Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio Congratulates Leone Stars: Urges Sierra Leoneans to Dream Big

President Julius Maada Bio has congratulated Leone Stars on their 1-0 victory over Benin in the crucial Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Conakry, Guinea, urging the nation, from his balcony at State House, to draw inspiration from the win to think big.

Striker Kei Kamara, who had always wished for this feat before his retirement, scored the first-half penalty in the nineteenth minute to secure a place for the national team at the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 1996.

“We will continue to strive for higher height, no more small dreams. When I promise, I deliver. I promised that I will take Leone Stars again to the continental stage. This did not come to me as a surprise at all. I believe the boys and I have inspired them enough in the same way I have always wanted to inspire this nation.

“We are a football-loving nation, and I am incredibly happy about this. Just as we trust and believe in ourselves, even out of the football field we can also take this nation to the international level,” he said in a short video released after the match.

“Congratulations to Sierra Leone. We are a football-loving nation, and today, our boys have made history. My government is committed to promoting football and other sports disciplines,” president Bio wrote on Twitter.

Football observers have said that the period 1993 to 1996 can be considered a golden era for Sierra Leone football, arguing that no other Leone Stars team had before or afterward achieved the series of results of that period.

Then as Deputy Chairman of the National Provisional Ruling Council, Julius Maada Bio is credited for inspiring the Leone Stars’ squad of that era to win the Amilcar Cabral trophy twice and to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations twice.

FIFA, CAF Presidents meet with Sierra Leone President: talk infrastructural development

Sierra Leone’s Minister of Sport, Ibrahim Nyelenkeh, welcomed the delegation from the football world governing bodies, saying that it was history in the making that the country was hosting the sitting presidents of FIFA and CAF for the first time.

“I am not surprised. You must have heard about government’s assiduous strides and relentless efforts at developing and supporting football from the grassroots to the national level,” he noted, adding that the present government had supported sport, particularly football, more than all others in the history of Sierra Leone.

While introducing the visitors, the President of Sierra Leone Football Association, SLFA, Isha Johansen, said that their visit was as timely and historic as it was meaningful to the country. She thanked them for choosing Sierra Leone as one of their three Africa nation tours, the others being cote d’ivoire and Liberia.

FIFA’s President Infantino told the gathering that it was an honour and a pleasure to be in Sierra Leone, saying that they were very committed to helping and supporting Africa shine in the world.

“We know how important football is in Africa. Football is talent, football is passion in Africa. In Sierra Leone, in particular, football is not just a game, football is life. I think the time has come where we have to move forward and look into the future.

“FIFA and CAF stand for due process, for integrity, for democracy and to make sure that we can once again put aside all negativities that have tarnished the image of football in the country in the last few years. Let us move to promote a positive and united approach because we need unity in this country,” he urged.

The Swiss and Italian national, who has been president at FIFA since 26 February 2016, also called on all stakeholders to work together to make football very attractive and a way of life. He said everyone needed to work together for the development of the country, particularly in Sierra Leone where football was much more important.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino

CAF’s President Motsepe first thanked President Bio for his honesty, integrity and brotherly exchange of ideas, before calling on all to work together and with him in the best interest of football and a beautiful country.

He confessed that the President represented a new breed of leadership not just for Sierra Leone but for Africa, adding that the country had also produced exceptional football players and expressed hope that it would continue to produce great players. He pledged CAF and FIFA’s commitment to supporting Sierra Leone with the requisite infrastructure to host the African Cup of Nations in the not-too-distant future.

In a brief statement, President Bio welcomed the Presidents of FIFA and CAF to his beautiful country, noting that football remained a fashion that the people of his country loved and cherished.

“It is one of the uniting forces in Sierra Leone. We are very polarised when it comes to politics, but when it comes to football you can see the passion, you can see the joy. It is a different Sierra Leone, especially with football,” he assured.

He also stated that normally when passion clashed, there were always bits of challenges, but emphasised that the country looked forward to an SLFA leadership that would move the country as a nation. He advised that the people should not be deprived of the game that every Sierra Leonean loved.

