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Laliga Stars dominate Ballon D’or shortlist once again (+Pictures)

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The 30 finalists for the individual award have been announced, 14 of which play their football in Spain’s top flight, LaLiga Santander.

France Football, the magazine behind the Ballon d’Or award for the best footballer in each calendar year, revealed their 30-man shortlist for the 2018 prize this week and nearly half of the players play their football in LaLiga Santander.

Ballon d’Or nominees

In total, 14 of the 30 are based in the top division of Spanish football, which is a record for a league under the current format. Since the Ballon d’Or award decoupled from FIFA three years ago and began announcing 30-man shortlists, LaLiga has seen 13 players nominated in 2016 and then 11 in 2017, which on both occasions made it the best-represented league.

For this year’s award, there are three other leagues with players featuring on the list. The English Premier League has 11 players on the shortlist, while France’s Ligue 1 has three and Italy’s Serie A has two – one of whom is Cristiano Ronaldo, who was playing in Spain for the first half of 2018.

Looking at the players nominated from LaLiga, Real Madrid have the greatest share with eight members of their squad having been considered amongst the best 30 players in the world for the current calendar year. Those players are Thibaut Courtois, Raphaël Varane, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Luka Modrić, Isco, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema.

Barcelona and Atlético Madrid both have three players each on the list. Ivan Rakitić, Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez represent the Blaugrana, while Jan Oblak, Diego Godín and Antoine Griezmann fly the flag for the Rojiblancos.

Ballon d’Or nominees

Each of these three clubs will feel they have a strong candidate to go on and win the prize. Barcelona’s Messi already boasts five Ballon d’Or gongs and is searching for his sixth. Atlético’s Griezmann will believe he has a good chance of improving on his third-placed finish from 2016 having picked up the World Cup, Europa League and UEFA Super Cup in 2018. Then Real Madrid’s Modrić must be considered a favourite too after recently winning FIFA’s The Best award as the top player of the 2017/18 season.

There have previously been six all-LaLiga podiums for this prize. On December 3rd, we’ll find out if there is to be a seventh.

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Robinho To Serve A 9 Year Jail Term Over Gang Rape

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Former Manchester City and Real Madrid striker Robinho will reportedly serve a nine-year jail sentence for gang rape – Imposed on him by an Italian court — in Brazil, judges in Brasilia has ruled.

The 40-year-old was found guilty in Italy in 2017 and according to Globo, Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice (BSCJ), made the ruling on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.

The former Premier League player, whose real name is Robson De Souza, was one of six men who were found guilty of a§§aulting an Albanian woman in an Italian nightclub in January 2013.

In January 2022, the Supreme Court in Rome dismissed his final appeal against the conviction, according to the report.

Robinho claims he is innocent and has been living in Brazil for the past seven years. It came after nine of the court’s 15 ministers had voted in favour of the decision to incarcerate the footballer in Brazil.

Globo also claims that the ex-footballer, who also spent time at AC Milan and Real Madrid, will now be arrested in Santos, where he currently resides.

Robinho, who was 28 and was playing for AC Milan at the time, admitted during his appeal to having ‘contact’ with the woman, but the Brazilian insisted it was consensual.

The Milan Court of Appeals found Robinho had ‘belittled’ and ‘br¥tally h¥miliated’ the victim as it upheld his original sentence in December 2020.

Intercepted phone calls between the Brazilian and those allegedly involved in the assault were used as key evidence in his initial conviction.

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Former Tennis Champion, Tania Okpala Returns To Tennis After Rehabilitation

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Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, has revealed that former tennis champion, Tania Okpala, has resumed playing on the courts.

This development follows Soludo’s assurance that she would undergo rehabilitation after a video surfaced online showing her in distress on the streets of Awka, pleading for assistance.

In an update on his social media handle on Thursday, Soludo expressed his satisfaction with Okpala’s return, stating, “Tania Okpala is back on the courts!

“A few months ago, social media was flooded with a viral video showing Ms. Tania in a distressing state on the streets of Awka. I am pleased to report that we have successfully restored Tania to her winning ways.”

Okpala, who hails from Anambra and has a Belarusian mother, represented Nigeria in the 1990s.

Here are pictures of her in the tennis court.

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AFCON: Victor Osimhen Now Cleared To Join The Other Super Eagles Ahead Of Tomorrow’s Game

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Good News has it that Victor Osimhen has finally joined the Super Eagles Nigeria team in Bouake, Ivory Coast.

He has been given the clear from the medical team on the abdominal discomfort issue. Earlier it was reported that the player could not join the rest of the team who flew to Ivory Coast ahead of Tomorrow’s football match against South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.

He’s fully fit and ready to play in the Semifinals against South Africa tomorrow.

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