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Neymar claims Saudi league could top Ligue 1 already
Saudi Arabia’s football league could already be stronger than France’s Ligue 1, says Brazil captain Neymar.
The 31-year-old forward moved to the Saudi Pro League from Paris St-Germain in August for about £77.5m and add-ons.
Neymar joined Al-Hilal in a transfer window that saw Saudi clubs spend more than £700m on overseas players.
“For the names that went to Saudi Arabia, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Saudi league is better than the French,” he said.
Saudi clubs’ spending this summer on international transfers was second only to the Premier League, whose teams spent just under £1.6bn on overseas deals, according to figures from football governing body Fifa.
While Al-Ittihad were unable to prise Mohamed Salah away from Liverpool, Salah’s former team-mates Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino and Fabinho were among the Premier League players to move to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi clubs also lured Neymar’s PSG club-mate Georginio Wijnaldum, Real Madrid’s Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema and Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane.
Others to make the switch to the Saudi Pro League have included Inter Milan’s Champions League final captain Marcelo Brozovic, Barcelona’s Franck Kessie, Celtic’s Jota and Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
There could have been a new world-record transfer too. PSG gave Al-Hilal permission to talk to Kylian Mbappe after making a £259m bid, but the forward opted to stay with the French champions and Neymar was sold instead.
Neymar helped PSG win five Ligue 1 titles although his time in Paris was hampered by ankle injuries after moving from Barcelona for a record fee of £200m in 2017.
Speaking at a news conference while on Brazilian international duty, Neymar said: “I can assure you the football in Saudi Arabia is the same. The ball is round, we have goalposts.
“There’s no secret. We have intense practice there, the thirst to win is still big.
“I want to win trophies with Al-Hilal. It doesn’t change much.”
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says Saudi Pro League is more of a threat than not
Several Premier League managers have criticised the Saudi deadline closing almost a week after Europe’s major leagues.
Last week, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said the Saudi Pro League feels more like a threat than not. Klopp feels there is a need to “protect the game and make sure European leagues stay as strong as they are”.
Meanwhile Henderson, who has been a vocal ally of the LGBTQ+ community, said he was “really hurt” by criticism of his transfer.
His move has been questioned by some LGBTQ+ campaigners, as same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Saudi Arabia.
Source: BBC
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Focus on more pressing issues like Galamsey, not hate speech – Ellen Ama Daaku to Mahama
An aide to former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia,Ellen Ama Daaku has advised President John Dramani Mahama to shift his attention from social media hate speech to more urgent national issues such as illegal mining.
Speaking in an interview, she noted that the President’s recent comments about tracking the IP addresses of people who spread hate speech were unnecessary.
According to her, President Mahama must first define what he considers to be hate speech before seeking to punish people for it.
Ms. Daaku argued that the President himself had benefitted from hate speech and social media attacks in the past when he was in opposition.
She said even during his time in government, he described his opponents and their tribesmen in unpalatable terms, which later drew complaints from former President Nana Akufo-Addo to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
She stressed that harsh criticism of leaders on social media should not automatically be considered hate speech, adding that former leaders, including former President Nana Akufo-Addo had all been subjected to it.
“He is only feeling what Nana Akufo-Addo went through for eight years,” she remarked.
While acknowledging the need to regulate misconduct online, Ms. Daaku insisted that going after social media activists should not be a priority.
She noted that many political activists, including herself, had been insulted and attacked online but never called for arrests.
She concluded that President Mahama should focus his energy on solving pressing problems such as galamsey and the economy instead of concentrating on critics on social media.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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Prof Alidu Seidu files nomination for Tamale Central seat
The newly elected parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Tamale Central, Prof Alidu Seidu, has submitted his nomination forms to the Electoral Commission.
As of 10:00 a.m. today, he was the only person who had filed to contest the seat.
Nomination of candidates will close at the end of the day.
Associate Professor and Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana Legon, Prof. Alidu Seidu won the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries in the Tamale Central constituency with a landslide victory.
The elections, supervised by the party’s Elections and IT Directorate in the Northern Region, saw Prof. Seidu poll 840 votes out of the total valid ballots cast.
His closest contender, Lawyer Hanan Gundadow Abdul-Rahaman, secured 536 votes.
The other aspirants could not make significant gains, with Dr. Seidu Fiter obtaining 44 votes, Aliu Abdul-Hamid 23 votes, and the rest recording fewer than 10 votes each.
In all, 1,500 ballots were cast, with 6 ballots rejected and 7 spoilt ballots recorded.
The results were signed and declared by Dr. Arnold Mashud Abukari, NDC Northern Regional Director of Elections and IT.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) held parliamentary primaries in Tamale Central to choose a candidate for the upcoming by-election following the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed. Dr. Mohammed, who also served as Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, tragically died in a military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District on August 6, 2025, alongside seven others.
His passing left the Tamale Central seat vacant, as required by Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
The Electoral Commission has scheduled the by-election for September 30, 2025. While the NDC moved quickly to open nominations and vet aspirants, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) announced it would not contest the seat, citing the need to respect the somber circumstances and promote national unity.
By: Jacob Aggrey