President Bio further stated that besides the politics of football and the few challenges with regard to infrastructure, the people of his country were friendly and good. He called on the leadership of the two world football governing bodies to invest in the infrastructure of the game in the country. “On behalf of the government and people of Sierra Leone, I want to thank you and would like you to come again. Thank you for coming and you are welcome to Sierra Leone,” he concluded

African Union and FIFA commit to build on positive results and to accelerate collaboration

Two years to the day of signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the two organisations, African Union (AU) Chairperson Félix Tshisekedi and FIFA President Gianni Infantino (www.FIFA.com) have discussed an action plan that will accelerate several aspects of the agreement aimed at contributing for the benefit of African society, and, in particular, younger generations.

“I was delighted to speak with AU Chairperson who is a passionate football fan, and as FIFA and the AU have been working together for some time now, I am sure that under Félix Tshisekedi’s leadership our organisations will find ways to reinforce our joint efforts in many areas such as our ‘Football for Schools’ education project, the fight against match manipulation and any form of corruption, as well as safety and security at football matches across the continent,” the FIFA President said.

 “We are encouraged by FIFA’s willingness to engage with Africa, and to use football as a force for good across the continent, and by working as close partners with the AU to ensure that we are playing our part in the continued development of the sport across the African continent,” the AU Chairperson and President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo said.

Speaking by videoconference prior to the FIFA Club World Cup final, the two leaders discussed a range of initiatives from the role that football through education can play in developing life skills for children, be that respecting rules and showing respect to match officials, or by encouraging teamwork and cooperation in order to succeed. It was agreed that both AU and FIFA shared a mutual vision for education through football, and further discussions to identify opportunities are now being planned for a face-to-face meeting between both leaders in Kinshasa in the near future. 

The call provided the FIFA President with the opportunity to follow-up on previous discussions with H.E. Félix Tshisekedi’s predecessor, H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa, and to assure the new AU Chairperson that FIFA and football remain totally committed to maintaining the close cooperation and teamwork that has been built up between both organisations in the past two years.  

The FIFA President also outlined the FIFA COVID-19 Relief Plan, while also stressing the important investment made to support the 54 African member associations through FIFA Forward, which has already delivered close to 300 projects across the continent since Gianni Infantino’s first election in 2016.

VERIZON helping 1M small businesses and $10M commitment

Super Bowl LV: Kansas City Chiefs 9-31 Tampa Bay Buccaneers  Photo credit: http://www.arrowheadpride.com

As small business owners across the country continue to face uncertainty amid the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Verizon announces a number of initiatives to support their recovery and aid in their survival through the pandemic and beyond.

As the company brings communities across the country together for The Big Concert for Small Business, the ultimate Super Bowl LV after-party supporting small business, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers emerged Super Bowl LV champions!

The company commits $10 million to provide grants to small businesses through LISC, a national nonprofit that invests in affordable housing, economic development, health, education and jobs nationwide, and will launch a customized multi-week training program for small business owners and entrepreneurs, offering tools, technology and resources. These initiatives are part of Citizen Verizon, the company’s responsible business plan for economic, social and environmental advancement.

“For small business owners today, we know that opening a digital front door is as important as a physical one,” said Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business. “This multi-year effort underscores the role financial assistance, technology and training will play in rebuilding small businesses for both short-term and long-term economic recovery.”

To kick off the program, Verizon is producing The Big Concert for Small Business, the ultimate after-party for Super Bowl LV on Sunday, February 7 at 11:00 p.m. ET. Hosted by Tiffany Haddish and featuring performances by Alicia Keys, Brandi Carlile, Brittany Howard, Christina Aguilera, Eric Church, H.E.R., Jazmine Sullivan, Luke Bryan and Miley Cyrus, the concert will be livestreamed on Yahoo, Fios, @Verizon on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok, and broadcasted on BET, CBS Sports Network, CMT, MTV2 and MTV Live, as well as aired on iHeart and Sirius. The event is curated and produced by Roc Nation.

“Small businesses are so important and we need to do whatever we can to keep them alive; our communities can’t recover without them,” said Alicia Keys. “I’m excited to be partnering with Verizon and the rest of these amazing artists to not only be able to take the stage and bring that good music and light but to do it for such a meaningful cause.”

