al jazeera's robin adams is with us now in barta, live where that match is taking place. bin, the game many people presumably wanted to see in this final. >> reporter: absolutely. they have three tickets as well which makes them extra happy. so many fans and now a steady stream of fans midway through the first half. either they know something we don't because no goals have been scored in this game yet between the african giants so to say as you mentioned and africa. it has been a longer wait for ghana. all of their players in the african cup of nations, not a single one was born the last time ghana won three years ago. >> robin, i imagine security is tight as well. they won't want to see a repeat of the -- on pitch scenes of violence, clashes between fans and police just in the last week. >> yes, of course there was scenes here in barta as well just a few weeks ago where there were police and the crowd. it has been a very steady increase in security personnel here we have them at various vantage points on top of hotels for example, two security officers there keeping look

let's go live to our correspondent robin adams. robin, it was a disappointing start for ivory coast, missing two penalties, what is the latest right now? well, it's sudden death, and whoever misses at the momentwill go out. it seems a cruel end to two teams. ivory coast have not won the tournament for 23 years, and bizarrely, the last time they won it was against ghana on penalty. ghana were in the seat earlier but ivory coast is level. the stadium will erupt, and we'll know who is grounded the 2015 african cup of nation. >> we see ghana leading 6-5. if they win, what does it mean for the team and the coach. >> it will mean so much to the team. every player representing ghana at the tournament was not born the last time they won this tournament which was, as i mentioned 53 years ago. the ghana government has thrown tremendous resources into getting fans to begin. they chartered private planes getting fans to the time and semifinals. i spoke to someone who is close to the ghanan football association. he says they'll charter a private

. >> our correspondent robin adams joins us. robin, in this day of punishment morocco were fined $10 million for not hosting the 2015 edition. do you think that's a bit harsh? >> absolutely. i mean, it comes on a day of just extraordinary and contrasting sanctions. for all intents and purposes, misconduct in african football, i don't know they've gone around it the right way. they've been given their $10 million fine, 1 million is for not staging the event the other $9 million for damages. sponsors would have lost out on you not hosting. incredibly harsh but comes on the back of morocco failing to stage the 2015 tournament over ebola fears but then going on to host the world cup in december. i think they would have taken that into consideration saying this is why the sanction is harsh. >> what about their neighbors tunisia, what's happening with their sanction? can you talk us through that? >> you might remember that tunisia had caf unethical coming from the game against equatorial guinea in which they were hand add controversia

after crowd trouble erupted and after fans threw bottles and missiles at players and supporters and robin adams >> reporter: extraordinary scenes at the stadium with violence over shadowed the match between guinea the africa cup of nations the former champ kron ghanna and fans throeing water bottles in the 80 seconds and officials and police tried to instill some sort of calm and eventually firing tear gas in the crowd and many disbursing and the game will be started a little bit later with ghanna in the final against the ivory coast and they tell me an organizing committee meeting will be taking place on friday for the agenda and the current violence happening at the stadium on thursday night and of course you might remember the guinea federation are on a $60,000 fine for violence in the quarter finals and face the risk of playing the world cup qualifiers behind closed doors and possible expulsion from the 2017 africa cup of nations. >>> more than 1 1/2 million people in prison in the united states and statistics show that three quarters of those will offend again upon their release but as kri

we seem to be having problems with robin adams. unfortunately, we will try to get him back a little later. oh we may actually have him back now. can you hear me? you're in equatorial guinea ahead of the semifinal match. who is likely to win? >> interestingly, two sides played each other in the qualifying stage in october. the democratic republic of congo with winners in that occasion. ivory coast has been promise that go he and his team of big name stars are sweeping aside on this occasion and will be reaching their second semifinal in three years. >> another story dominating, tunisia no longer in the running, but they're in big trouble, tell bus that. >> they're probably not in the running for the 2007 african can you have of nations. they were told to apology for accusing bias, you apologize or you will be kicked out of the 2016 african cup of nations. they were find for the equatorial guinea game and also asked for damages or the cost of repair of damages to the locker room and a refrigerator there. equatorial guinea, fans invad

robin adams was watching all the action from bata. >> ivory coast and big-name stars, they were clinical between the democratic republic of congo. they would get going in 20 minutes. and responding just moments later. it was 3-1 the final score in bata. the second semifinal will take place on thursday. no trainingers to the semifinals semifinals. they've made a deal five straight times but only managed to make the final in 2010. he canequatorial guinea in bata bata{^l"^^}. >> in spain real madrid beat sevilla to increase their lead at the top of la liga. they would have the lead. a late goal from sevilla brought doubts in the final of the game. but they now lead barcelona by four points. >>> midfielder andre shirla has revealed why he left stamford bridge to sign with bund liga. he made the move for chelsea in 2013 but since has struggled to hold down a regular spot on the side. >> what i like to do is play football. i couldn't do this off the pitch at chelsea. and wolfsburg convinced me. the coach ceo and it became clear that i would like to do this. >> mother boost heading into the for

