Congratulations are most definitely in order for Diddy‘s 18-year-old son Justin Combs, who has officially signed on to play football next year at UCLA!

Flanked by his family, including his proud multimillionaire father, his mother Misa Hylton and his grandmother Janice Combs, Justin — a 5-foot-9, 175-pound corner-back — signed a national letter of intent at the school on National Signing Day Wednesday (Feb 1) in Los Angeles.

“It was love at first sight,” Justin told reporters following the press conference. “When I stepped on the campus, I knew I was going to be a player there. I knew I just had to get there.”

Justin, who reportedly worked out with Jets star cornerback Darrell Revis in an effort to improve his game, accepted the full Division 1 scholarship to play football for the UCLA Bruins, which costs up to $54K a year to attend.

“It was worth it,” Justin said about signing with UCLA. “I got chills just signing it.”

Justin will go out to UCLA on June 24th and is looking forward to playing his first game for the Bruins.

“It’s going to be surreal at first but then at the end of the day you’ve got to go to work and you’ve got to get what’s yours and show why you’ve been working hard,” he said. “So I’m ready for that. I can’t wait.”

Justin Combs poses with his dad during a previous campus visit at UCLA

Last year when the news first broke, Sean “Diddy” Combs released a statement, calling his son’s commitment to UCLA one of the proudest moments of his life.

“This is everything a father could want for his son, for him to excel at what he loves to do and is truly passionate about,” said Diddy in the statement. “Justin is a shining example of what hard work, determination and a strong mentality can achieve. I am honored to call him my son and am happy that he is fulfilling his dream.”

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Madonna‘s big Super Bowl performance (featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.) is just days away, and the latest buzz surrounding the big show is that R&B singer Cee-Lo Green and Hip-Pop group LMFAO will be joining the ladies on stage.

MTV broke the news earlier this week while citing a report from TMZ.com regarding Madonna’s massive halftime stage set, which reportedly features a series of lights that spell out “Vogue” set into the floor, in reference to the hit single she is rumored to be performing.

In addition to Vogue, Madonna will also be performing “Music” (with LMFAO), her brand new single “Give Me All Your Luvin” (featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.), “Like a Prayer” (with Cee Lo Green), “Ray of Light” and “Holiday.”

Madonna’s 12-minute halftime show will go down this Sunday night (Feb 5) during halftime of Super Bowl XLVI.

The game — which will see the New England Patriots take on the New York Giants — will air live on NBC from the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Will you be watching?

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Deion Sanders has fired back at his estranged wife Pilar‘s claims that he offered her cash for sexual favors, insisting that she is straight up LYING and is only trying to extort him for his money!

TMZ broke the story … Pilar just filed an emergency motion in Texas, claiming Deion is holding her as a “financial hostage” … cutting off her cash flow … and only offering to give her cash in exchange for X-rated activities.

Sources close to Deion tell us the accusations are entirely untrue … and claim the NFL legend recently sent her a cashier’s check for $10,000 … which Pilar REJECTED.

Pilar’s lawyer, Larry Friedman, tells us she refused to accept the money because Deion presented the check as a “partial payment” towards the prenup … a prenup she believes is invalid.

We’re told Pilar was only promised $1,000,000 in the prenup … but Friedman believes she’s entitled to MILLIONS more … saying, “The offer does not reflect the assets in the estate and does not account for the time, effort, devotion, and faithfulness Pilar has invested in the marriage.”

A close adviser to Deion tells us … “Pilar has continued to make false statements in an attempt to extort additional money, in spite of the generous pre-nup that she voluntarily signed. Deion is going to allow a judge to resolve this privately, then he looks forward to setting the record straight publicly at the appropriate time.”

[TMZ]

Can’t we all just get along?

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Madonna teams up with Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. in her new music video for “Give Me All Your Luvin,” the first single from her upcoming 12th studio album “MDNA,” due in stores March 26th.

The football-themed clip opens up with Nicki and M.I.A. as urban cheerleaders as they march through the city with the Pop Queen by their side, dressed in a dark leather coat and a mini-skirt.

Rappers Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. also get a chance to show off their rap skills before the promo clip ends with Madonna exposing the football players as robots.

The video’s release comes just days before the three ladies are set to take the stage together to perform the song Sunday at the Super Bowl.

Watch it below:

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As in Angola two years ago, where Togo’s team bus was ambushed by separatist rebels, the Egyptian tragedy has an overtly political feel underpinning it – with many far closer involved than I discussing the divisions (e.g. rebellion-backing Al Ahly fans taking on a resentful police force) that prompted the appalling scenes.

