Bielsa wary of promotion promises
Soccer Roundup Online sports betting companies gamble on ‘soccer-mad’ Nigeria
LAGOS, June 25, (Agencies): Online sports betting is booming in soccer-mad Nigeria largely thanks to payment systems developed by homegrown technology firms that are starting to make online businesses more viable.
For years, mobile payments failed to take off in Nigeria as they have in countries such as Kenya, where Safaricom’s M-Pesa money transfers have fostered a culture of cashless payments.
Fear of electronic fraud and slow internet speeds have held Nigerian online consumers back but betting firms says the new, fast digital payment systems underpinning their websites are changing attitudes towards online transactions.
“We have seen significant growth in the number of payment solutions that are available. All that is definitely changing the gaming space,” said Seun Anibaba, CEO of Lagos State Lotteries Board, gaming regulator in Nigeria’s commercial capital.
Marcelo Bielsa declined to make any promises about taking Leeds United back to the big time during his first press conference as manager of the fallen English giants on Monday.
It is 14 years since Leeds, three-times the champions of England and one of the country’s leading clubs in the late 1960s and early 1970s, were last in the Premier League.
Combative midfielder Radja Nainggolan is undergoing a medical with Inter Milan ahead of a transfer from rival Roma.
The fee is expected to be 24 million euros ($28 million) with two players — veteran fullback Davide Santon and 18-year-old midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo — also heading to Roma in exchange.
At Inter, Nainggolan will reunite with former Roma coach Luciano Spalletti.
A Greek first division club on Monday said it was firing up its jersey with the country’s top revolutionary hero to give “historic value” this season.
Asteras Tripolis FC said its away jersey would carry the image of revolutionary general Theodoros Kolokotronis, one of the senior commanders in Greece’s 10-year war of liberation against the Ottoman Empire.
Tottenham Hotspur’s new 62,000-seater stadium has been “future-proofed” for safe standing, the Premier League club said on Monday.
The north London team’s announcement comes as crossparty MPs are set to debate safe standing in Parliament later on Monday to decide if English clubs should offer fans the choice to sit or stand while they watch their team play.
Australia assistant coach Mark van Bommel will be heading straight to his new job in the Netherlands as coach of PSV Eindhoven if the Socceroos exit the World Cup this week and could be taking coach Bert van Marwijk with him.
Van Bommel was appointed coach of the Dutch champions last week after Phillip Cocu departed for Fenerbahce, and has already confirmed that another member of the Australian coaching staff Jurgen Dirkx will be one of his assistants at the club.
However, also likely to tag along is Van Marwijk, who was coach of the Dutch team when they were World Cup runners-up in 2010, qualified Saudi Arabia for the tournament in Russia and then parachuted in to take charge of Australia.