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Arteta Under Huge Pressure After Chelsea Loss On Sunday

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Arsenal and Mikel Arteta appeared to be the perfect fit but now the Spanish manager is being assailed by fans across the world, including the President of Rwanda, after the Gunners’ worst start to a league season in their 118-year history.

The 39-year-old is being targeted by increasingly disenchanted fans who have turned their ire from unpopular American owner Stan Kroenke on to him.

The boos which emanated from the home stands following Chelsea’s 2-0 win on Sunday — Arteta appeared to be the only person not to hear them, declaring afterwards “I see a lot of positives with the crowd and the team today” — could reach fever pitch by the end of this week.

Arsenal face a tough League Cup clash at in-form Championship side West Brom on Wednesday and then face Premier League champions Manchester City away on Saturday.

Kroenke at least untied the purse strings in the close season despite the Gunners facing a Europe-free campaign after finishing eighth.

Arteta has so far spent £130 million ($177 million) but an early return of no points and no goals in either of their league games has already got the fans concerned that another season of mid-table mediocrity awaits.

Their disappointment with Arteta is all the greater because of his Gunners’ pedigree, something that his predecessor fellow Spaniard Unai Emery lacked.

The former midfielder’s experience at having played under Arsenal’s legendary manager Arsene Wenger from 2011-16 and serving his managerial apprenticeship under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City marked him down as the ideal candidate.

Arsenal were keen to lure him away from City in 2018 when Wenger left but had to wait till December 2019 to secure him after Emery failed to fire up the side.

Arteta made a good start, winning the FA Cup in 2020 with victory over Chelsea at Wembley but there has been little to cheer since.

The Spaniard can point to extenuating factors for the disappointing start to this season like losing key players such as Alexandre Lacazette and £50 million signing Ben White due to coronavirus.

He bridled at the scathing assessment last week of the President of Rwanda which is an official sponsor of Arsenal — “We just must NOT excuse or Accept mediocrity,” Paul Kagama tweeted — but former players believe that is what his team are serving up.

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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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