NIGERIA

Victor Mbaoma has marked his return to the domestic scene with a brace as Katsina United defeated DMD FC 2-1 in their Nigeria National League Super Eight playoffs.
Mbaoma was on target for the Chanji Boys in the 14th and 20th minutes.
The striker joined Usman Abdallah’s promotion chasing side after an unsuccessful spell with Algerian side Mouloudia d’Algiers.

Katsina United will lock horns with EFCC in their second game on Monday.

Former Super Eagles captain, Nwankwo Kanu, is reportedly lined up to take over as new chairman of Nigeria Premier League champions, Enyimba.
The former board of the Peoples’ Elephant was dissolved by the Abia State Government.
Erstwhile chairman of the team, Felix Anyansi-Agwu was in charge of the team for twenty-three years ago.

The Aba giants won nine NPL titles and two CAF Champions League during his reign.

Remo Stars head coach, Daniel Ogunmodede, says his team’s target is to win the Nigeria Premier League next season.
The Sky Blue Stars finished the 2022-23 NPL as runners up.
Ogunmodede however stated that his team will need to make an extra push to achieve the objective.

Remo Stars and NPL champions Enyimba will play in the CAF Champions League next season.

Kwara United are expected to resume training for the 2023/2024 Nigeria Premier League (NPL) season on Monday.
The players, according to the General Manager of the club, Bashir Badawiy, have been directed to resume for training by Monday, at the Kwara Football Academy pitch.
The Harmony Boys embarked on a month break after an unimpressive 2022-23 NPL season.

The Ilorin club will look to bring in new players before the start of the new season.

Bala Abubakar has resumed duty as the new head coach of Nigeria Premier League club, Lobi Stars.
The former Niger Tornadoes gaffer was expected to begin in his new role on Friday but was delayed due to logistics issues.

The young tactician will lead the team to the Naija Super 8 pre-season tournament in Lagos next week.

The Delta State Sports Commission has assured a successful hosting of the Nigeria National League Super Eight playoffs.
Chairman of the commission, Tonobok Okowa, gave the assurance in a chat with the media on the readiness of the state at hosting a hitch free competition.
Okowa also expressed optimism that the tournament will be competitive and also lure more fans to the stadium.

The NNL promotion playoffs began on Sunday, July second at the Stephen Keshi Stadium.

Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan has won the women’s 100 metres hurdles at the Stockholm Diamond League, with an impressive time of 12.52s.
She beat Sarah Lavin who clocked a personal best of 12.73s for 2nd and Pia Skrzyszowska in 12.78s in 3rd place.
Tobi finished in second position in the 100 metres hurdles event at the Lausanne Diamond League.

Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn won the race with a time of 12.40s.

Anthony Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn has disclosed the British-Nigerian’s staggering payday for the clash vs Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia this December.
When Skills Challenge Promotions first disclosed their interest in staging Joshua vs Wilder over in Saudi Arabia they promised that all parties involved would receive a ‘premium price’ for their services.

For Joshua that ‘premium price’ will be N45.5bn, according to his promoter and Matchroom Boxing CEO Hearn.

Nigeria’s men’s basketball national team, D’Tigers, bounced back from their opening day defeat to Guinea in the 2023 FIBA AfroCan Qualifiers for Zone 3 to beat Benin 78-51 in the second game of Match Day 2
The D’Tigers lost 65-62 to Guinea and faced an uphill task to qualify for the tournament proper.
Ogoh Odaudu’s side needed a win to keep their hopes alive and they did that in style at the Palais des Sports de Treichville in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Just as it was against Guinea, Ibe Agu made the first basket for Nigeria to earn D’Tigers their first points of the game.

ENGLAND

Anthony Gordon’s first-half finish sealed England a place in the European Under-21 Championship semi-finals as they defeated Portugal in Georgia.
The Newcastle forward smashed home from inside the area from a Morgan Gibbs-White cutback after good work from Chelsea’s Noni Madueke.
Portugal hit the bar through Henrique Araujo in the second half.

But Lee Carsley’s side, yet to concede a goal in this tournament, held out and will face Israel on Wednesday.

All 10 Premier League clubs who have announced their replica shirt prices for next season have hiked prices between nine and fourteenth per cent.
Arsenal and Manchester United shirts have gone up from seventy pounds to eighty pounds for 2023-24, a rise of 14 per cent.
Those two clubs, along with Tottenham, who have raised their price by five pounds year-on-year to eighty pounds, will have the most expensive basic adult short-sleeved replica shirts.

If buyers want to add official Premier League badges, and a name and number, the cost rises to one hundred pounds.

Liverpool have signed midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai from Bundesliga club RB Leipzig for sixty million pounds on a five-year deal.
The Reds triggered the Hungarian’s release clause to make him their second major signing of the summer.
Szoboszlai arrives, subject to a work permit, following the thirty-five million pounds signing of Argentina international midfielder Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton.

He won the German Cup in each of the last two seasons.

The head of NHS England Manda Pritchard says football clubs should think about the impact on fans when accepting sponsorships from gambling firms.
Pritchard said the deals send a message to children that gambling was OK.

Her comments came after the news that the NHS is nearly doubling the number of gambling addiction clinics to 15 after a record number of referrals.

