SPORT - The African Mirror

Jan

25

2021

South African rugby franchise partners with Roc Nation

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO TOP South African rugby club - Sharks - have announced a new global partnership with the internationally acclaimed agency Roc Nation. The brand is a global powerhouse in entertainment management and will aim to form a unique and groundbreaking partnership with the South African rugby franchise. Roc Nation have made recent previous investments into the rugby sphere by signing notable names such as Springbok (South African National team) captain Siya Kolisi and reigning French Top 14 Player of the Year, and fellow Springbok, Cheslin Kolbe. https://twitter.com/TheSharksZA/status/1352541613508198401 “Both brands are built on a strong notion of family and entertainment,…

Sep

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Exciting special features in store for LaLiga fans as the new season kicks off

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO SPANISH LaLiga kicked off the 2021/2022 campaign celebrating a six-year growing partnership in South Africa. The 2020/2021 season brought a myriad of enthusiasm from football enthusiasts across Africa which brewed over the disrupted 2019/2020 season. Dark horse Atletico Madrid concluded the season as champions - finishing two points ahead of Real Madrid after the 9-and a- half month season. Athletico’s Madrid resilient climb to the top of LaLiga came with a winners medal for defensive midfielder Geoffrey Kongdobia, a native of the Central African Republic. Kondogbia provided a wonderful window into the immersion of talented African footballers atop the…

Sep

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Tunisia reclaim African Basketball crown

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO TUNISIA defeated Cote D'Ivoire 78-75 in the African Basketball Championship (AfroBasket) final in Kigali, Rwanda to be crowned kings of African basketball. The Carthage Eagles (Tunisia’s Senior Men’s team) defended their 2019 AfroBasket crown with glory - finishing the 2021 edition undefeated in six games. The Ivorians equalled their best AfroBasket finish at the 30th edition, since earning silver at the 2009 AfroBasket tournament in Tripoli, Libya. Tunisia's Makram Ben Romdhane was named the 2021 FIBA AfroBasket MVP. In a starring role with the champions, Ramdhoane scored 8 points in the final with a solid 10 rebounds. Cote…

Sep

07

2021

By The African Mirror

Bottas leaves Mercedes for Alfa Romeo

SPORT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER AFTER spending the past years playing second fiddle - “wingman” - to Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes driver Valterri Bottas is leaving to become the frontman at Alfa Romeo. Bottas spent five years during which he helped Hamilton win the driver’s championship and Mercedes the constructors title. He will replace the legendary Kimi Raikonnen -”The Flying Finn” - for the 2022 season. Raikonnen, whose career includes driving for Ferrari and Renault, is retiring from F1. Bottas will be replaced by George Russell, whose seat at Williams is expected to be filled by Alexandra Albon. Bottas…

Sep

05

2021

By The African Mirror

Verstappen delights home Dutch crowd

SPORT

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen absorbed the pressure from both Mercedes cars and won his first Grand Prix in front of the Dutch “Orange army ”. Verstappen took his seventh win of the season from pole, producing a magnificently controlled performance at the whirlwind Zandvoort circuit. A delightful display of fireworks and an orange haze greeted Verstappen as he crossed the line 20 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton and teammate Valterri Bottas, who finished second and third. The lead Red Bull driver now leads the Drivers' Championship standings with 224.5 points to Hamilton's 221.5 though - interestingly - Mercedes leads the constructors'…

Sep

04

2021

By The African Mirror

Chelsea FC’s Ziyech ousted from Morocco team

SPORT

Chelsea star winger Hakim Ziyech has been omitted from the Morocco national team due to ‘unacceptable behaviour’, confirmed Morocco head coach Vahid Halilhodzic. Morocco competed in a game against Ghana, a 1-0 victory in which Ziyech featured from the bench, prior to the team announcement for the World Cup qualifiers. Head coach Vahid Halilhodzic subsequently left Ziyech off the team list for the qualifiers against Sudan and Guinea. “For the first time in my coaching career, I have seen behaviour that disappoints me.” Halilhodzic said,” A player who refuses to play a game, Admittedly a friendly, on the pretext that…

Sep

05

2021

By The African Mirror

Repeat racism offenders should be kicked out of international football, says Bale

SPORT

WALES captain Gareth Bale has called for countries whose fans are repeat racism offenders to be banned from international football after reported abuse towards England's Raheem Sterling and Jude Bellingham against Hungary in Budapest on Thursday. Speaking ahead of his side's World Cup qualifier against Belarus on Sunday, the Real Madrid winger questioned the long investigations that habitually follow such incidents and demanded more immediate action. "I don't know the severity of what to do to but the easiest thing is ... whether you ban the fans from the stadium or if they keep repeatedly doing it, which seems to…

Sep

01

2021

By The African Mirror

SHOCK: Uganda dump Nigeria out of AfroBasket

SPORT

UGANDA ended Nigeria's attempt at claiming the 2021 African Basketball Championship (AfroBasket) crown with a surprising 80-62 win at the Kigali Arena, Rwanda. On the back of a disappointing run at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where D'Tigers - Nigeria's Senior Men's Basketball team - finished 10th, a different team was fielded in an attempt to claim the African basketball throne. Coach Mike Brown led the Nigerian warriors to wins against Mali and Kenya in the group stage where D'Tigers looked in fine form - replicating that of their undefeated string of qualifying games. Uganda picked the pace up in every…

Feb

02

2021

By The African Mirror

Road to basketball Olympic gold

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO THE stage is set for the ultimate battle of the hoop to see who will qualify to challenge the highest prize in world basketball - Olympic gold - in 2021. The draw for the 2021 Men’s olympic tournament took place today and has affirmed spectators' assumptions that there will be no shortage of entertainment for international basketball fans at this year’s Olympics. Nigeria, one of Africa’s top teams, will face off against Australia, and the winners of the Olympic Qualifying tournaments (OQT) held in Lithuania and Serbia. Belgrade in Serbia will play host to Senegal, New Zealand, Puerto…

Feb

03

2021

By The African Mirror

Olympics-Undaunted by pandemic, S.Sudan athletes in Japan fix eyes on the prize

SPORT

KIYOSHI TAKENAKA AFTER the coronavirus forced a delay in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, athletes from South Sudan who are training in Japan seized the opportunity for more practice, which they have vowed to keep up, despite mounting uncertainty over this year's event. Four track athletes and a coach from South Sudan, the world's youngest country, and one of its poorest, arrived in November 2019 in Maebashi, a city 100 km (62 miles) northwest of Tokyo, to exploit Japan's better training conditions. Forced to extend their stay after the summer games were postponed by a year, they find infections are still…