Mikel Obi scores his first Premier League goal.

Nigerian midfielder John Mikel Obi scored his first Premier League goal today as his club Chelsea beat Fulham 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. His first goal in 7 years and 185 premier league games. Cool!

₦5.4bn broadcast deal for Nigerian league

The League Management Company and SuperSport have agreed a four-year broadcast sponsorship deal with a cumulative worth of $34m (about ₦5.4b) for the Nigeria Professional Football League.

The deal, which was announced at a joint press briefing in Abuja, will commence from the 2015 season, though it was learnt that the deal had been structured to take care of developmental imperatives of the league beginning from this season.

This latest development brings to an end several crisis involving the LMC and Total Promotions over broadcast rights of the Nigerian league.

Chelsea Win Europa League With Dying Minute Goal

Chelsea have won the Uefa Europa League final against Benfica with an injury-time goal.

Branislav Ivanovic scored in the 93rd minute to secure the 2-1 victory against the Portuguese side in the Amsterdam Arena.

Spanish striker Fernando Torres had previously given the London team the lead, before Oscar Cardozo equalised from a penalty.

The win represents a triumph for interim Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez, who has faced concerted hostility from the club’s fans since his appointment in November.

Benitez will be leaving on a high note after securing Champions league spot for the Blues and winning a second European title in as many years for Chelsea. He is set to leave at the end of the season, and his widely expected replacement is former Chelsea boss, Jose Mourinho.

Europa League Preview

Chelsea Vs Rubin Kazan

Tottenham Vs Basel

Newcastle Vs Benfica

Fernabache Vs Lazio

Chelsea take on Rubin Kazan in the first leg of the Europa league quater finals at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea’s manager Rafa Benitez has vowed not to take the Russian side for granted. Rubin Kazan has conceeded just one goal since 2013 and are no push overs.
Chelsea however have some heavy fixture pile up as this match will be their third in six days. Due to this jam packed fixtures, the European champions will look to rotate their squad and avoid fatigue but Chelsea are in high spirits as they overcame rivals Manchester united in the FA cup quater finals after beating them 1-0 on monday. The team will hope to get a good result with the home advantage as they strive to finish the season with a silver ware.

Nigeria league waits on N200m bail out

Doubts surround the March 9 start of the Nigeria league as it has yet to receive a 200 million Naira (about $1.3m) government bail out.

A top official told MTNFootball.com: “We are yet to receive the grant government promised us to get the league off the ground and as a result we may not start the league on the day advertised.”
The league needs cash to pay for referees’ indemnities and other logistical considerations.
Chariman of an interim committee to run the league, Nduka Irabor, announced earlier this month that they have been promised a grant by government to get the new season going as sponsorship wranglings have persisted despite assurances these have been resolved.

Champions League – Drogba to join Sneijder at Galatasaray

Didier Drogba has agreed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Galatasaray, according to reports on Turkish television.

LigTV, the official broadcaster of the Turkish league, announced the deal just before the Galatasaray-Besiktas derby.

Reports say that Drogba will pocket a salary of 6 million euros for the 18 months of his deal as well as a signing on bonus of 4 million.

The former Chelsea striker will also get a bonus of 25,000 euros for each game he plays, up to a maximum of 500,000 euros a year, meaning he could earn 11m (£9.63m) euros over the 18 months.

Nigerian Premier League Suspended Indefinitely

The Nigeria Football Federation had on Wednesday asked the Premier League to put on hold the congress that could have started this weekend in Kano. The League management, following instructions, postponed the 7th Annual Congress indefinitely. The Executive Secretary of the league’s management board, Tunji Babalola, in a statement explained that the postponement was in compliance with the directive from the Nigeria Football Federation, the nation’s apex football ruling body.

“Following the directive of the Nigeria Football Federation to suspend all Pre-season activities, I have the instruction to inform all the clubs and other stakeholders that the Congress earlier scheduled to hold on the 17th of November, 2012 has been put on hold till further notice,”

Mr. Babalola wrote in the memo. He added that the new date for the Congress will be communicated to the clubs and other stakeholders.

Meanwhile, clubs that are yet to submit their registration materials for the 2012/2013 league season to the Premier League secretariat in Abuja for processing have been strongly advised to do so without further delay.