A new footage has revealed that Manchester City star man Kevin de Bruyne used to be a Liverpool fan and dreamt of playing for the club one day,
The player has become a legend at the Etihad since his arrival in 2015, winning five Premier League titles, the Champions League, five League Cups and two FA Cups.

Many of them have come at the expense of the Anfield club, who have fought titanic battles with Pep Guardiola’s men over the past five years.

Nottingham Forest have been told that they will have to pay between twelve point eight million pounds and seventeen million pounds if they are to sign Stuttgart defender Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Mavropanos, has a release clause of twenty-one million pounds but Stuttgart are prepared to let him leave for a lower fee.

Meanwhile, Eintracht Frankfurt and Napoli are also interested in Mavropanos, who has previously been linked with West Ham.

Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola is on the hunt for a new midfielder after club captain Ilkay Gundogan left for Barcelona and could lure Frenkie de Jong back in the other direction as his replacement.
Manchester City ended their pursuit of West Ham’s Declan Rice after Arsenal returned with a bid of £105m and are now looking for an alternative to plug the hole in midfield.

De Jong was previously chased by Manchester United who desperately attempted to lure the Dutchman to Old Trafford for the entirety of last year’s summer transfer window before conceding defeat as he opted to remain in Spain.

Manchester United have been slammed over their ‘tone deaf’ comment on David de Gea’s wedding Instagram post days after his contract expired at Old Trafford.
The Spanish keeper did not let the disappointment of being released by United faze him as he tied the knot with long-term partner Edurne Garcia at a lavish wedding ceremony in Menorca.

The goalkeeper is now officially a free agent after 12 years at the club as United U-turned on a contract offer earlier this year and he faces an uncertain future.

Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva has tied the knot with stunning model Ines Tomaz in front of 250 guests including teammate Ruben Dias and the defender’s singer ex April Ivy.
Silva’s teammates Riyad Mahrez, Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo, who is returning to Man City after Bayern Munich decided against buying the Portuguese international for sixty-five million pounds following a loan spell, were also among the guests.

Ines, who is pregnant with the couple’s first child, looked stunning as she said ‘I do’ in an Oscar de la Renta wedding dress.

OTHER SPORTS

In Tennis; Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from Wimbledon 2023 with a wrist injury.
The Australian, 28, lost to Novak Djokovic in last year’s men’s singles final and has only played one tournament this year because of a knee injury that required surgery.

But Kyrgios announced that he had torn a ligament in his wrist during his comeback.

Wimbledon 2023 gets under way on Monday, with defending men’s singles champion Novak Djokovic opening proceedings on Centre Court.

Djokovic, seeking a record-equalling eighth men’s title at Wimbledon, faces Argentina’s Pedro Cachin.

In Golf; Rickie Fowler won his first PGA Tour title in four years by triumphing at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit after a three-way play-off on Sunday.
The 34-year-old American finished level with Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa on 24 under after 72 holes.
=========================÷÷===
In Cricket; The Marylebone Cricket Club has suspended three members over altercations with Australia players at Lord’s on day five of the second Test.

Television footage appeared to show clashes between Usman Khawaja and David Warner and spectators in the Long Room as Australia walked off for lunch.

In Athletics; Daryll Neita won the women’s 200m ahead of fellow Briton Dina Asher-Smith at a wet Diamond League event in Stockholm.
Neita followed her second place in the 100m in Lausanne with a winning time of 22.50 seconds and Asher-Smith (22.58) completed a British one-two.

Olympic champion and world record holder Karsten Warholm eased to victory in the men’s 400m hurdles in 47.57.

In Boxing; At Manchester’s AO Arena, Savannah Marshall became the undisputed super-middleweight champion by dethroning Franchon Crews-Dezurn, making her just the second English fighter after Chantelle Cameron to clean up a division.
Earlier, Natasha Jonas the first woman to box for Team GB at an Olympic Games – continued her legacy.

She won a fourth world title in as many fights, beating Kandi Wyatt for the vacant IBF welterweight strap.

OTHER LEAGUES

Paris Saint-Germain forward, Kylian Mbappe is reportedly requesting a salary package worth two hundred and six million pounds, if he is to join any club this summer.
The forward is currently on holiday after a gruelling but hugely successful season.

For his club, Mbappe netted 41 goals in 43 games, while he also added 13 more goals for Les Bleus across the past 12 months which included winning the Golden Boot at the World Cup in Qatar.

However, there is currently uncertainty over his future with the Parisians after he confirmed a desire to leave the club upon the expiry of his contract in June 2024.

Barcelona are reportedly set to beat Real Madrid to the signing of Fenerbahce prospect Arda Guler next week.
The player, dubbed ‘the Turkish Messi’, is highly sought after and Barcelona have been trying to get a deal over the line, especially after it emerged that Real Madrid are also interested in him.

Barcelona sporting director Deco travelled to Turkey in an attempt to sign Guler, who has a release clause of just fifteenth million pounds.

Gianluigi Buffon has reportedly been offered a lucrative deal to continue his career in Saudi Arabia.
Buffon who made his professional debut nearly three decades ago currently captains his boyhood club Parma in Serie B.
A hamstring injury affected his playing time last season but the former Juventus star reclaimed the number one spot upon his return, making seventeen appearances as Parma reached the Serie B play-offs.