SPORTS

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP & THE INDEPENDENT |  Congolese side V Club admit it will be “very difficult” to overcome a 3-0 deficit against Raja Casablanca of Morocco Sunday when they host the CAF Confederation Cup final second leg. There have been 108 two-leg CAF club finals in four …

Buenos Aires, Argentina | AFP |  River Plate said Saturday they have refused to play the Copa Libertadores final against Boca Juniors in Madrid. The match between the Argentine arch-rivals has been moved to Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium after it was twice postponed last weekend after River Plate fans …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  Nominees for 2018 African football awards, which will be announced on January 8 in Dakar: Player of the Year Abdelmoumene Djabou (ALG, Entente Setif), Ahmed Gomaa (EGY, Al Masry), Ahmed Musa (NGR, Al Nassr/KSA), Alex Iwobi (NGR, Arsenal/ENG), Andre Onana (CMR, Ajax/NED), Anis Badri …

  Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  Liverpool trio Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita are among 34 nominees named Friday for the 2018 African Player of the Year award. Egyptian Salah won the award last year after scoring 44 goals in all competitions during his first season at …

Accra, Ghana | AFP | Cameroon was on Friday stripped of hosting the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations due to delays in preparing for the continental showpiece, organisers the Confederation of African Football announced. “Today we took the decision to withdraw the 2019 CAN from Cameroon,” CAF president Ahmad Ahmad told …

Shanghai, China | AFP | Facial recognition will be deployed at a marathon on Sunday in China to crack down on cheating, state media said, after a half-marathon was blighted by widescale flouting of the rules. Running and marathons are fast becoming popular in China, with participants sporting the latest …

Shanghai, China | AFP | Chinese national squads and a top league team have packed young footballers off to military camps for drills and Marxist-style “thought education” as a campaign to promote Communist Party values spreads even into the sporting world. Chinese fans have watched the militarisation of football with a …

Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Boxing is fighting for its Olympic future amid serious concerns over the governing body AIBA, threatening the participation of the sport at the Tokyo 2020 Games. The so-called “Sport of Kings” has a proud Olympic history and can chart its involvement back to the Ancient Games …

Asuncion, Paraguay | AFP | South American football’s governing body CONMEBOL on Thursday confirmed that the twice-postponed Copa Libertadores final second leg between Argentine rivals River Plate and Boca Juniors will be played on December 9 at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Originally scheduled for last weekend at River’s Monumental …

Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Boxing was fighting for its Olympic future Friday as top officials decide whether to punish the sport’s governing body, which is on the ropes over finances, judging and its controversial leader. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has made clear that boxing’s future at the Tokyo …