Kevin-Prince Boateng has accused the Ghana Football Association of breaking promises it made to persuade him to return to international football.
Kevin-Prince Boateng has hit back at the Ghana Football Association after being sent home early from the World Cup, describing the Black Stars’ organisation during the tournament in Brazil as “amateurish”.
The Schalke midfielder and team-mate Sulley Muntari were expelled from the Ghana squad on the day of their final match against Portugal after Boateng was accused of making “vulgar verbal insults” towards coach James Appiah. Muntari was also accused of an “unprovoked physical attack” on a member of the Ghana FA, with both players asked to leave the camp before the 2-1 defeat to Portugal in Brasília which consigned them to bottom spot in Group G.
Boateng – who only returned to the Black Stars’ set-up last year having retired from international football after the last World Cup – is now back at his home in Germany. In an interview with newspaper Bild published on Sunday, he accuses the GFA of having failed to live up to promises it made to him before the tournament.
“Everything – the hotels, the flights – everything was amateurish,” he said.
“The GFA president visited me in Milan begging me to play for Ghana again. He gave me his word that we would have better travel, better organisation and preparation. He has not kept his word. In the end I was just still dissatisfied.
“It was a nightmare from the first day of the preparation to the end,” Boateng added. “We flew to the first training camp from Amsterdam to Miami. However, we travelled in two groups, since there was no space. One group flew through Atlanta, the other New York. We sat for around nine hours at the airport - a total of 19 hours on the road.
“The flight from Miami to Brazil a week later took 12 hours and we sat and concentrated in economy class. The legs ached. It sounds strange for an average citizen, but for a competitive athlete that is a disgrace. The Ghana FA president sat in business class with his wife and two children. And then in Brazil, we finally had a charter flight but my luggage was lost. Two days without football boots – it was a disaster.”
Appiah was the first homegrown coach to lead Ghana to a World Cup. But asked his opinion on whether he had a clue about tactics, Boateng gave a less than ringing endorsement. “No. But I have respect for him [as a] person,” he said. “I have always behaved positively. But if someone asks me about him, whether he is a good coach, I’d say no.”
Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama spoke with captain Asamoah Gyan on the telephone to resolve a dispute over player bonuses ahead of the Portugal match, with $3m in cash flown to Brazil on a private jet. However, Boateng claimed that was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of issues that dogged the squad.
He said: “That was the smallest problem. Everything had accumulated over a month. It was pure disaster. Poor training conditions and sleep options, I just wonder where all the money was flowing too.
“The association get so much money from sponsors and Fifa - it was certainly not used for hotels, flights, the team and the preparation.”
Boateng also insisted that there was a lack of team spirit among the squad in direct contrast to the last World Cup in South Africa, when Ghana came within a missed penalty of becoming the first African nation to reach the semi-final.
“We were not a real team. Everyone was busy with themselves,” he said.
“There were two or three players who were just glad Sulley Muntari and I were suspended. They said it to my face. We all know that I have never insulted the coach. Nevertheless, they have turned the manager against Sulley and me. I am very calm and relaxed, because I definitely know that I did no such thing.
“I have represented my opinion. There was no player who was happy. We had 100 meetings with the delegation. We told them that we need tens of change things. because of this I am an easy victim.”
"It is very clear that the founder of Boko Haram, the person that actually founded Boko Haram when he was in office...and I won't mention his name on Television but everybody knows who it is, is from Borno state. He is alive and well. He is a key member of the opposition. Again I look at the utterances of the official spokesman of the opposition last year, that is Lai Mohammed, where he protested at the fact that Boko Haram was proscribed by the federal government where he said it was unconstitutional for the federal government to do so. He needs to explain why it is he would want to protect and support an organization that has killed almost 15,000 Nigerians as at that time and is against the fact that they were being proscribed to protect Nigerians.
"If you compare what’s happening in Nigeria to what happened in Ireland some years ago, you had Sinn Fein on the one hand and then you had the IRA on the other. The IRA was the armed wing of Sinn Fein and as far as I’m concerned, Boko Haram could well be described as the armed wing of the opposition, today.”
