Sports

Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has been ruled out of Nigeria’s upcoming 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau due to injury. Osimhen sustained a muscle strain during Galatasaray’s 3-2 away victory over Istanbul Başakşehir on September 4 and has not featured for the Turkish club since then. Despite the injury, the 27-year-old was initially included in Nigeria’s squad for the two qualifiers by head coach Éric Chelle, who had hoped the striker would recover in time to feature. However, Osimhen’s recovery has progressed more slowly than expected, prompting the decision to withdraw him from the matches. The former Napoli striker will therefore miss Nigeria’s opening qualifier against Madagascar at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium...

Manchester United Muslim Supporters Club (MUMSC) has called for a change in the club’s ownership structure, saying it has lost confidence in the current leadership. The supporters’ group made the call after co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe spoke about immigration, taxes and welfare during a BBC interview, saying Britain was “on the slide”. Ratcliffe, the founder of petrochemical company Ineos, attributed what he described as the country’s decline to a combination of high taxes and high immigration. As reported by BBC Sport on Saturday, MUMSC said Ratcliffe’s latest comments were “deeply disappointing and completely unacceptable”, noting that it had previously condemned remarks he made in February about immigration Ratcliffe had described Britain as having been “colonised by immigrant...

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has cited “technical errors” his team made as the reason they lost 3-0 to Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday. The champions’ winning start to the season ended at the Amex. Pascal Gross and Charalampos Kostoulas ensured the Seagulls went in at the break with a two-goal advantage, before Chema Andres headed in the third after the break. “I am really disappointed. In the first 20 or 30 minutes the number of technical errors put us constantly under pressure. It was all related to the start,” Arteta told MOTD. “It’s a big lesson to learn. What the team has done since the World Cup has been remarkable. But today there is a lot to learn. “Credit to Brighton for what they have done. I think we were very far from our level. The int...

Nigerian hurdler, Tobi Amusan earned $35,000 after finishing second in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Athlos meeting in London on Friday, September 18 Amusan clocked 12.51 seconds with a 1.2m/s tailwind, finishing 0.01 seconds behind American Alaysha Johnson, who won in 12.50 seconds. The race marked Johnson’s 40th of the season and ended Amusan’s campaign. The meeting was held at StoneX Stadium in Barnet, where Amusan competed against a strong field after her participation was confirmed in August. Bahamas Commonwealth Games champion and world indoor record holder Devynne Charlton finished third in 12.63 seconds, while Jamaica’s former world champion Danielle Williams also ran 12.63 seconds to finish fourth. Jamaica’s Megan Simmonds placed fifth in 12.66 seconds, while...

Louisiana State University (LSU) American football star, Princewill Umanmielen has been hit with a law suit by his former school, University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) on allegations of failing to meet clauses in his contract with their team, Sports247 reports. Ole Miss are seeking compensation fromUmanmielen, who was previouly a top player with University of Nebraska’s Cornhuskers football team in USA’s National Collegiate Atheltics Assocaition (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Big Ten Conference. The LSU’s sack leader was served legal papers related to a July lawsuit filed by the University of Mississippi which alleges that The Rebels’ former the former edge rusher owes Ole Miss $550,000 because of his decision to transfer to Louisiana State’s Tigers. Papers filed at La...

Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle has revealed two different squads for Nigeria’s upcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixtures and an international friendly against Russia. NigerianBusiness Directory The Nigeria Football Federation released the selections on Thursday, September 17, with Nigeria scheduled to play Madagascar on September 25 and Guinea-Bissau four days later on September 29. The team will then take on Russia in an international friendly on October 6. For the two AFCON qualifiers, Chelle named Arthur Okonkwo, Maduka Okoye and Stanley Nwabali as the goalkeeping options. The defensive line includes Bruno Onyemaechi, Calvin Bassey, Olaoluwa Aina and Bright Osayi-Samuel, while Alex Iwobi, Wilfred Ndidi, Frank Onyeka and Raphael Onyedika were selected in midfield. ...

Al-Nassr icon, Fahad Al-Harifi has slammed Cristiano Ronaldo and called for his expulsion from the club.  Al-Harifi made the call following the Knights of Najd’s devastating 4-0 defeat to Al-Ain in their AFC Champions League Elite encounter on Tuesday.  Al-Nassr was thoroughly dominated throughout the match as Al-Ain demonstrated superior performance across the full 90 minutes.  Rahimi capitalised on a mistake by Saad Al-Nasser in the 25th minute to score the opening goal, before adding a second with a precise finish in the 63rd minute.  Soufiane Rahimi scored again in the 72nd minute, while Georgios Giakoumakis added another goal in the 85th minute to secure all three points for the home side.  Cristiano Ronaldo failed to exert significant influence...

The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has seen his net worth rise to $51 billion following the official kickoff of the Dangote Refinery Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX). According to Forbes data, the net worth revaluation places Africa's richest man as the 36th-richest person globally. The refinery's public offer raised ₦1.5 trillion within its first six hours of opening on the NGX. The company aims to raise a total of ₦2.15 trillion to support its ongoing expansion plans. The offer comprises 4.1 billion ordinary shares targeting 10 million Nigerian investors, with each share carrying a nominal value of $0.000013 and an offer price of ₦525.  https://youtu.be/QmACxtD_MIU?si=ANTfwFoVSsOC7mKh

Kenya has been awarded the right to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships after winning the bid against competition from the United Kingdom. The decision was announced during the 242nd World Athletics Council Meeting held in Budapest, marking a historic milestone for African athletics. The 2029 championships will mark the first time the global flagship athletics event is staged on the African continent. Nairobi had previously submitted a bid to host the 2025 edition, which was ultimately awarded to Tokyo.  However, the Kenyan capital has hosted major international track events in recent years, including the World U18 Championships in 2017 and the World U20 Championships in 2021. World Athletics President Sebastian Coe commended Nairobi's bid, describing it as compell...

FIFA has officially clarified that no final decision has been made regarding the venue for the 2030 FIFA World Cup final. Co-hosts Morocco, Spain, and Portugal have actively campaigned to host the marquee fixture, with Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu and the proposed 115,000-seat Grand Hassan II Stadium in Benslimane, near Casablanca, positioned as the primary candidates The governing body's clarification comes after public comments by Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), who claimed during a political rally in Rabat that Morocco had secured the final for the Benslimane venue. “The city of Benslimane will host the World Cup final. Hate it or love it, and if anyone wants to talk on top of that, let them talk,” Lekjaa stated. “The city is Benslim...