The World Health Organization says it has removed the Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, as a goodwill ambassador following outrage among donors and rights groups at his appointment. The WHO’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who made the appointment at a high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Uruguay on Wednesday, said in a statement that he had listened to those expressing concerns. “Over the last few days, I have reflected on my appointment of His Excellency President Robert Mugabe as WHO goodwill ambassador for NCDs in Africa. As a result I have decided to rescind the appointment,” Tedros said in a statement posted on his Twitter account @DrTedros. The WHO boss had faced mounting pressure to reverse the decision, including from some of the leading voices in global public health. Tedros Adhanom (@DrTedros) Please see my statement rescinding the appointment of a Goodwill Ambassador for NCDs in Africahttps://t.co/dyxFzNAFqk October 22, 2017 Several former and current WHO staff said privately they were appalled at the “poor judgement” and “miscalculation” by Tedros, elected the first African head of WHO in May. Mugabe was head of the African Union (AU) when the bloc endorsed Tedros - a former health and foreign minister of Ethiopia - over other African candidates for the top post, without any real regional contest or debate, they said. Mugabe, 93, is blamed in the West for destroying Zimbabwe’s economy and numerous human rights abuses during his 37 years leading the country as either president or prime minister. Britain said Mugabe’s appointment as a goodwill ambassador for non-communicable diseases in Africa was “surprising and disappointing” and that it risked overshadowing the WHO’s global work. The United States, which has imposed sanctions on Mugabe for alleged human rights violations, said it was “disappointed.” “He (Tedros) has to remember where his funding comes from,” said one health official who declined to be identified. Multiple critics noted that Mugabe, who is 93 and in increasingly fragile health, travels abroad for medical care because Zimbabwe’s health care system has been so severely decimated. The US ambassador to the United Nations during Barack Obama’s administration, Samantha Power, tweeted: “The only person whose health 93-yo Mugabe has looked out for in his 37 year reign is his own.” The US administration of President Donald Trump, which is already questioning financial support for some programmes of United Nations agencies, is WHO’s largest single donor. The controversy came as WHO struggles to recover its reputation tarnished by its slowness in tackling the Ebola epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa from 2014-2015 under Tedros’ predecessor Margaret Chan. The Geneva-based agency is currently grappling with crises including a massive cholera outbreak in Yemen that has infected some 800,000 people in the past year and an outbreak of plague in Madagascar that has killed nearly 100 people in two months. Combatting chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease linked to smoking, obesity and other risk factors are part of its permanent global agenda.

Three-time African champions Nigeria and two-time world champions Argentina will meet  in a mouth-watering  international friendly in the Russian city of Krasnodar on Nov. 14. 

A statement by the Communications Department of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Saturday indicated that the match’s venue is the Krasnodar Arena Stadium. 

It quoted NFF General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi as assuring that nearly all arrangements have been concluded with regards to the big match. 

He however pointed out that the match was still subject to approval by world football-ruling body FIFA as well as agreeable flight arrangements. 

“We have had long and fruitful talks, and we can say that we have an agreement.

“We await the approval by FIFA and also, we have to agree on the flight arrangements that would be comfortable for the players and crew.

“The match will come up four days after the Super Eagles’ final 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match away to Algeria.

“We actually had offers from teams like Iran, Saudi Arabia and Morocco, but we have opted for the Argentines,” Sanusi said. 

The Eagles will take on Algeria’s Fennecs in what is no more than an academic exercise, at the Stade Mohamed Hamlaoui in Constantine on Nov. 10. 

Nigeria and Argentina had played two high-profile friendly matches in 2011, with the first in Abuja in June ending 4-1 in favour of the Super Eagles. 

The Argentines won the second encounter 3-1 in Dhaka, Bangladesh three months later. 

Nigeria have had to confront Argentina in four of its previous five FIFA World Cup appearances, starting with a 1-2 defeat in Boston, U.S. in the African team’s debut in 1994. 

Argentina won another group phase clash 1-0 in Ibaraki, Japan in 2002, before winning a similar encounter by the same margin in Johannesburg, South Africa eight years later. 

They then edged the Eagles 3-2 in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 2014. 

Other famous encounters between both countries include two final matches of the Olympic Men’s Football Tournament –– Nigeria winning it in 1996 in Atlanta, U.S. 

NAN reports that the South Americans won by the odd goal in China 12 years later