Author: Adejuyigbe Francis

Jenni Hermoso has not been included in Spain’s first squad since winning the Women’s World Cup, but 15 members of that triumphant team have been named. A large number of players boycotted the team after then football federation boss Luis Rubiales kissed forward Hermoso following last month’s final. The fall out led to Rubiales resigning. On Friday, 39 players – including 21 of the 23 World Cup-winners – said their strike would continue until further changes were made. This was the first squad announcement by new coach Montse Tome, who replaced Jorge Vilda – considered a close ally of Rubiales -…

Manchester United have suffered another injury setback with Aaron Wan-Bissaka ruled out for “several weeks”. The right-back had started every Premier League game for United this season before coming on as a late substitute in the 3-1 defeat to Brighton on Saturday. Wan-Bissaka did not make the XI as he had been unwell and is now set to miss the next few matches. A statement from the club said: “Aaron Wan-Bissaka is set for a period on the sidelines after sustaining an injury during the closing stages of Saturday’s game against Brighton & Hove Albion. “Further assessment will be needed to…

Mikel Arteta spoke about the idea of treating the goalkeeping position like an outfield one, after dropping Aaron Ramsdale in favour of David Raya for Arsenal’s match against Everton. The Gunners boss gave the summer signing his debut between the sticks, and challenged the notion of having an established No. 1 shot-stopper in the team. I haven’t had a single question on why Gabriel Jesus hasn’t started,” said Arteta in his post-match press conference following the 1-0 win at Goodison Park. “He’s won more trophies than anyone, including me, in that dressing room, but they don’t ask why I have…

Sao Tome and Principe Women’s National team have reportedly surrendered and withdrawn from the WAFCON qualifier vs the Super Falcons of Nigeria. Nigeria was scheduled to face Sao Tome and Principe in a 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying first leg encounter on September 22 with the return leg on September 26, but that will no longer happen, according to Pulse Sports. According to the report, the Sao Tome and Principe Football Federation has written to CAF, notifying them of their decision to withdraw from the qualifiers. Upon notification, the Nigeria Football Federation have also written to the clubs…

Aruna Quadri won Nigeria its second gold medal at the ongoing ITTF Africa Championship as he claimed the win in the final of the men’s singles event. After a drab tournament for the Nigerians, Funke Oshonaike and Fatimo Bello won the gold medal in the women’s doubles event, the nation’s first this year. Quadri defeated fellow Nigerian Olajide Omotayo 4-0 to reach the final of the men’s singles event, where he was due to face Egyptian star Ahmed Saleh, who defeated Idowu Saheed 4-2 in their semifinal meeting. Aruna Quadri was ruthless as he defeated Saleh 4-0 (11-2, 12-10, 11-6, 11-6) in…

Roma manager Jose Mourinho said Romelu Lukaku thrives when he feels loved after the striker scored his first Roma goal in Sunday’s 7-0 win over Empoli. The Belgian joined the club from the Italian capital on a season-long loan from Chelsea in the summer. Lukaku, 30, re-joined Chelsea for £97.5m in 2021 but his return proved unsuccessful and he was not part of new manager Mauricio Pochettino’s plans. “Romelu needs to feel loved and wanted,” said Mourinho. The Portuguese, who worked with Lukaku at Chelsea and Manchester United, added: “When he came here, he could sense the team needed a player…

The police in Katsina State have urged Nigerians to ignore a video on social media alleging diversion of palliatives by its officers. This is contained in a statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Katsina, ASP Aliyu Abubakar-Sadiq. The police said that the video was not only misleading but aimed at tarnishing the good image of the police. ”After a thorough investigation, it was revealed that the bags of rice seen in the video in the police motor vehicle were intercepted and recovered from some unscrupulous entity. “The unscrupulous entities fraudulently obtained more than the necessary share of…

The Federal Government has again invited the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) for another meeting over its planned indefinite strike. This is contained in a statement issued by Simon Lalong, the Minister of Labour and Employment. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Lalong had on Sept. 4, invited NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) for a meeting to avert the earlier two-day nationwide warning strike. NAN also reports that only the TUC showed up for the meeting. Lalong said that he had directed the Department of Trade Unions Services and Industrial Relations to convene the meeting with the leadership of…

Investments in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector has grown to over $75bn which is now more than the GDP of many African countries. The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Umar Danbatta revealed this in Kano while unveiled achievements between 2015 to 2023. He said, “From 8 per cent contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2015, telecommunications sector now contributes 16 per cent quarterly to the Nigerian economy as of the second quarter of 2023. “Following the authorization of more telecommunications companies to operate in the Nigeria’s telecoms sector, the investments profile has increased tremendously from $38 billion…

Nigerian athlete Tobi Amusan on Sunday, September 17 clinched her third consecutive Diamond League women’s 100m hurdles title. Amusan, on Sunday night in Oregon, United States of America, finished first with her season’s best time of 12.33s to emerge winner of the women’s 100m hurdles event. Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quin ran 12.38 seconds to finish in second place while Kendra Harrison came third in the race. Amusan made history in 2021 with her first Diamond League Trophy, clocking 12.42 seconds before defending it in a time of 12.29 seconds in Zurich last year. Few months the Nigerian was suspended for…

Arsenal dug deep to secure a narrow but well-deserved win over struggling Everton at Goodison Park. The Gunners – who replaced England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale with David Raya – have suffered away at Everton in recent years, losing on four of their last five visits. But the Toffees, still without a Premier League win this season, were desperately short of quality and Arsenal substitute Leandro Trossard broke the deadlock with a classy side-foot finish after 69 minutes. Arsenal had Gabriel Martinelli’s sweeping first half finish narrowly ruled out for offside by Eddie Nketiah in the build up, but the home…

Chelsea’s were held to a 0-0 draw by Bournemouth on Saturday as their rotten start to life under Mauricio Pochettino continued. The Blues were wasteful at the Vitality Stadium and have now taken only five points from their opening five games. The Cherries are still looking for their first win under Andoni Iraola but are at least now unbeaten in their last two games. Chelsea nearly took the lead with little over two minutes on the clock. Nicolas Jackson’s clever back-heel allowed Mykhailo Mudryk to burst with the ball beyond Lloyd Kelly and cross for Conor Gallagher, but his improvised…