If there is one thing to be said for John Obi Mikel, it is that he is no stranger to difficult circumstances. The Chelsea midfielder is presently on an extended break, resting up from his World Cup exertions with Nigeria. Upon his return, he is sure to find the furniture at Cobham has been moved around quite a bit.

The world is, to this day, in awe of the genius of Harry Houdini, a master of escapology. He contrived the most difficult bonds and fantastical contraptions, and materialised from them unfettered to widespread adulation. However, a lot of his manacles were self-made. So it is with the Super Eagles’ number 10. The difference is people pay to see football in stadiums, not escape artists.

Not that magicians and footballers are much different. However, when expected to fulfil a role that indulges sleight of body and mind, Mikel conjured up no wonder in Brazil.

There have been reports that the London-based club are eager to get him off the books, and have slashed his asking price in a bid to generate interest. A year is a long time in football, and a decade seems a lifetime ago now for the 27-year-old, whose arrival to British football was in the wake of an acrimonious battle between Chelsea and Manchester United.

Mikel has gone from being sought after to being hawked around.

It is not hard to see why, neither is it overly surprising. Mikel has made a Blues’ career out of managing escapes, wriggling out of a hole he has steadily dug himself into. Under different managers, he has defied initial predictions of doom to stay relevant, but only just. The mental and emotional wear appears to have taken a toll: Mikel looked like a man running in treacle at the World Cup, and was completely unable to get to grips with the flow of the Nigerian team.


His contribution at Chelsea has also steadily petered out, and he now finds himself pretty much at the bottom of the Chelsea midfield pecking order. Oriol Romeu is back from one of those loans the club seems to specialise in; Marco van Ginkel is very highly rated, and may have gazumped Mikel already last season had he not injured his anterior cruciate ligaments; Nemanja Matic towers above him, physically and figuratively; and Ramires offers a staple all coaches love: tireless running round the clock.

FIFA fines Argentina for Falklands banner

ZURICH (AFP) – FIFA has fined and reprimanded the Argentinian Football Association after the World Cup finalists put up a banner laying claim to the disputed Falkland Islands before a recent match.
FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee imposed a fine of 30,000 Swiss francs ($33,000) for the gesture before Argentina played Slovenia in a friendly in La Plata on June 7.
Argentine players displayed a banner proclaiming “Las Malvinas Son Argentinas (The Malvinas are Argentinian)” to the crowd before the game, which was five days before the World Cup started.
FIFA found the action in breach of regulations on “political action” at games.
The Falklands, which were at the centre of a 1982 war between Britain and Argentina after an Argentinian invasion of the South Atlantic islands, are known as Las Malvinas in Spanish.

ZURICH (AFP) – FIFA has fined and reprimanded the Argentinian Football Association after the World Cup finalists put up a banner laying claim to the disputed Falkland Islands before a recent match.
FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee imposed a fine of 30,000 Swiss francs ($33,000) for the gesture before Argentina played Slovenia in a friendly in La Plata on June 7.
Argentine players displayed a banner proclaiming “Las Malvinas Son Argentinas (The Malvinas are Argentinian)” to the crowd before the game, which was five days before the World Cup started.
FIFA found the action in breach of regulations on “political action” at games.
The Falklands, which were at the centre of a 1982 war between Britain and Argentina after an Argentinian invasion of the South Atlantic islands, are known as Las Malvinas in Spanish.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/fifa-fines-argentina-falklands-banner/#sthash.nOkEvMiq.dpuf

FG to procure 40 attack helicopters with night vision

BY KINGSLEY OMONOBI-ABUJA
Aftermathof the determination by the Jonathan administration to eliminate terrorism in the North East and smoke out insurgents from the hideouts, the federal government has ordered the procurement of 40 modern attack helicopters with capabilities for night operations and sound proof technology.

CAS, his entourage and one of the survivors (Flight Lieutenant NM Halilu) commiserating with Warrant Officer Augustine Nwanonen

Saturday Vanguard gathered that the attack helicopters which are being procured from the United states and Russia, would not only shore up the inventory of the Nigerian Airforce as a result of depletion following crashes and grounding of some of the existing helicopters due to maintenance challenges, but would also enhance the distance and reach capability of the NAF in the fight against insurgency.
It was further gathered that some of the aircraft will arrive in the country as early as next month while the remaining will be received certainly before the end of the year to boost the Nigerian Airforce.
Saturday Vanguard had reported early in the year that pilots of the Nigerian Airforce prosecuting air attacks on Boko Haram terrorists, expressed the belief that if such attack aircraft, with sound proof capabilities were made available to the NAF, the issue of smoking out Boko Haram terrorists will be a thing of the past saying that when the present ones in the fleet were approaching their targets, the noise usually gave them out.
Also, military and other security forces have expressed frustration that their inability to storm the notorious Sambisa Forest where Boko Haram militants are keeping the abducted Chibok secondary school girls and also serving as operational headquarters of the group was because noisy attack helicopters would enable the terrorists use their surface to air weaponry in the possession.
Government’s action in procuring the equipment according to sources is that security operatives are not only aware of the locations of the girls but are also closely monitoring the way the girls are being moved around but are afraid of the backlash should any harm befall the girls in the course of a forced rescue.
The result of past incidences during attempts to rescue British and Italian nationals in Sokoto and SETRACO workers which boomerang were some of the reasons cited by security forces as to why they have been reluctant in storming the forest and rescuing the girls.
Said a security source, “Oh I wish we could have a consensus of opinion from Nigerians that we should storm the forest and rescue the girls. The day Nigerians decides that enough is enough in one voice, to clear the forest will take less than one week”.