Football

N’Golo Kante is the French Player of the Year for 2017.The Chelsea midfielder received 92 votes, pipping Paris Saint-Germain teenager Kylian Mbappe to the crown by five votes. Kante won back-to-back Premier League titles with Leicester City and then the Blues, and has proved himself to be one of the best midfield enforcers in world football.

Harry Kane's brace against Southampton on Boxing Day saw the Tottenham Hotspur forward overtake Lionel Messi of Barcelona as the top scorer across the calendar year. His double on Tuesday took his tally for the year to 55, one more than the Barcelona icon, with the trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani and Robert Lewandowski all finishing the year on 53 goals.

A jury in New York, United States of America has found two South American ex-FIFA chiefs guilty of corruption.

They are Jose Maria Marin, former head of Brazil’s Football Confederation, and Juan Angel Napout, former head of Paraguayan football.

And promptly, the once-powerful pair were remanded in custody.

The panel will return after Christmas to deliberate on the fate of a third defendant, former Peru boss Manuel Burga.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have sent a congratulatory message to former FIFA, European and African Footballer of the Year George Weah for emerging President of Liberia, Even when results of Tuesday’s election have not been announced.

Though the official announcement has not been made by the Liberian Electoral Commission, reports from not-so-credible outlets have claimed that the former Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Chelsea striker swept 13 out of the 15 counties with his 73-year-old opponent Joseph Boakai getting just two counties.

Nigeria forward Henry Onyekuru will undergo tests on his knee this weekend after getting injured in Anderlecht’s 1-0 win over his former club Eupen in a Belgian First Division A fixture on Friday night.

Onyekuru, 20, was on from the start for his 19th league game of the season but he was stretchered off in the 78th minute and replaced with Ivan Obradovic.

A reporter with Belgian outlet HNL, Kristof Terreur, tweeted on Saturday morning that Super Eagles star Onyekuru overstretched his knee during the match and had to be taken off on a stretcher.

Paul Clement And Swansea City have parted company after a difficult first half of the season which has left them bottom of the Premier League. Swansea appointed Clement in January with the club in the relegation zone after the sacking of Bob Bradley and he won the Premier League Manager of the Month award at the first time of asking.