“When we launched Pay It Forward Live, the weekly entertainment series that supported small businesses last March, we had no idea the need for help would still be so critical almost a year later,” said Diego Scotti, CMO, Verizon. “We made magic happen by collaborating with the entertainment industry and mobilizing the public, impacting thousands of businesses. We’re doing it again, in an even bigger way, with the Big Concert for Small Business, bringing people together after Super Bowl LV to help the small businesses that are the heart of the American economy.”

Blood-based biomarker can detect, predict severity of traumatic brain injury

A study from the National Institutes of Health confirms that neurofilament light chain as a blood biomarker can detect brain injury and predict recovery in multiple groups, including professional hockey players with acute or chronic concussions and clinic-based patients with mild, moderate, or severe traumatic brain injury. The research was conducted by scientists at the NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, and published in the July 8, 2020(link is external), online issue of Neurology.

Neurofilament Light Chain on the Neuron Credit: Pashtun Shahim, M.D., Ph.DNIH Clinical Center

After a traumatic brain injury, neurofilament light chain breaks away from neurons in the brain and collects in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The scientists confirmed that neurofilament light chain also collects in the blood in levels that correlate closely with the levels in the CSF. They demonstrated that neurofilament light chain in the blood can detect brain injury and predict recovery across all stages of traumatic brain injury.

“Currently, there are no validated blood-based biomarkers to provide an objective diagnosis of mild traumatic brain injury or to predict recovery,” said Leighton Chan, M.D., M.P.H., chief of the Rehabilitation Medicine Department at the NIH Clinical Center. “Our study reinforces the need and a way forward for a non-invasive test of neurofilament light chain to aid in the diagnosis of patients and athletes whose brain injuries are often unrecognized, undiagnosed or underreported. “

The study examined multiple groups including professional hockey players in Sweden with sports-related concussions, hockey players without concussions, hockey players with persistent post-concussion symptoms, non-athlete controls, and clinic-based patients at the NIH Clinical Center who were healthy or with acute, subacute, and chronic mild traumatic brain injuries. The study showed that neurofilament light chain in the blood:

• Correlated closely with CSF neurofilament light chain in hockey players with concussions and non-athlete healthy controls, suggesting that blood neurofilament light chain could be used instead of CSF neurofilament light chain.

• Demonstrated strong diagnostic ability for sports-related concussions, where it could identify hockey players with concussions from hockey players without concussions and could identify clinic-based patients with mild, moderate, and severe traumatic brain injuries from each other and controls. This is significant as there is an unmet need for an easy and accessible blood biomarker to determine at the time of injury or in the chronic phase if a person has a concussion or signs of a traumatic brain injury.
• Could distinguish with high accuracy hockey players who could return to play after 10 days from those who developed persistent post-concussion symptoms and eventually retired from the game. In the clinic-based cohort, patients with worse functional outcomes had higher blood neurofilament light chain levels. This is significant as there is an unmet need for a blood biomarker that can help clinicians to determine when athletes can safely return to play or when patients can return to work or resume daily activities.

In the clinic-based patients, the levels of blood neurofilament light chain at five years after a single mild, moderate, or severe traumatic brain injury were significantly increased compared to healthy controls. This suggests that even a single mild traumatic brain injury (without visible signs of structural damage on a standard clinical MRI) may cause long-term brain injury, and serum neurofilament light could be a sensitive biomarker to detect even that far out from initial injury.

“This study is the first to do a detailed assessment of serum neurofilament light chain and advanced brain imaging in multiple cohorts, brain injury severities, and time points after injury,” said the study’s lead author, Pashtun Shahim, M.D., Ph.D., NIH Clinical Center. “Our results suggest that serum neurofilament light chain may provide a valuable compliment to imaging by detecting underlying neuronal damage which may be responsible for the long-term symptoms experienced by a significant number of athletes with acute concussions, and patients with more severe brain injuries.”

The study was funded by the Intramural Research Program at NIH, the Department of Defense Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine at the Uniformed Services University, and the Swedish Research Council.

Traumatic brain injury is a major leading cause of death and disability in the United States with more than 2.87 million emergency department visits, hospitalizations and deaths annually. While majority of all traumatic brain injuries are classified as mild (also known as a concussion), it remains difficult to diagnose this condition. There are a wide range of variable behavioral and observational tests to help determine a patient’s injuries but most of these tests rely on the patient to self-report signs and symptoms. Also, imaging has limitations with detecting micro-structural injuries in the brain.