So the Fountain of Life church, owned by Pastor Taiwo Odukoya unveiled a bran new auditorium on Sunday, 29th June, 2014.
Ministering was the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor E.A Adeboye.
In attendance was also several dignitaries such as Bishop David Oyedepo, Governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Fashola and his wife, Abimbola Fashola.
Pistorius' trial resumed after a break of one month during which a psychologist and three psychiatrists also assessed whether the double-amputee runner was capable of understanding the wrongfulness of his act when he shot Steenkamp through a closed toilet door.
The panel's reports were submitted to Judge Thokozile Masipa, and prosecutor Gerrie Nel referred to key parts of the conclusions, noting
that the experts believed Pistorius was 'capable of appreciating the wrongfulness of his act' when he killed Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model.
The evaluation came after a psychiatrist, Dr. Merryll Vorster, testified for the defence that
Pistorius, who has said he feels vulnerable because of his disability and long-held worry about crime, had an anxiety disorder that could
have contributed to the killing in the early hours of February 14.
He testified that he opened fire after mistakenly thinking there was a dangerous intruder in the toilet.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel has alleged that Pistorius, 27, killed Steenkamp after a Valentine's Day argument, and has portrayed the Olympic athlete as a hothead with a love of guns and an inflated sense of entitlement.
But he requested an independent inquiry into Pistorius' state of mind, based on concern the defence would argue Pistorius was not guilty because of mental illness.
Pistorius faces 25 years to life in prison if found guilty of premeditated murder, and could also face years in prison if convicted of murder without premeditation or negligent killing.
He is free on bail.
Pistorius was evaluated as an outpatient at Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital in Pretoria, the
South African capital. He has been staying at the upscale home of his uncle.
Kamilu, a theatre practitioner was found dead by the roadside after paying a visit to Pastor Abimbola – his eyes and tongue were removed.
According to Punch, Kamilu who had several lacerations on his body after been found dead, had told his wife on Tuesday morning that he
was going to see his Pastor friend, because they had a very urgent meeting at an undisclosed place.
When he however failed to return home by evening as he had promised, his wife, Adijat, raised the alarm. She called the Pastor, only to be told that he was out of
town.
In her statement to the police, she said "At about 10am when he left the house on Tuesday, Abimbola called him on phone, and my husband
replied that he was already about leaving. He promised to come back at about 6pm.
"By 3pm that same day, I called him on phone again. He still answered me and I heard the voices of about four persons laughing in the background. He made me to know that he was still at the pastor's place.
"Then in the evening, when he did not return as he promised, I called his phone at about 10pm, but his line was switched off. The following morning, at about 6am, two men came to our house to call me that they saw my husband at the junction. Even before leaving the house, I called the pastor's number, and he said he would be with us in 30 minutes time, but he did not show up. Later, after I had seen Kamilu's body, and we had rushed him to the hospital, we called him again and he said he had travelled."
The following day, the pastor was arrested by policemen from the Ayinla Police Division.
Fuelling suspicions, when Abimbola was being interrogated at the police command headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta, he was said to have given contradictory answers to the police.
When a search party was sent to his home, some fetish things including black calabashes were allegedly discovered in his compound.
Confirming the incident, the Ogun State Police Command spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, said
the suspect was still with the police, adding that investigations
are ongoing.
Didier Deschamps' side, who lifted the World Cup on home soil back in 1998, impressed as they topped Group E with comprehensive and goal-laden victories over Honduras and Switzerland before drawing 0-0 with Ecuador.
Nigeria, meanwhile, finished second in Group F behind Argentina and are targeting their first-ever World Cup quarter-final berth in their first knockout match since 1998.
Deschamps made a number of changes for the Ecuador clash and is expected to recall some key players, with Yohan Cabaye set to return from suspension in place of Morgan Schneiderlin.