. >> i'm robin adams in bata. we look at the african cup of nations as a new continental crown. crown. >>> dealing with the impact of population growth is a challenge across the globe. there's many places where population decline is an issue in the last part of our series tack wr went to portland, maine, which is hoping to attract more people. >> reporter: for 80 years this paper mill gave the people of bucs port maine on intoited. -- an identity. in december it shut down. >> it's the first place to apply for a job. now there's no mill. >> you think about sport, you think they may pay for that what they do that's what it was about. now we have to find something else to be about. >> reporter: the rural state, the decline compounds demographic dilemma. a shrinking workforce in large part to the oldest median age in the east. >> the truth is not that we drove young people away. we didn't make enough of them. >> in places like the city of banker the problem -- bangor the problem is magnified. >> we have great housing that is it affordable. you can buy a house for $125,000. that and

robin adams reports. it's an all-too familiar scenario. ivory coast, favourites at the start. reaching the knockout stages in the sport competition. back in 1992, the closest they've come to winning the title in recent years. the man who inflicted the pain is now the coach of ivory coast. >> we are here at this time. >> reporter: ivory coast is the democratic republic of congo reached by beating the team. >> translation: i think it is the last time for some players of ivory coast to expected to win the african cup. you want to be there at the end >>> ek warderian guinea are appearing in the semiis for the first time and ghana are sure to pose a tricky prospect. the players are on their way to a first cup of nations title. as you know ghana is a stronghold. ghana is stronger. do you think you can beat ghana. why not? >> it's a wow wow. everything is possible. in a competition known to produce surprises. the host nation - it's another chapter >>> ivory coast get the semifinals off and running, taking on democratic republic of congo. on thursday ek warderial guinea play. >> thurs

. >> robin adams reporting live.friday, the rugby union gets underway with a big game between champion contenders. but in whales research has been taking place into the effect of concussionses which is calling increasing concerns. >> the bigginger the sportsman, the bigger the tackles and the impact. it ises a simple equation for the increasing size of those that play rugby concussion and the long term effects in wails a proud rugby nation, professor damien bailey and his team have analyzed 280 current and retired players applying pressure on the brain in controlled conditions and investigating such areas as the early on set of dementia. >> it involve as blow to the body or the head. the issue is that approximately 90% of the concussions don't involve a lot of consciousness so these are alternative techniques that allowtous have a look into the brain. >> last year, thousands of american footballers were compensated for concussion can related injuries by a federal judge, and in football fifa reacted by introducing mor

robin adams reports live. >> bayern munich claimed the first win of 20 sa in bundislega. the german champions bouncing back from a loss, beating stuttgart. bayern robin scoring a goal in the 2-1 win, holding an 8-point lead at the top of the league. later on sunday 100 men and women begin a gruelling series of races on foot mountain bikes across the northern u.k.an territory. competitors face temperatures with lows of minus 40 degrees, and the prospect of storms. distances will vary from the traditional marathon from a 690km run, taking up to 10 days long. they'll sleep in the while. and get hot meals. daniel lack reports from whitehorse on how human being prepare for such an endeavour. >> reporter: minus 30 degrees on a winter's after noon this couple from the czech republic are training. in the early 20s, they are fit and regularly run marathons and triathlons. they are on their honeymoon here. >> we go together for the first 100 miles. holding hands, enjoying. minus 40 sleep. snuggling up in a sleeping bag. >> i'm starting to be scared a little bit. it will be a nice e

here is robin adams. >> thank you very much. we're at the yukon arctic in a moment but first let's go to football in use's stand. our fixture championship league round 16 saw the two checkbook clubs going ahead to head. big spending chelsea and psg in action. 1-1 the final school. >>> it was all square on tuesday's other game two. shakhtar hosting barren munich barren munich. this game is now scoreless. >> playing in the semifinal match,. >> a bit of last-minute strategy before the mash begins. then it gets under way. this is one of afghanistan's most dangerous provinces and security is a main concern for the players. if a player is wealthy, he others about being kidnapped. if he's poor, they only worry about their economic situation. >> so does the government. relying on international aid so there is not much money for sport. >> we don't have grounds and we don't have the proper gear to practice and we asked the government to pay attention to sports especially cricket so we can develop. >> local officials say that the sport hel

