I analyse the last five, six or seven matches, then we could, we should, have a bigger difference."
Chelsea, the league's highest scorers, travel to Aston Villa who have scored fewer goals than anyone else and none in their last six matches.
Chelsea start as the overwhelming favourites, but had Willian and Ramires sent off at Villa Park last season when they went down to a surprise 1-0 defeat.
"Some matches are impossible to win and you have to be smart enough to understand that was one of them," he said.
New signing Juan Cuadrado, the Colombian international winger who joined from Fiorentina for £23 million last month, could make his debut at Villa Park.
"We don't need him in goal and we don't need him as a central defender because he is too small," Mourinho said. "After that, he can play everywhere.
"I think he can play against Villa unless the Premier League or the FA say there are some rules to stop him."
Reuters

Equatorial Guinea fined $100 000 for unrest

17 minutes ago

Malabo - African football chiefs on Friday hit Equatorial Guinea with a $100 000 fine for unrest in a Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in which 36 fans were injured.

But the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said that despite disturbances blamed on Equatorial Guinea fans in Thursday's semi-final defeat to Ghana, supporters would be allowed into the country's third-place play off against Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday.

CAF meted out the fine to the Nations Cup hosts "for aggressive behaviour and being repeat offenders" for crowd trouble, said a confederation statement.

An order to play Saturday's third place playoff behind closed doors was suspended "to promote a spirit of Fair-play and brotherhood during the AFCON2015".

But CAF made it clear that if there was more unrest then it would "automatically impose the sanction of playing behind closed doors the Equatorial Guinean team's next official match".

Saturday's play-off is being held at the same 15 000-seater stadium in Malabo where Equatorial Guinea's supporters pelted Ghanaian fans with plastic bottles and chairs on Thursday night.

The game was halted for over half an hour with Ghana eventually winning 3-0 to set up a final on Sunday with Ivory Coast in Bata.

As the missiles rained down, the 500 visiting Ghana fans poured onto the pitch and play was halted eight minutes from time as security officials battled to regain control.

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) described the scene as a "war zone."
Local supporters became increasingly angry at an inept showing by the home team who struggled against a Ghana side ranked 81 places higher in the world.

According to CAF, "all the injured were supported and attended to on site.
"A total of 14 were transferred to hospital units for further investigations with one case requiring close monitoring."

Ghana had called on CAF to take tough action against the Nations Cup hosts over the chaos and violence in Malabo.

"Strong action must be taken by the Confederation of African Football," GFA president and CAF executive member Kwesi Nyantakyi told reporters.

"This kind of conduct is unacceptable and we have formally protested against it to the organisers," said Nyantakyi.

"It is really sad that these attacks on our supporters almost eclipsed the joy of reaching the final of the competition.

"They must be condemned in their entirety," he added.
After the match, the Ghanaian supporters were kept at the stadium for several hours while further chaos ensued outside the ground.

Equatorial Guinea supporters broke street light poles and overturned vendors' tables.
The Ghana team were escorted to Malabo airport for the short flight from the island city to Bata on the mainland.

Before CAF's sanctions were announced DR Congo coach Florent Ibenge said he did not have "the slightest fear" about playing at the Malabo stadium.

"We know things happen in football, but these incidents are tiny in relation to the number of games staged around the world.

"We don't have the slightest fear and we are going to turn up to present football in a good light and to win our match. We aren't afraid."

Ibenge said DR Congo had made "no request" for any special security measures for the players or staff.
"We're here, we are training comfortably to approach the game in the best condition tactically and psychologically to win it.

"That's the only thing that we are thinking about," said Ibenge.
AFP

INEC urges voters to bring camera to polling units

Awka - The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged voters to come to the voting centers with cameras to capture any ugly event that may unfold, reports Daily Times.

Edwin Nwatarali, the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Anambra State, said this will help forestall sharp practices by staff of the commission and politicians.

Nwatarali, who was speaking at a stakeholders meeting organized by the commission in Awka, said the commission can not act on electoral offences committed by its staff without proof.

The tapping of such sharp practices ,according him, will serve as proof that the commission can use against electoral offenders.

Read more at Daily Times.

Nigeria loses N1bn daily to rice importation

2015-02-06 15:20
Abuja - The Special Adviser to the President on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and African Peer Review Mechanism, Ambassador Fidelia Akuabata Njeze, says Nigeria loses N1billion daily to rice importation, Vanguard reports.

Njeze stated this at a one-day stakeholders forum on the establishment of the Nigeria/ECOWAS rice sector policy and regulation advocacy platform held in Abuja on Wednesday.

She also added that due to the importation of rice, Nigeria has been exporting jobs and financial resources meant for the transformation of the domestic rice sector in the country.

Read more at Vanguard

Painter arraigned for raping three-year-old

015-02-06 12:45
Lagos - A 25-year-old painter, Hamzat Afeez, was arraigned in court for allegedly raping a three-year-old girl in the Egbeda area of Lagos State, Punch reports.

He was arraigned on one count of rape at the Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate’s Court.

The suspect allegedly took the victim’s younger sister into his room while their mother washed clothes in the house.

The victim was said to have followed Afeez into his room in a bid to play with her sister and she was raped by the suspect.

Read more at Punch

Gunmen storm kill govt official in Bauchi mosque attack

2015-02-06 14:05
Bauchi - Suspected kidnappers shot dead a top government official with the Bauchi State Ministry of Local Government Affairs, Babangida Garba, Punch reports.

A police sergeant was also said to have been injured following an exchange of gunfire between security operatives and the gunmen who later escaped.

It was gathered that the gunmen stormed the mosque, at about 6am where the deceased had gone to pray at about 6am. They reportedly asked everybody in the mosque to lie on the floor and took him (Babangida) away, but angrily shot him when he refused to follow them.

The 53-year-old was a one time accountant at the Secretary to the State Government’s office. He was, until his death, the Director of Administration and Finance with the Ministry of Local Government Affairs.

Read more at Punch

7 passengers, pregnant woman dies in Onitsha auto crash

2015-02-06 14:05
Onitsha - Seven persons, including a pregnant woman, in Onitsha, Anambra State, lost their lives in an accident involving a tanker and other vehicles, Vanguard reports.

A witness account said that the accident occurred when a fuel-laden tanker, descending Awka Road, had brake failure and rammed into vehicles at Anambra Broadcasting Service, ABS/Awka Road traffic light junction.

According to the source, the driver, in a bid to avoid more destruction, crushed a blue Mitsubishi bus, fully loaded with passengers, and then hit four tricycles.

The pregnant woman was said to be standing at the bus stop, when she was crushed by the tanker. Others were mostly passengers in the four tricycles that were hit in the multiple accidents.

Read more at Vanguard