Defender Mamadou Sakho is a doubt due to the thigh injury which forced him off in the 61st minute of their final group game, meaning
Laurent Koscielny and Raphael Varane could start in central defence.
Moussa Sissoko could start ahead of Paul Pogba, Mathieu Valbuena is set to return after being rested, while Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann are battling to start up
front alongside Golden Boot hopeful Karim Benzema.
Arsenal defender Koscielny is keen to play down France's hopes of global glory in Brazil, particularly as Deschamps' side had to overturn a 2-0 first leg play-off defeat against Ukraine just to qualify.
He said: "The first objective was to get through the group phase. Now it's to go as far as possible.
"We are competitors and we are ambitious, but we know that we have opponents against us and that we might lose.
"We're aware of our qualities. Something changed after the Ukraine game, but anything is possible in a knockout match and for the moment we're only focusing on the last 16."
Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi will hope to have Chelsea's Victor Moses available again after he returned to training with the squad on Saturday following the muscle complaint that
kept him out of the 3-2 defeat by Argentina.
Keshi's only confirmed absentee is winger Michael Babatunde, who sustained a fractured wrist after being struck by Ogenyi Onazi's shot in their final Group E fixture.
Nigeria captain Joseph Yobo will earn his 101st cap when he leads his side out against France, and having just faced Argentina ace Lionel Messi, he claims that they will not fear Monday's opponents.
He told fifa.com: "We won the Africa Cup of Nations, booked our place in the World Cup without any trouble and now we've qualified for
the second round. It's not often that I've experienced so many pieces of good news in a row.
"That shows you we're improving. This team is young, but it's growing fast and learning quickly.
We're taking confidence from our campaign so that it can help us in our next match.
"We've just played against the best forward in the world, so we're ready to measure ourselves against anybody.
"I don't see what we should be afraid of. I believe in this team, and I think we can do it."
I have had to remain quiet about the continuing efforts by Nigeria's military, police and investigators to find the girls kidnapped in April from the town of Chibok by the terrorist group Boko Haram. I am deeply concerned, however, that my silence as we work to accomplish the task at hand is being misused by partisan critics to suggest inaction or even weakness.
My silence has been necessary to avoid compromising the details of our investigation. But let me state this unequivocally: My government and our security and intelligence services have spared no resources, have not stopped and will not stop until the girls are returned home and the thugs who took them are brought to justice. On my orders, our forces have aggressively sought these killers in the forests of northern Borno state, where they are based. They are fully committed to defending the integrity of their country.
My heart aches for the missing children and their families. I am a parent myself, and I know how awfully this must hurt. Nothing is more important to me than finding and rescuing our girls.
Since 2010, thousands of people have been killed, injured, abducted or forced by Boko Haram, which seeks to overwhelm the country and impose its ideology on all Nigerians. My government is determined to make that impossible. We will not succumb to the will of terrorists.
The abduction of our children cannot be seen as an isolated event. Terrorism knows no borders. This month, Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Britain and the United States established an External Intelligence Response Unit to share security information on such threats in West Africa. I propose that we build on this step to establish an enduring, worldwide commitment to destroying terrorism and those who finance or give safe haven to the terrorists.
In September, I will urge the U.N. General Assembly to establish a U.N.-coordinated system for sharing intelligence and, if necessary, special forces and law enforcement to confront terrorism wherever it occurs.
In Nigeria, there are political, religious and ethnic cleavages to overcome if we are to defeat Boko Haram. We need greater understanding and outreach between Muslims and Christians. We also know that, as it seeks to recruit the gullible, Boko Haram exploits the economic disparities that remain a problem in our country. We are addressing these challenges through such steps as bringing stakeholders together and creating a safe schools initiative, a victims' support fund and a presidential economic recovery program for northeastern Nigeria. We are also committed to ridding our country of corruption and safeguarding human and civil rights and the rule of law.
Something positive can come out of the situation in Nigeria: most important, the return of the Chibok girls, but also new international cooperation to deny havens to terrorists and destroy their organizations wherever they are — whether in the forests of Nigeria, on the streets of New York or sanctuaries in Iraq or Pakistan. Those who value humanity , civilization and the innocence of children can do no less.