. >> i'm robin adams in equatorial guinea. we look at the history of the africa cup of nations. >> egypt has launched an investigation into a stampede at a football stadium that left 14 people dead. mostthe police and fans blame each other for causing the stampede. >> football fans try to get into the stadium in cairo. they've come to watch a premiere league match some of them without tickets. the police try to control the crowds with barricades when that didn't work they fired tear gas. suddenly they closed the gate and told us to get out through another gate. the police were in front and behind the gate. they tired tear gas. this caused panic and people fell on each other. there were old people in the crowd, and they were crushed by other fans. those who managed to leave were confronted by police. >> in the confusion people fell down and were trampled. the association of the club called what happened a massacre by the police. but officials say that police officers were overwhelmed. an increasing number of people without tick

. >> let's go live to our correspondent robin adams. both these teams have been very dominant in africa football in recent years. what can we expect to see in this match later? >> well, this final has all the hallmarks, elements of being absolutely thrilling. ivory coast coming out of a rather typical group in which we had to draw lots to decide who else joins them in the quarter finals ghana coming out of the group of death group c. all the hallmarks of what should be a thrilling final. we heard from both coach as short while ago. no strange tore success he won when the event was cohosted in equatorial guinea and wore his lucky white shirt something he will be watering here, as well. >> what security measures are being taken in light of the violence that took place at one of the semifinals? >> well, there's an increased police presence, the military personnel are all around the venue, as well. we've seen a chopper hovering around to maintain order. there's a new draft plan to make sure there isn't a repeat of the scenes we saw in malab

. >> that is robin adams there for us. >> mark cavendish lost the lead, four seconds behind the german who won stage three. there was a crash as the pell to know came out of a tunnel. despite winning the stage it took a toll, after putting everything into the final he collapsed to the floor after crossing the line. >> rugby union's six nations gets underway later with england against wales where research has taken place. >> the bigger the sportsmen, the bigger the tackles and the impact. it's a simple equation, but with the increase of size of those who play rugby concussion and long term effects are something they need to consider. in wales a proud rugby nation, they have analyzed 280 current and retired players. applying pressure on the brain in controlled laboratory conditions. >> effectively concussion is a brain injury that involves a blow to the body or to the head. the issue is, that is approximately 90% of concussions don't involve a loss of consciousness. they're very, very subtle, so these are alternative techniques, if you will, that allow us to ever a look into the brain. >

robin adams al jazeera. >> well, what should have been one of the biggest mismatch oz if english football season is set for a repeat run in, and now manchester united taking on cambridge united in a replay p unite redirect examination the highest place left in the competition after the exit of the top 2 premier league clubs. that's chelsea and manchester. a goal less draw by the side when the teams met last month. now fifa presidential candidate says the sports world governing body needs to end it's culture of intimidation. the official support the united states and his home federation. the vice president along with former portuguese internationalist will challenge set for the top role those elections taking place on may the 29th. >> there is a bit of a culture of intimidation, let me put it that way. within fifa, but having said that, this is a for the whole world, i do know also that there are contest races coming up in the next couple of months but i do believe that hopefully we will get as many votes as possible from around the world. >> in an on going match fixing investigation. the

our correspondent robin adams joins us live now and robin the hoes are going into this as the clear underdogs what are their chances against ghana. >> the home advantage is so important, just a few minutes ago, they were prointusing the ghana team, and obviously it was a big round of applause, but when he went to the guinea players every single one of them when he chanted out their names there was an incredible noise. that inside, the stadium is just a sea of red. that incredible home advantage, equatorial fans have come out in the thousands to support this team, that is only appearing in it's second nationsnations so far so 2012 is when they debuted they made it to the quarter finals. the semifinals this time, and the belief among the fans is they can most definitely see and make it a final two. the final against ivy coast they go on and win their first. ghana of course, is by no means an easy prospect, they have been down this road before, this is their fifth straight semifinal, they have made the final as well in 2010 so ghana is obviously going to pose some stiff opposition for these fans

. >> robin adams there live for us. >> chelsea will be looking to extend the lead at the top of the english premier league they are away to aston villa. it's half-time between tottenham, hosting arsenal. late everton host liverpool, in what will be the final merseyside derby for the red's captain steven gerrard. >> the top four teams in the rugby sevens will qualify for next year's rio olympics where the sport makes its debut. new zealand moves to second after victory on home soil on saturday. beating italy. two tries from 17-year-old schoolboy ricco, ensured a 21-7 victory. south africa retaining top spot in the world standings. >> i hockey great gordie howe made an appearance attending a celebrity sports dinner showing an improvement. he holds the n.h.l. record for most games and season played. he won the stanley cup four times with the detroit red wings. >> it's been a year since the russian city of sochi hosted the winter olympics at an estimated 51 billion. it was the most expensive games hell. as peter sharp reports. they overspent, and russia saw the olympics leave a costly legacy. >

