The Emirate FA Cup Draws

The fourth round represents the last-32 stage of the
competition, and all ties are scheduled to be played
from 27-30 January.

Tottenham Hotspur v Wycombe Wanderers

Derby County v Leicester City

Oxford United v Newcastle United or Birmingham City

AFC Wimbledon or Sutton United v Leeds United

Plymouth Argyle or Liverpool v Wolverhampton
Wanderers

Southampton or Norwich City v Arsenal

Lincoln or Ipswich v Brighton

Chelsea v Brentford

Manchester United v Wigan Athletic

Millwall v Watford

Rochdale v Huddersfield Town

Burnley or Sunderland v Fleetwood Town or Bristol City

Blackburn Rovers v Barnsley or Blackpool

Fulham v Hull City

Middlesbrough v Accrington Stanley

Crystal Palace or Bolton v Manchester City

World Cup: Fifa to expand competition to 48 teams after vote

The World Cup will be expanded to host 48 teams, up
from 32, Fifa has decided.
An initial stage of 16 groups of three teams will
precede a knockout stage for the remaining 32 when
the change is made for the 2026 tournament.
The sport's world governing body voted unanimously in
favour of the change at a meeting in Zurich on
Tuesday.
The number of tournament matches will rise to 80,
from 64, but the eventual winners will still play only
seven games.
It will make a mockery of the
qualification process for most
confederations
Campaign group New Fifa Now
The tournament will be completed within 32 days - a
measure to appease powerful European clubs, who
objected to reform because of a crowded international
schedule.
The changes mark the first World Cup expansion since
1998.
New Fifa Now, a campaign group that says the
governing body needs to reform, labelled the expansion
"a money grab and power grab".
"It will dilute the competitiveness of the tournament
and, therefore, the enjoyment of fans," it said in a
statement.
"It will not help development of the game or provide
improved competitive opportunities for lower-ranked
nations. Instead, it will make a mockery of the
qualification process for most confederations."
Why expand?
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has been behind the
move, saying the World Cup has to be "more inclusive".
Speaking at a sports conference in Dubai in December,
Infantino said expansion will also benefit "the
development of football all over the world".
He added: "There is nothing bigger in terms of boosting
football in a country than participating in a World Cup."
Despite saying "the decision should not just be
financially driven", Infantino did highlight the possible
financial upsides.
According to Fifa's own research, revenue is predicted
to increase to £5.29bn for a 48-team tournament,
giving a potential profit rise of £521m.

The FIFPro World 11 is dominated by La Liga stars

Barcelona and Real Madrid dominate the 2016 FIFPro
World 11 which was announced at The Best Fifa
Awards ceremony in Zurich.
Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is the only
player included within the team who did not ply his
trade in Spain's top flight last season.
Current Juventus right-back Dani Alves is the other
current non-La Liga player, though he played the
whole of last season at Barcelona, having only joined
the Italian champions in the summer.
The rest of the defence is made up by Real skipper
Sergio Ramos, Barca and Spain centre-half Gerard
Pique and Real's Brazilian left-back Marcelo.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino and former Argentina
legend Diego Maradona are among those in
attendance
The midfield includes Real Madrid and Croatia's Luka
Modric, Spain and Barcelona's Andres Iniesta and
Modric's Madrid team-mate and Germany
international Toni Kroos.
The front three consists of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez
and Cristiano Ronaldo, with Neymar and FIFA Men's
Player Award nominee Antoine Griezmann the most
high-profile omissions.
Antoine Griezmann, a FIFA Men's Player Award
nominee, was a surprise omission from the XI
The award, which is decided by the players, is
deliberated at the end of every season.
It involves votes from more than 25,000 professional
footballers from over 75 different countries with each
selecting one goalkeeper, four defenders, three
midfielders and three forwards.
Cristiano Ronaldo is included in the XI
The 55-man shortlist was revealed at the start of
December, including 14 players from the Premier
League with Jamie Vardy, N'Golo Kante, Dimitri Payet
and Claudio Bravo among the nominees.
FIFPro World 11: Manuel Neuer, Dani Alves, Gerard
Pique, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Luka Modric, Toni
Kroos, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez,
Cristiano Ronaldo.

Claudio Ranieri was named FIFA Coach of the Year for 2016

Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri has been named
as the Coach of the Year at the FIFA Football
Awards in Zurich.
The Italian was up against Fernando Santos, who led
Portugal to Euro 2016 glory in the summer, and
Zinedine Zidane, who guided Real Madrid to the
Champions League title last season.
However, the FIFA men's coach of the year award
went to Ranieri after he led Leicester to the Premier
League title last year.
Leicester celebrate winning the Premier League
"What a fantastic evening for not only to be here with
a lot of legends but to win as well," he said on stage
at the ceremony.
"I'm crazy now! Very crazy. Thank you so much. I
want to thank my wife, my agent and of course my
players. Without them it's difficult for the manger to
win something.
Ranieri was presented with the award by Diego
Maradona
"Also, the fans. What happened last season in
England was amazing, something strange. The god of
football said Leicester must win!
"Dani Alves said he could still do more at his age -
my age is 65! I start now to make a manager."
Ranieri celebrates winning the Premier League with
his Leicester players
Leicester striker Jamie Vardy and title-winning
midfielder N'Golo Kante, now of Chelsea, had been
among the nominees for the FIFA Fifpro World11 but
no Premier League players were selected, with
Barcelona and Real Madrid dominating the final list.
The FIFA awards were introduced after the game's
governing body split with France Football magazine
and ended their association with the Ballon d'Or
award.

