Author: Nurudeen Obalola
By Nurudeen Obalola The Super Eagles have moved up in the latest FIFA ranking despite their boycott of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture against Libya after maltreatment by the North Africans last week. The Nigerian team rose three places from 39th in the world to 36th, according to the ranking released on Thursday by the global ruling body. The three-time African champions also gained five ranking points, going from 1,498 to 1,503. During the ranking period, based on the last international window, the Super Eagles defeated Libya 1-0 in Uyo on October 11 but were unable to complete…
By Kayode John Barcelona produced a brilliant performance to beat Bayern Munich 4-1 in Spain in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night. Raphinha scored a hat-trick and Robert Lewandowski was also on the score sheet for the hosts while Harry Kane struck for the visitors. Raphinha struck in the first minute but Kane equalised in the 20th minute. The Brazilian would score two more goals in the 45th and 56th minutes respectively to give the Catalans a comfortable win. Darwin Nunez’s first-half goal was enough for Liverpool to seal a 1-0 victory over RB Leipzig in Germany. The victory…
By Kayode John Former League Management Company (LMC) Chairman and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Vice-President, Shehu Dikko, has been appointed as the Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC). Dikko’s appointment comes after President Bola Tinubu announced the scrapping of the Ministry of Sports Development and replacing it with the NSC, which had also been previously scrapped. John Enoh, minister of the defunct Ministry of Sports Development, has been reassigned to the Minister of State for Trade and Investment. Dikko was the second Vice-President of the NFF under Amaju Pinnick, who was the president for eight years until…
President Bola Tinubu has scrapped the Ministry of Sports Development and replaced it with the National Sports Commission (NSC). The NSC will henceforth take over the responsibilities previously handled by the ministry. The decision was taken at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday chaired by the President. The development was announced by the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga, on Wednesday. “President Tinubu and Federal Executive Council scrap Niger Delta Ministry and the Ministry of sports development,” Onanuga wrote. “There will now be a ministry of regional development to oversee all the regional…
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has released the 2022-2023 audited Financial Report and 2024-2025 budget at the 46th CAF Ordinary Assembly which held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Tuesday. According to the continental football body, it achieved a significant financial turnaround in the 2022-2023 fiscal year with a remarkable reduction in losses from $28.9 million to $9.2 million, which is 68 percent. A year before, CAF said its deficit was at $45 million. The body attributed the continued positive development primarily to the strategic reforms implemented by its management in 2021. It said from the budgeted revenues in 2024-2025,…
Jelena Djokovic is confident that her husband Novak “will not stop” anytime soon after his Golden Slam victory this summer. Despite being defeated by Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon finals, the 37-year-old Serbian retaliated at the Paris Olympics, securing a gold medal for his country by overcoming the young Spaniard. Although Djokovic didn’t clinch any of the four major titles this year, his triumphant Olympic performance will undoubtedly be seen as a significant achievement in an already illustrious career. Speculation has been rife among tennis enthusiasts about when Djokovic might walk away from the game, particularly after Rafael Nadal’s recent…
LeBron James and his son Bronny became the first father-son duo to play together in a regular season NBA game in the early hours of Wednesday as the Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves in their season opener. The sold-out crowd let out a roar when 20-year-old Bronny checked into the game with four minutes to play in the first half to join LeBron with the Lakers leading 51-35. LeBron scored 16 points in 35 minutes as the Los Angeles Lakers earned a 110-103 victory over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, while Bronny<span;> was credited with a rebound while missing…
The Flamingos of Nigeria defeated hosts Dominican Republic 1-0 in the early of Wednesday to finish as Group A winners at the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. Shakirat Moshood’s 89th minute strike from 24 yards earned Nigeria all three points in the encounter as they set up a quarter-final clash with the United States of America, scheduled for Saturday. Playing for the first time in Santo Domingo, the Flamingos found the going tough under driving rain against a determined host nation, and could not make their dominance count until Moshood, now with four goals, unleashed a rocket from outside the…
Several players of the Kano Pillars U-19 team were injured in a road accident on Tuesday, the club revealed. The club’s media unit confirmed the accident in a post on X, writing: “It is with deep sadness that we announce that the Kano Pillars FC U-19 team bus was involved in a road accident earlier today while en route to the New Jos Stadium for their Matchday 5 fixture in the inaugural U-19 Youth League against Plateau United U-19.” No lives were lost in the crash, the club confirmed. “Several players and the driver sustained injuries in the unfortunate incident…
By Kayode John Super Eagles midfielder Raphael Onyedika was sent off in Club Brugge’s 3-1 UEFA Champions League defeat to AC Milan at the San Siro on Tuesday night, in the same match Samuel Chukwueze shone. Onyedika was issued a straight red card in the 40th minute after a pitchside Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review showed that he clearly caught Tijjani Reijnders on the ankle in a reckless challenge. The 23-year-old Nigeria international was initially shown a yellow card but the referee later upgraded the booking to a red card, making it his second dismissal of the season. Six minutes…