. >> robin adams is here with the sport. he will read the first story through gritted teeth.partisanship on show here. >> we get a start. at the ticket booth. champ pages india have won the battle of the big guns. they made it two wins from two with a victory over the india won it. down to 308 for 7 with a century. they move on to notch up 157. india's bowlers never allowed south africa to settle. the captain breivik combined a 68 partnership just before he was run out. eventually all out for 177 runs. india winning by 130. >> having back to back wins an especially the kind we have had in the last two games, it's tough to get so both of the games were important for us and the way we played in this game also, the last game i said it was a complete back-end performance but i felt we did well with the batting. >> i felt we had a chance through the game but form two run-outs absolutely unacceptable in the top six, and those kind of things. other than that just. >> sri lanka narrowly escaped an upset. 252 in the i hopings for, fiercelied a determined bowling attack which as you ca

our correspondent robin adams was at that match and joins me now. equatorial guinea are meant to be playing a third fourth placed playoff saturday. at this point, do we know will that go ahead? >> that match will indeed be taking place. it will be going ahead as planned on saturday, but whether or not they will be playing in an empty stadium remains to be seen. the organizing committee in meeting at the moment. we're waiting for their outcome on what kind of punishment equatorial guinea is likely to place. the coach explained he is ready to play the game. >> those scenes were played across the world. that much was televised african football fans will be looking at this many disgusted by what they saw. >> absolutely. the equatorial guinea fans we had spoken to said the anger were from decision that is weren't going their way and somehow morphed into the violent scenes we saw play out at the stadium. the general feeling and consensus among african fans is that of disgust as you mentioned. many of them obviously strongly condoning in the strongest poss

. >>> hello, robin adams. south africa's cricketers hoping for their matches coming up later in the program. ♪ ♪ >>> it's good to have you with us. it's been one hours since a cease-fire began in ukraine between government forces and pro-russia separatists. so far it seems to be holding. but in the run-up to the deadline there was intention fighting around the street emergencyic town of develsada. ukraine withian pet two poroshenko called for the armed forces to hold fire. >> these negotiations were at the highest level possible. at this time the other party will observe the terms of the agreement with the necessary attention and responsibility. >> charles stratford joins me live from donetsk. charles, is the cease-fire holding? >> well, it's an eerie silence here in eastern ukraine. it's the first time we have had anything like this in recent weeks. i say that. as we say that now i can hear a little bit of small arms fire in the distance but this certainly, the big shelling the large scale shelling that we ha

and won 3-0 in the 9th final and face ivory coast and correspondent robin adams was there at the matchnow and the violence may have spilled out on the streets following that match. >> reporter: well that violence did take place outside the stadium jill and have reports there are injuries and left the state at 1:00 this morning and midnight gmp and the streets resemble the war zone with rebel everywhere and rocks and broken glass. and there were confirmed injuries in ghana and the office working around the clock to get those victims to hospitals but of course they brought a lot of the fans in from ghanna on especially government-sponsored chartered planes to enjoy the semi final action so the embassy trying to get those fans back home. >> this is live in the world and fan also be looking at this and many will be very disappointed and disgusted with what they saw. >> absolutely the equitorial guinea fans is the justification of decisions from refugee from gabon which is absurd and sparked an outrage and this beamed across the world and they condemned for the strongest possible terms and

. >> our reporter robin adams has watched the match. >> they returned after thursday's violent sceneshat left 36 fans injured, 14 of them hospitalized. there was increased security for the play of game dween the democratic republic of congo and host equatorial guinea. they couldn't bring in bottles. 2,000 fans made it to the game. there were no problems at all for the police and security personnel. also in attendance at saturday's game was the fifa president and his african counterpart who on saturday blaming the world's media for the current violence. >> translator: the press always drama ties particularly the western press. when something bad happens in europe it's an error. when it happens in africa they talk about corruption. it's irrelevant that the semi semifinal is a match. the western media are here to perpetuate colonization. >>> venue for the africa cup of nations final 2015 competing in the ivory coast. they haven't looked in 23 years, and it's been a longer wait for ghana. 33 years, and a full house expected about 35,000 feet above the stadium. there will be increased secu

our reporter robin adams has more. >> reporter: football and fans return to the stadium after thursday'sne that his left 56 fans injured. 14 of them hospitalized. it was increased security for the play of game between the democratic republic of congo and hosts he can tour yell guinea. added security. check points fans weren't allowed to bring any bottles for fears it will end up on the pitch. only 2,000 fans made to the game. it was no problems at all for the police and & security personnel. also in attendance, at saturday's game was fifa president and his african counterpart who on saturday blamed the media for the violence. >> the president almost dramatize when something bad happens in europe, they say it's an error, where something happens in africa, they begin to talk about corruption. >> translator: it's irrelevant that it's a semifinal. the western media are simply there perpetuate colonization. >> reporter: the final 2015 competing in the final ivory coast and the ivorians haven't lifted the trophy in twhraoepbt years and even longer wait for ghana. 33 years. a full house expecte