The tragedy also resulted in the retirement of an African footballing legend – Mohamed Aboutrika – the Al Ahly midfielder who won two Nations Cup titles (scoring the winner in the 2008 final) for Egypt and would have had three had he not missed the last tournament through injury.

But the question of who will replace the Pharaohs as kings of Africa is still open to healthy debate after a first round that contained some incredible shocks, wonderful matches and outstanding goals.

Gabon fans celebrate their last-gasp win over Morocco, a result which took the Panthers to the Nations Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1996

All three could be found in last week’s victory for co-hosts Equatorial Guinea over Senegal, as the lowest-ranked side to contest a Nations Cup in living memory dumped one of the most fancied teams out of the competition – with Kily’s 25-yard drive, four minutes into injury time, a suitably stunning goal for a shock of this magnitude (one which, I know from the flood of texts received, was joyously celebrated on Tyneside).

It barely needed repeating yet it was further evidence of the extraordinary morale-boosting power of home advantage, and not – on this occasion – because debatable refereeing results were going the hosts’ way.

The second stand-out tie involved the other co-hosts as Gabon beat dark horses Morocco in surely the match of the finals so far, with not just the shock of the referee awarding a penalty against the Panthers in the 90th minute (kudos to you, Mr Bakary Gassama) but then the exquisite free-kick that won the game 3-2 in the 98th minute to knock out Eric Gerets’s men.

Unlike the Senegalese, who did less than a holidaying sloth on a slow day, the Moroccans did at least have some players who left their mark – most notably, the excellent duo of number 10 Younes Belhanda and captain Houssine Kharja.

They didn’t deserve to be going home after the first round, just like Burkina Faso midfielder Alain Traore (what a left peg), Manucho of Angola (who seems back to his best) and Guinea’s effervescent midfielder Ibrahima Traore.

Others are staying, such as Zambian duo Chris Katongo and Emmanuel Mayuka, and their lively Zambian side take on Sudan in Saturday’s first quarter-final in Bata.

History has been made for a handful of teams at these finals, with Libya winning their first Nations Cup game in 30 years, but that seems a mere slip compared to the 42 Sudan fans had to wait between their triumph in the 1970 final itself and beating Burkina Faso on Monday.

Their quarter-final place was barely foreseen, even among Sudanese fans themselves, who took to the streets in impromptu celebration afterwards, so coach Mazda can feel extreme pride for leading his entirely domestic based squad to the last eight.

This Zambian side seems to fire under the guidance of coach Herve Renard, whose devotion to his job was clear to see as the Frenchman went livid with his technical advisors despite the Chipolopolo is leading co-hosts Equatorial Guinea on Monday – with Renard later slamming his side’s attacking instincts.

Whatever the root cause, the Chipolopolo are the opposite to the Senegalese – a team that is more than the sum of its parts and where teamwork is key.

Zambia captain Chris Katongo celebrates his match-winner against Equatorial Guinea in flying fashion, as Emmanuel Mayuka looks on

In Saturday’s second game, an Ivory Coast side that has been playing well within itself takes on the co-hosts in the biggest game in the history of Equatoguinean men’s football.

The bad news for the National Lightning is that the game will be played in the 15,000-capacity Malabo stadium, whose open nature is no match for the atmosphere generated in the bowl-like Bata stadium, which can host over 35,000 fans.

The Elephants have yet to get out of second gear so will they click up against the co-hosts or can Javier Balboa, Juvenal and Thierry Fidjeu spring an even bigger surprise?

The other co-hosts kick off the action on Sunday, when Gabon will be very much at home in Libreville’s Stade de l’Amitie, the arena which will host the final on Sunday week.

Panthers fans will once again look to the forward line of star man Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, veteran Daniel Cousin and the experienced Eric Mouloungui to deliver the goods, against a defence which has been superbly marshalled by captain – and Panathinaikos centre-back – Cedric Kante so far.

But the tie of the round could come in Sunday’s last quarter-final when Ghana take on 2004 champions Tunisia. Organisers in Gabon have said they will hand out free tickets for this match in an attempt to avoid thousands of empty seats but then again, nearly half the population of Franceville – the birth place of the ruling Bongo family – could fit into the 25,000-seater stadium by all accounts.

