Chelsea are punishing Mikel - Gernot Rohr

Chelsea are punishing midfielder John Mikel Obi for representing Nigeria at the Rio Olympics, says the country's coach Gernot Rohr.

Mikel, 29, captained his country to bronze in Brazil this summer but has not played for the Blues this season.

Rohr said: "There is a reason why Mikel is not playing for Chelsea right now and that reason is because he played for Nigeria at the Olympics."

Mikel will play in Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Algeria.

The Super Eagles, who failed to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, have set the pace in Group B, winning their opening game against Zambia while Algeria could only draw with Cameroon.

Rohr added: "I cannot punish a player who loves his country and shows that he loves the green jersey.

"He is here with us and he is fit and I hope he can play for 90 minutes against Algeria but if it is not possible, we shall see."

Chelsea declined to comment on Rohr's statement, but when asked about Mikel last week, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said: "Mikel is working very well now.

"In the past he's sometimes had some injuries. But now he's working very hard, and I'm pleased with his work-rate."

BBC

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TB Joshua reinstates deleted Clinton win prophecy after backlash

Following much backlash from Nigerians over the prophesy by influential Nigerian TV evangelist, TB Joshua that Hillary Clinton would win the US presidential election which later turned out otherwise, Pastor Joshua has reinstated the post on his Facebook page after deleting it yesterday when the backlash became too hot. 

The post containing the prediction was “mistakenly removed and has been reposted as such is not our policy”, according to an email sent to the BBC from the Social Media Department of TBJMinistries on Facebook.

“Ten days ago I saw the president of America with a narrow win… What I frankly saw was a woman,” said the post, reiterating comments made by Joshua in an address to his congregation on Sunday. TB Joshua was widely mocked on social media when people noticed that the post had been removed, though many of his supporters on Facebook said they still considered him a prophet despite calling the election wrong.

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Nigerian preacher TB Joshua deletes Clinton win prophecy from facebook

A prediction by influential Nigerian TV evangelist TB Joshua that Hillary Clinton would win the US presidential election has been removed from the his Facebook account.

Mr Joshua told his congregation on Sunday that he "saw" a woman winning.

After Donald Trump convincingly won Tuesday's vote, visitors to the preacher's Facebook page noticed the prophecy had been removed.

The wealthy pastor is known as "the prophet" to his many followers.

He is one of Nigeria's best-known and influential evangelists - and is popular across Africa, with many top politicians among his flock.

The US election prediction was broadcast on Mr Joshua's TV channel Emmanuel TV, which an individual uploaded to YouTube.

A section of that "prophecy" was posted on the preacher's Facebook page but is no longer available.

"Ten days ago I saw the president of America with a narrow win... What I frankly saw was a woman," it said.

BBC