IMO BREAKING NEWS BLOG

Crystal Palace are close to appointing Frank de Boer as manager. The former Netherlands international, 47, has been offered the job and negotiations are at an advanced stage. It is understood he was the first choice of Palace chairman Steve Parish and informed the south London side they were his preferred option. De Boer is set to succeed Sam Allardyce, who left after helping Palace avoid relegation from the Premier League last season. De Boer, who won 112 caps for the Netherlands, has been out of work since he was sacked by Inter Milan in November 2016 after only 85 days in charge.

Between 2010 and 2016 De Boer managed Ajax, winning the Eredivisie four years in a row between 2011 and 2015. He stepped down days after missing out on a fifth league title to PSV Eindhoven on the final day of the 2015-16 campaign. De Boer is thought to have impressed the Palace hierarchy with his knowledge of the club and his footballing vision. It is said the respect and humbleness he showed was striking, especially given how much he achieved as a player.

The ex-Ajax, Barcelona and Rangers defender is understood to have committed to giving players from the existing squad a chance to impress before looking to make new signings. Palace have invested heavily in recent transfer windows, but will back De Boer and have made him aware of their budget.

Ex-Chelsea midfielder Oscar has been banned for eight games after sparking a mass brawl while playing for Shanghai SIPG in the Chinese Super League. Oscar, 25, appeared to kick the ball straight at two players from opponents Guangzhou R&F during Sunday's match, which ended in a 1-1 draw. The Brazilian was pushed to the ground before players from both sides fought. Oscar, who joined Shanghai SIPG in a £60m deal in January, was also fined 40,000 Yuan (£4,620).

The incident came in first-half injury time, and Shanghai's Fu Huan and Guangzhou's Li Zixiang were sent off for their part in the brawl, but Oscar was not booked. Fu and Li have received six and five-game bans respectively from the Chinese Football Association, while Guangzhou's Chen Zhizhao, who pushed Oscar to the floor, has been banned for seven league games. Shanghai boss Andre Villas-Boas defended Oscar afterwards, saying he was "just being passionate", and Oscar denied he purposely aimed the ball at Guangzhou players. "Disrespect the opponent? It is not true. I am a very dedicated player and respect sportsmanship," Oscar was quoted as saying on the Sina Sports website.

Shanghai are second in the Chinese Super League after 13 of their 30 matches.

The Nigeria Labour Congress NLC has called on all Nigerians to stand up with one voice and fight those promoting division on the basis of primordial affinity. This was part of the advice at a media parley were it also called on government to pay attention to social and economic challenges currently faced by the nation.

The Press Conference is to state the position of the Nigerian workers, organised Labour and the Civil Society on the Unity and Sovereignty of Nigeria as a response to the current on-going calls for separation in the country.

The persistent exchanges and attacks it says tend to threaten the very foundation and integrity of the sovereignty and unity as a nation.

Some experts in the education sector have expressed worry over non-implementation of the Child Rights Act by some states in Nigeria many years after its enactment. They hold the view that failure of the states to implement the act has denied many Children of the right to participation, right to education and right to be protected from all forms of violence.

Every year Nigeria joins the International Community to celebrate the Day of the African Child initiated by the African Union to honour some school children in South Africa who died while protesting the poor quality of their education. Stakeholders are of the view that Nigeria is lagging behind in terms of child education compare to many other African countries.

They also expressed worry that many states in the country are yet to implement the Child Rights Act after enactment.

Manchester United have been cleared by Fifa of wrongdoing in the deal to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus last August. However, football's world governing body will open disciplinary proceedings against the Italian champions after asking both clubs last month for "clarification on the deal". The enquiry was believed to concern who was involved in the £89.3m transfer, and how much they were paid. It has been reported Pogba's agent, Mino Raiola, earned £41m from the deal.

A Fifa spokesman said: "We can confirm that disciplinary proceedings have been opened against Juventus FC. We cannot comment further as proceedings are ongoing. "We can confirm that no disciplinary proceedings have been opened against Manchester United." It has been alleged Fifa's interest in the transfer could be related to the issue of third-party ownership, although that has been denied by Raiola.

France midfielder Pogba, 24, is in his second spell at Old Trafford, having left the club for Juventus for £1.5m in 2012.

The Independent National Electoral Commission has received signatures from the electorates in Kogi West Senatorial District, asking for the recall of Senator Dino Melaye from the Senate.

Six bags, which contained the signatures of 52.3 percent of the electorates from the zone and other petitions, were submitted to the Commission in Abuja on Wednesday.