Cristiano Ronaldo has won the The Best FIFA Mens Player of 2016 Award

Cristiano Ronaldo has won the The Best FIFA Mens
Player of 2016 Award
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been
named the world's best player at the inaugural Best
FIFA Football Awards in Zurich.
The award comes off the back of Ronaldo winning
the 61st edition of the Ballon d'Or in December
following a stellar year which saw him achieve
Champions League and Euro 2016 success with Real
Madrid and Portugal.
Ronaldo has already won four Ballon d'Or's
Ronaldo beat Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Atletico
Madrid's Antoine Griezmann to clinch the prize on
Monday.
"Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. It's incredible. I want to
thank my team-mates of Real Madrid and the coach,"
said Ronaldo upon picking up his award.
"Thanks for everything you have done for me. I must
thank my family and my whole staff for everything
they have given me. 2016 was the best year of my
career.
Ronaldo's main rival Lionel Messi was not at the
event, nor were any of his Barca team-mates due to
team commitments
"I had a lot of doubts, but at the end of it the
trophies speak for themselves. They show I've lived
up to the expectations and I achieved the best I
could.
"This achievement is incredible. I will never forget
this year. I'm really happy."
Ronaldo had earlier been named in the FIFPro World
11, while Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri claimed
the FIFA Coach of the Year award.

West Ham in for Batshuayi

West Ham are interested in signing Chelsea forward
Michy Batshuayi on loan this month, according to Sky
sources.
The Hammers made a £31m bid to Marseille for the
forward during the summer transfer window but the
23-year-old Belgian moved to Chelsea in a £33m deal
instead.
Slaven Bilic is desperate for the club to bolster their
attacking options following failed bids for Jermaine
Defoe and Scott Hogan
However, with Batshuayi struggling for game time at
the league leaders and linked with a move away to
Swansea City, West Ham look set to enter the fray
for him once again.
Batshuayi scored 26 goals in 62 games for Marseille
in Ligue 1 over two seasons, convincing Chelsea to
splash the cash on him in July.
Batshuayi was a firm target of West Ham's in the
summer, with the Hammers willing to pay £31m to
Marseille
Since his move though, the Belgium international has
found himself firmly behind the in-form Diego Costa,
and has yet to start a league game so far this
campaign.
Chelsea are currently in talks to loan Batshuayi to
Swansea in a move which will see a swap deal with
Fernando Llorente moving to Stamford Bridge.
West Ham want to sign at least one striker this
month and have already made bids for Sunderland's
Jermain Defoe and Brentford's Scott Hogan.

Wike’s desperation resulted in several deaths in Rivers – Peterside

The Director General of Nigerian Administration and
Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside, says the
desperation of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom
Wike to become governor at all cost has “led to
loss of many lives and destruction of properties” in
the state.
Peterside said since Wike assumed power, there
has been wanton destruction of property and death
of people including security operatives across the
state.
He described Wike as an “embarrassment” to the
interest of the people of the state.
Peterside said this while reacting to the dismissal
of some police operatives by the Nigerian Police
Force over their alleged involvement in the
December rerun election in the state.
Recall that the Nigeria Police Force, had on January
6, 2016, dismissed an Inspector and five sergeants
attached to Wike for engaging in unprofessional
acts during the just concluded rerun in the state.
In a statement he personally signed, the former
governorship candidate of the All Progressives
Congress, APC, said Wike was out to give the state
a “bad name and rubbish the achievement of her
founding fathers.”
The APC Chieftain expressed deep reservations
over the “unbecoming attitude of Governor
Wike,”stressing that he has “serially compromised
security in the state and has been allegedly
involved in several electoral malpractices.”
He called on Wike to, “do some soul searching and
reconcile himself with what should truly represent
his direction and motive for governing the state. He
is virtually in the news for all the wrong reasons.”
The statement reads further, “What manner of a
man is Wike, his desperation to become governor at
all cost led to loss of many lives and destruction of
properties. Since becoming governor, it has been
bad news all the way. Many people, including
security personnel have been murdered in different
parts of the state. Now, policemen have been
dismissed from service all because of the
inordinate ambition of one man.
“How can the governor of a state force his way into
INEC collation centre and under heavy intimidation,
harassment and threat to life, force the returning
officer to declare a winner when the results of
Emohua and Etche local government areas have not
been collated.
“He clearly had no business storming the collation
centre with policemen and his thugs. He took his
immunity to a ridiculous level, thus endangering the
lives of people and career of security personnel.
“Here is a governor who cries at every given
opportunity, yet he is the one compromising every
known government institution to serve to selfish
ambition. Never have we had a governor who is so
unsure of himself and what he says.
“Not too long ago, he told Rivers people not to
participate in the probe panel set up by Inspector
General of Police, but the same governor is now
crying to Police IG to reveal those behind the killing
of two policemen during the rerun election. Same
man who vowed not to fund security agencies in
the state again is now the one saying he is ready
to support them. How do you associate Rivers
people with such a man who is not
straightforward?”