Ajax condemns Super League plan, club says it is ‘very

Ajax condemns Super League plan, club says it is ‘very disappointed’

Amsterdam football club Ajax has issued a statement saying it is ‘taken aback and disappointed’ by the decision by 12 European clubs to form a breakaway Super League. Ajax had been mentioned as a possible partner in the project, which so far involves six English, three Spanish and three Italian clubs.

‘We thought we had found the solution with the so-called Swiss model, with more international fixtures for more clubs,’ Ajax chairman Edwin van der Sar, who had been closely involved in those talks, said. ‘We are very disappointed in the sudden and late turnaround that fellow directors of some top international clubs have made this weekend, with the result that a very uncertain period threatens the horizon of European football.’ European football body Uefa, football associations including the KNVB, supporters organisations and even prime ministers have criticised the Super League plans. Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has made his anger at the breakaway clear, describing it as a ‘disgraceful and self-serving proposal from clubs motivated by greed.’ One option on the table is to ban players from taking part in international competition, a move which would see captain Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong and Mathijs de Ligt out of the Dutch team. However Ceferin has admitted this is unlikely to happen before the 2020 European championships kick off. Stab in the back Former Ajax and Dutch FA chairman Michael van Praag has described the move as a ‘stab in the back‘ given the announcement was made to coincide with the publication of Uefa’s own plans. He was particularly critical of Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli, whom he described as a ‘common liar’ for telling Ceferin on Friday that he supported Uefa’s own reforms. Lawyer and competition law expert Ruben Elkerbout told RTL he is sceptical about the Super League plan. ‘It is controversial and has many similarities with cartel forming, given it is a closed competition,’ he said. ‘They have a big pot of money and they want to divide it up between them. It does not have much to do with sport.’ N.B. The whole idea has been proscribed and due punishment would be mended out to all teams who were engaged in the idea. Details next month. TV

What Francis Ngannou’s UFC triumph means for Cameroonians

Pride and joy in Cameroon after Francis Ngannou defeated Stipe Miocic to be crowned the new UFC heavyweight champion. Christel Youbi would not miss it for anything. Like many others in Cameroon, she was determined to stay up all

night and watch her countryman Francis Ngannou takes on American champion Stipe Miocic in Las Vegas for the UFC heavyweight title. The mixed martial arts (MMA) bout was a rematch of a lopsided Miocic decision victory three years ago. But this time, things were different. Ngannou, whose knockout power is seemingly unmatched (he had won the previous four fights in a combined two minutes and 42 seconds), dominated the first round. And 52 seconds into the second, Miocic was flattened on the canvas and Ngannou was on top of the world. In Batie, where Ngannou grew up, dozens of people who packed a compound to watch the fight burst into a paroxysm of euphoria as soon as the 34-year-old landed a ferocious left hook to knock Miocic out. There were similar scenes everywhere Cameroonians were watching. “Great joy,” Youbi, who hails from Batie but lives in the coastal town of Limbe, told the press. “He is like a big brother of the village and I am very happy that he maintains the image of our village and our country at such a high level.” Indeed, Ngannou’s victory means he is the first Africanborn UFC heavyweight champion, a title that has been described as belonging to the “baddest man on the planet” – welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and middleweight champ Israel Adesanya left Nigeria when they were children. The trios are all Africans making great wave in the martial art sport. It has been a long journey for the soft-spoken Ngannou who started working in a sand quarry at the age of 12, and then, in his mid-20s, embarked on a long and life-threatening journey from Cameroon to France – a trip he has described as “hell”.

Ngannou crossed the Sahara Desert and spent a year in Morocco before entering Spain through the Mediterranean Sea. Upon reaching Spain, he was detained for entering irregularly and spent two months in custody before regaining his freedom and finally making it to France. In Paris, he was homeless until he found a fitness centre to sleep and start training. In 2013, he made his professional debut and two years later he was signed by the UFC. “When the journey is longer, the reward is always more appreciated,” Ngannou said after his victory last month.

“This is just a symbol of dedication and perseverance,” he said of his championship belt. “Somebody asked me what I wanted to do with the belt. Maybe I will find a public place to put it in Cameroon for kids to look at and realise that anything is possible.” Ngannou’s humble background and charisma have won the

hearts of many in Cameroon. Former renowned footballers Roger Milla, a World Cup legend, and Rigobert Song Bahanak, known for his emblematic leadership in the Africa Cup of Nations, were among the Cameroonian celebrities who congratulated Ngannou on social media. Another big Ngannou supporter at home is Mireille Ngono, the local administrator for Batie.

“I am proud of him,” Ngono said. “Nearly everybody knows him here: they saw him when he grew up, as a bike rider, a sand shoveler – [they] knew him in Batie when he had nothing,” he added. “When he comes here, he helps the youth in paving their future. He’s down to earth because he plays football with them, and also helps the administration in community tasks.” For Njie Enow, head of sports for radio at CRTV state media, Ngannou’s triumph can help inspire children to take up combat sport in a country like football-crazed Cameroon, where basketball has also made inroads recently, thanks to the success of NBA stars such as Pascal Siakam, Joel Embiid and Luc Mbah a Moute.

“This is a sport that does not have a federation in the country. A lot of people do not pay attention to it. But I hope that Cameroonian sportsmen and women can be able to tap from the resilience that Francis Ngannou has demonstrated,” Enow said.

“It can be an opportunity for the country’s sports stakeholders to look at this sport. In Cameroon, the focus is on football, basketball and volleyball. Combat sports do not get the attention they deserve. “This is a zone where if state officials put some money, the spin-offs will be really immense,” said Enow.