Youssef Msakni has proved a real dangerman, as Morocco and Niger can attest, and his creativity has lit up a Tunisian side that can look pedestrian without his flair. But at the back, Karim Hagui struggled against the power and pace of Niger’s Moussa Maazou so Asamoah Gyan will fancy his chances of taking him on – but is the Black Star fully fit?

Ghanaian fans may not be too bothered if the midfield can keep producing goals of the quality of Emmanuel Agyemang Badu against Guinea – the strike of the tournament so far for me, although team-mate Gyan, Equatorial Guinea’s Kily, Gabon’s Bruno-Zita Mbanangoye, Manucho, Msakni and dozens of you might disagree.

Two years ago, the Cabinda tragedy cast a huge shadow over the Nations Cup and seemed to affect some of the football played thereafter. So as the continent’s football tries to disperse the latest cloud over it, can the quarter-finalists find the African game’s true voice on the pitch and speak most eloquently from there? Let’s hope they can.

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When Capello stripped Terry of the captaincy in February 2010 after claims of an alleged relationship with the ex-girlfriend of England colleague Wayne Bridge, it was accepted the Italian was making a footballing judgement as opposed to a moral one.

Capello clearly felt Terry’s credibility as captain had been damaged and his ability to lead – and perhaps more importantly unify – England’s squad was beyond him.

As the Football Association ponders removing the captain’s armband for a second time with Terry scheduled to stand trial in July for alleged racist abuse directed at QPR’s Anton Ferdinand – and for which he has entered a not guilty plea – the discussions and conclusions will have been much more complex.

When FA chairman David Bernstein canvassed opinion from his other board members, the legal and footballing implications of such a move will have weighed heavily on their minds, as well as the reaction of their coach.

Terry was stripped of the England captaincy in February 2010. Photo – Getty

From the moment Terry became the subject of a Metropolitan Police and FA investigation after the incident in the west London derby at Loftus Road in October, the Italian has been typically unmoved with his own verdict.

Questioned repeatedly on the matter, his stock response delivered in a style which brooked no further argument has been: “Innocent until proven guilty.”

It was also the response of a man who had demonstrated his own personal and professional faith in Terry when he reappointed him as captain, to the surprise of many, in March 2011. And only two months ago he was publicly insisting it was a decision that had given him no cause for regret.

So if the FA decides to take this decision out of Capello’s hands then the fall-out may well stretch all the way to Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. It is also a move that will go against their coach’s very public view on the matter.

The FA will have been hoping the course of law would have moved at a speed that effectively took a decision for it, but once the date for the case was set for July it has been forced to act – hence Bernstein’s discussions with his colleagues.

If Terry is stripped of the captaincy for a second time, the prospect of him ever regaining it will surely be gone forever irrespective of his uncertain form and fitness and the obvious drawbacks of a defender with a long career moving into his thirties.

Capello will also have been handed the dilemma of whether he should even take Terry to Euro 2012. The player’s best days are clearly behind him, although he remains formidable, but few other defenders are making compelling cases to replace him at the heart of England’s defence.

He must weigh up whether Terry’s presence in the squad, with the FA effectively having sacked his captain, could be a catalyst for further disunity.

Terry may feel he has been the victim of injustice after losing the job on the basis of claims before the court case, while Capello must ensure in his own mind that he is confident Terry will not be a maligned presence around the squad if he does go to Poland and Ukraine.

Capello, despite some unfounded suspicions, still cares deeply about leaving a final mark and a legacy of substance on England as he moves towards the end of his time in charge. His potential reaction will also have been a major factor in the FA’s discussions regarding Terry.

The FA will feel it has moved to clear away a cloud that could have been the England squad’s constant companion up to and including Euro 2012. Terry’s presence as captain will have ensured constant questioning about the very obvious sub-plot to this tournament – but it will not go away if he is still a member of the squad.

Of a more operational concern to Capello will be who should replace Terry as captain if he is stood down by the FA.

Capello can hardly turn back to Ferdinand. The Manchester United defender’s form and fitness has been highly suspect in recent times and there is no guarantee he will be a contender for England’s squad in the summer. He also has an indirect link to Terry’s court case, via his brother Anton.

The notion of Wayne Rooney as England captain has always been rather fanciful, as proved by his red card in the final qualifier against Montenegro in Podgorica. This rules him out as any role as captain at Euro 2012 would be of the non-playing variety as a result of his two-game suspension.

Capello’s obvious fall-back option is Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard, who captained England with distinction in the early stages of their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign when they beat Bulgaria convincingly at Wembley and won in Switzerland.