However, the international media organisation is less than impressed with President Jonathan's editorial as they reply.
Below is the scathing New York Post editorial read by millions of New Yorkers, and other Americans, in the last 36 hours.
"When in April the Islamist group Boko Haram abducted nearly 300 girls from their school in northeast Nigeria, it commanded global attention and sparked a #BringBackOurGirls movement.
"But the girls are still missing. The campaign seems to have moved from hashtag demands to 'newspaper column diplomacy.' On Friday, The Washington Post carried an op-ed by no less than the president of Nigeria himself, Goodluck Jonathan.
"In it he wrote, "Something positive can come out of [this situation] in Nigeria." He says, "Most important, the return of the Chibok girls, but also new international cooperation to deny havens to terrorists and destroy their organizations."
"And he says he's going to ask the UN General Assembly to establish and coordinate a system to share intelligence, etc.
"Remember, this is the same leader whose military initially claimed it had freed the girls, whose wife's anger was directed at Nigerians
protesting the government's inaction, rather than the kidnappers, and who presides over
Africa's largest economy and fourth-largest armed forces.
"Meanwhile, this week Boko Haram kidnapped another 90 Nigerian children and set off a massive bomb in the heart of the nation's capital.
"Apparently the government's secret plan to get the girls back — which President Jonathan says he has to "remain quiet about"
— isn't much impressing them.
Nor is the New York Post impressed with President Jonathan's contract with Levick, or
first salvo in rehabilitating his international image. At press time, the Chibok students from Borno and now, an additional 90 women, remain missing in spite of the Washington
Post editorial that appeared in Thursday's newspaper.
Michael Schneider, 45, left 37-year-old Carsten Schmidt's severed head cooking on the stove at his apartment in Berlin, in what police described as a 'horror show'.
After the sordid incident, remains of the victim's body were also found strewn around Schneider's home, wrapped in baking foil and
paper.
Now Schneider has now been jailed for less than four years, after being found guilty of bodily harm resulting in death.
A police official, who said the men knew one another, said: 'It was a horror show. The body parts had been sawed, hacked and sliced.
'He put them all over the apartment as if saving them up for a rainy day.
'But only the head was cooked, bobbing in a stewpot on top of the cooker.'
During the hearing at the Berlin Regional Court, the court heard how the victim had invited Schneider to his apartment in Marienfelde, south Berlin, for sex in January 2012.
In court, the defence claimed Schmidt asked the defendant to tie him to the bed and cover his mouth and nose with tape.
The victim then died of suffocation, the court was told. It was then that Schneider cut up Schmidt's corpse.
Schmidt, who was openly gay, was due to go on to a party that evening with his friend. When he did not show up, the friend alerted police.
'The body parts had been sawed, hacked and sliced. He put them all over the apartment as if saving them up for a rainy day'
When it became clear Schneider was a suspect, the defendant slashed his wrists with a knife, but was saved by paramedica.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that the defendant should have been sentenced to six years and nine months for manslaughter.
But his defence team called for their client to be found guilty of bodily harm resulting in death
rather than manslaughter.
They successfully argued that the victim had wanted to die and that the accused was used simply as 'a tool in that process'.
In the court judgement it reportedly said: 'He is responsible for the death but he didn't want to
kill his sexual partner.'
Cannibalism as a sexual fantasy is widespread in Germany. It first hit the headlines in 2001 when Armin Meiwes killed, butchered and ate a
computer technician called Bernd Brandes at his remote farmhouse home in Rotenburg near Kassel.
At his trial, several men who harboured fantasies of eating human flesh testified that there was a large network of like-minded
individuals who connected through cyberspace in a bid to satisfy their fantasies.
Covenant University had their convocation ceremony recently, and 19 year old Miss Osas Jessica Uwoghiren from the Department of Engineering has just graduated with a first class from Covenant University.. She is the best graduating student.