Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 11 January 12:30 pm

Good day, let’s look at the latest sports news and scores:

# We start off with Soccer: SuperSport has secured the rights to broadcast all 52 Africa Cup of Nations matches after a commercially viable agreement was reached with rightsholders, New World TV. The continental showpiece will be hosted by the Ivory Coast from this Saturday until the 11th of next month. New World TV’s managing director, Nimonka Kolani, says securing the rights proves that nothing is more important than the happiness of Africans, who wish to follow the exploits of their favourite team, during the biggest soccer competition in Africa.

Meanwhile, Bafana Bafana’s captain, Ronwen Williams, believes his team can go far in the competition. South Africa leaves for the Ivory Coast today after concluding their preparations with a training match against Lesotho behind closed doors in Pretoria yesterday. The tournament starts with the opening game between the hosts and Guinea-Bissau. South Africa will start is campaign against Mali on Tuesday, followed by group matches against Namibia and Tunisia. Williams urges South Africans to support their team:

# Rugby: The Rugby Football Union has introduced stricter punishment for players and coaches abusing referees in England. This as 49-percent of match officials surveyed by the union have said they have been subjected to abuse in recent seasons. Anyone found guilty at any level of the game in England will now have a minimum addition of two, three or four weeks added to their punishment depending on the entry-level of their offence. Fines, letters of apology and refereeing courses will still be available to disciplinary panels as they consider judgments.

# Tennis: World number one Novak Djokovic will begin his quest for a record eleventh Australian Open title against a qualifier or a lucky loser. The Serb could face Britain’s Andy Murray in the third round and Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinal. Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz headlines the bottom half of the draw and will begin his tournament against France’s Richard Gasquet. In the women’s draw, top seed Iga Swiatek of Poland will face 2020 champion American Sofia Kenin in the first round, while Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will begin her title defence against a qualifier.

# And finally Motorsport: Guenther Steiner has left his role as Team Principal of the Formula One Haas team with immediate effect. The Italian has been in charge of Haas since the team joined F1 in 2016. Haas finished last in the constructors’ championship last year. The team’s director of Engineering, Ayao Komatsu, has been appointed as Steiner’s replacement. Haas owner, Gene Haas, says moving forward it is clear they need to improve on their track performances. The first race of the season is the Bahrain Grand Prix next month.

Stay tuned for more news………….