Gerrard wore scars after leading England through the debacle that was their World Cup in South Africa in 2010, but in reality he was one of the few players to emerge with credit and his captaincy was hardly the cause of that campaign’s downfall.

He is, however, only in the early stages of a return after nine months of injury problems and a return to full match fitness will be his top priority. Many felt Gerrard was unlucky to lose the captaincy after his stint at the start of last season and will be regarded in plenty of quarters as Terry’s obvious success.

For a player of such dynamism, Capello had reservations about what he initially saw as his timid personality – but he appeared to clear his mind of those doubts after he took the armband again.

The FA will feel it has removed the possibility of what Reading striker Jason Roberts described as potentially a “toxic” dressing room at Euro 2012.

At the same, though, it may have passed Capello a poisoned chalice with which to toast his preparations for Euro 2012.

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Rihanna wants a piece of Evelyn Lozada….and doesn’t care about asking!

Yesterday, RiRi tweeted the “Basketball Wives” star asking her if her fiance Chad Ochocinco would mind sharing the goodies.

@EvelynLozada hey Evz, wud Chad share??? #thatisall

— Rihanna (@rihanna) February 1, 2012

But unfortunately for Chad…when it comes to Rihanna, Evelyn has no problem kicking HIM to the curb.

Bitch, 3 is a crowd! #KicksOchoToTheCurb #CAKE RT @rihanna: @EvelynLozada hey Evz, wud Chad share??? #thatisall

— Evelyn Lozada (@EvelynLozada) February 1, 2012

We know one damn thing…any man who wouldn’t want to see these two going at it has some serious issues.

 What do you think?

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The ladies of VH1′s original “Basketball Wives” are returning to TV for an all-new fourth season, and here is a first look at the new and returning cast members!

In addition to the regulars (Evelyn Lozada, Shaunie O’Neal, Royce Reed, Jennifer Williams, Tami Roman and Suzie Ketcham)…Season 4 of “Basketball Wives” welcomes two new cast members, Kenya Bell and Kesha Nichols, who both know that being in a relationship with an NBA player isn’t as glamorous as one might think.

According to VH1′s press release:

Newcomer Kesha Nichols survived every girl’s worst nightmare, having her engagement broken off by her ball-playing fiance via email shortly before their wedding.

Kenya Bell is in the process of finalizing a divorce from a basketball star and is one of the most notorious and controversial wives in the league, whose infamous reputation is well-known by the other wives.

Shaunie O’Neal is on the path to establishing herself as a business mogul. Evelyn Lozada and Jennifer Williams’ 12-year friendship is in a precarious position. Will it recover from last season’s fracture?

Strong-willed Tami Roman continues to be a force to be reckoned with both socially and now in business. Royce Reed and Suzie Ketcham attempt to navigate uncharted waters as new chapters open in their lives.

These powerful women aren’t going to let ex-husbands, challenged friendships or public scrutiny get them down. Having a relationship with a pro basketball player isn’t always easy but we’ve watched as these women have shown viewers time and time again how they persevere through difficult times.

The all-new season of VH1′s “Basketball Wives” is set to premiere on the network on February 20th at 8pm EST!

Will you be watching?

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Adding to their already nasty divorce battle, Pilar Sanders has revealed some very shocking claims against her estranged husband Deion.

Pilar told a Texas judge that Deion has canceled all of her credit cards, cut her cell phone off, and is basically refusing to give her ANY money to support herself and their kids. That is, unless she has sex with him!

In the court documents (obtained by TMZ), Pilar claims, “Since [Deion] filed for divorce on December 21, 2011, he has given [Pilar] $300.00 and offered her money in exchange for sexual favors.”

Pilar, of course, turned down the whole “money for sex” offer, and is now begging the court to force Deion to give it to her, claiming, “The children and I have lived in survival mode for several months, and the emotional toll on all of us is palpable.”

In addition to canceling her credit cards and her cell phone, Pilar also says Deion has “engaged in a pattern of systematically removing my belongings from the house and haphazardly throwing them into piles in the garage of the residence.”

So how much money does Pilar want from Deon?

Well, Pilar claims Deion makes over $1 million per year, and she says she wants NEEDS a cut of that so that she can live and support their children.

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Taking a tour around the 330-acre site last week, it looks as if the Football Association will be able to boast one of the leading national football centres in the world, but you also have to wonder what position English football would be in had the facility opened as originally planned in 2004.