WHO, FIFA launch joint campaign to equip football community to tackle COVID-19

 FIFA, the international governing body of football, and the World Health Organization (WHO) have teamed up to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) by launching a new awareness campaign led by world-renowned footballers, who are calling on all people around the world to follow five key steps to stop the spread of the disease. 

WHO and FIFA teamed up to combat the coronavirus

The “Pass the message to kick out coronavirus” campaign promotes five key steps for people to follow to protect their health in line with WHO guidance, focused on hand washing, coughing etiquette, not touching your face, physical distance and staying home if feeling unwell. 

“FIFA and its President Gianni Infantino have been actively involved in passing the message against this pandemic since the very beginning,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the virtual launch of the campaign at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. “Be it through campaigns or funding, FIFA has stood up to the coronavirus, and I am delighted that world football is supporting WHO to kick out the coronavirus. I have no doubt with this type of support that together we will win.” 

“It starts with your hands,” says Alisson Becker, WHO Goodwill ambassador for health promotion, Liverpool FC and Brazil goalkeeper, and The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper, 2019. “Please wash your hands frequently with soap and water or an alcohol-based solution.”

Such frequent washing with soap and water, or preferably with an alcohol-based hand solution, kills viruses that may be on your hands. It is simple, but it is very important.

“Cover your nose and mouth with a bent elbow or tissue when you sneeze or cough,” says Carli Lloyd two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup winner from the United States. “Dispose of tissue immediately and wash your hands.”

Droplets spread the coronavirus. By following respiratory hygiene, you protect the people around you from contracting viruses, such as cold, flu and coronavirus.

“We need teamwork to combat the coronavirus,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “FIFA has teamed up with WHO because health comes first. I call upon the football community worldwide to join us in supporting this campaign to pass the message even further. Some of the greatest players to have played the beautiful game have put their names to the campaign and are united in their desire to pass the message to kick out COVID-19.”

Twenty-eight players are involved in the video campaign, which is being published in 13 languages.

Sami Al Jaber (KSA), Alisson Becker (BRA), Emre Belözoğlu (TUR), Jared Borgetti (MEX), Gianluigi Buffon (ITA), Iker Casillas (ESP), Sunil Chhetri (IND), Youri Djorkaeff (FRA), Han Duan (CHN), Samuel Eto’o (CMR), Radamel Falcao (COL), Laura Georges (FRA), Valeri Karpin (RUS), Miroslav Klose (GER), Philipp Lahm (GER), Gary Lineker (ENG), Carli Lloyd (USA), Lionel Messi (ARG), Mido (EGY), Michael Owen (ENG), Park Ji-sung (KOR) , Carles Puyol (ESP), Célia Šašić (GER), Asako Takakura (JPN), Yaya Touré (CIV), Juan Sebastián Verón (ARG), Sun Wen (CHN) and Xavi Hernández (ESP).

A video campaign, which will be published on player and FIFA digital channels, is also being provided as individual localized files to the 211 FIFA member associations and media agencies, together with a graphics toolkit for implementation on social media to further pass the message. 

Supermodel Naomi Campbell empowering girls through sport in Senegal

Naomi Campell @ Seed Project Hoop Forum 2019. Photo credit: APO

Supermodel Naomi Campbell attended the SEED Project Hoop Forum on Wednesday to encourage female basketball players to keep working on their skills.

SEED’s mission is helping girls in Senegal in education and economic advancement, using sport as a springboard.

She said about her involvement with the charity drive online, Naomi wrote that she felt ‘so much joy’ appearing in Senegal on their behalf.

“I absolutely love what #TheSEEDProject is doing, and the discussion they’re driving within the community; to empower young African people to realize their potential for education and leadership,” she wrote.

“I feel this is a conversation to be heard around the world, which is why I’m so honored to be involved with SEED’s initiative.”

Campbell said the basis and manifesto of the SEED Project – as an International non-governmental organization that uses sport as a mechanism to identify, cultivate and educate future leaders.