How much better would a 25-year-old England regular be, having first trained at St George’s Park as a 17-year-old? And what influence would a coach attending courses there have had on a five-year-old now in the throes of junior football?

The FA’s director of elite development Gareth Southgate says it is “pretty pointless” to speculate about where we could be. Like a seasoned pro he is focusing on the future, and in the coming months youth football in England is set to undergo some fundamental and exciting changes.

Costing £100m, St George’s Park near Burton will host all of England’s 24 national teams in state-of-the-art training facilities and, perhaps more importantly, will be a coaching centre of excellence similar to Clairefontaine in France or Coverciano in Italy.

The elite turf has been laid next to an indoor pitch, with both mirroring the dimensions of Wembley.

Set in the rolling Staffordshire countryside, it will feature 12 pitches allowing England teams of all ages to train in close quarters, complete with a sports science centre, enormous spa and gym facilities, and a 282-room hotel which includes an England wing. Walking around the site, the plastering is done, the bathrooms are in and we even got to step inside the manager’s room (‘Harry’s suite,’ one builder joked).

As you stroll deeper into the complex it becomes more impressive. The elite pitch, which mirrors the dimensions of Wembley, has already had its turf laid next to an indoor pitch which has a unique bubble roof. Between them is a running track for warm-ups and rehabilitation and, on a crisp day as the site was bathed in winter sunshine, it was an inspiring glimpse of the future.

With 400 builders on site, it has come a long way since work began on 31 January 2011, the same day that Southgate was appointed. And both are making their mark on English football at the same time as the professional game takes on its biggest overhaul since club academies and centres of excellence were first proposed in 1997.

The introduction of the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP), due to begin next season, will re-shape the football landscape by independently grading academies. And it will have as much effect as the FA’s plans to delay 11v11 matches until under-13s level, the concentration on qualifications specifically geared to coaching youngsters or the new philosophy for teaching players.

Although there are many understandable concerns, former England defender Southgate believes this period marks a sea change as England’s major football bodies begin finally to point in the same direction.

“At the moment it is one of the first times in many years that those bodies are sat around the table together trying to improve things for the better,” the 41-year-old says.

Of course, there are many unresolved issues within the EPPP, not least how clubs will be graded among the four academy categories, and it will be a huge story in coming months.

I want to leave aside problems surrounding reduced transfer fees for the moment, as they have already been discussed in length elsewhere. Yes, there are many valid worries about the welfare of clubs’ academy systems and whether it will lead to some closing down. That is a bleak picture.

But the fact remains that without this evolution, the desire to pit “best against best” would have remained elusive. For too long, the academy system has allowed teams with top quality players to be diluted by those of a lesser standard and something needed to change.

After years of clubs winning the club-versus-country battle, it seems that the future of English football is finally finding a higher place on the agenda.

It is not all rosy in Southgate’s garden, though. The former Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace defender accepts that the FA’s influence over youth development is limited and in an ideal world the national association would be running youth football in its entirety via a number of regional centres. But he believes the FA can still play a crucial part.

“The Premier League are running the academy system with the Football League and that’s a history I don’t understand,” he says. “We have to keep helping coaches and be a voice that they can turn to for help, and the types of courses and events we run at St George’s Park will aid that.”

However, with the clubs exerting their own way of playing, how much can the FA really influence English coaches with its own philosophy of producing technically competent and decisive players who can play a short-passing game?

“Individual clubs will have their own nuances on philosophies, but it is clear that the clubs at the top of the Premier League and in the Champions League all play a passing game,” Southgate adds.

“They all play good quality football, they all have, and are looking for, players who are comfortable in possession of the ball throughout the team, so if you look at elite clubs in our country, that philosophy is actually there.”

Whether that is the same for clubs like Stoke is another question.

The end result of all this should be that the cream rises to the top and, in that, there should be a tangible benefit to England football teams. But it does place a huge responsibility on the clubs and they have understandably put their interests ahead of the country’s.

One thing is for sure: once St George’s Park finally welcomes English players and coaches to the Staffordshire countryside, the FA will have the best evidence it can muster that it is addressing the problems which have plagued English football for so long.

“In any business there are no guarantees of results,” Southgate says. “But if we don’t build St George’s Park, if we don’t change the way that we coach kids, and if we don’t change the formats of the game for youngsters then we are doing everybody a disservice.”

Are we now entering a phase where the professional game and the FA can be trusted to work together to address English football’s biggest issue?

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