NIGERIA

Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, has pledged his full support to the Nigeria Cricket Federation on their two-day host of the Cricket World Cup Trophy in the country.

This is according to President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Uyi Akpata, who said the Minister pledged magnanimous support for the event.

The Cricket World Cup is on a Tour of three African countries, Uganda, Nigeria, and South Africa, ahead of the ODI World Cup that kicks off in India later in October.

The World Cup is scheduled to arrive Abuja, Nigeria on Tuesday.

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Football stakeholders have rued the elimination of Nigerian football clubs from the preliminary stage of 2023/2024 CAF Champions League.

They spoke on the failure of the two Nigerian football clubs, Enyimba International FC of Aba and Remo Stars FC of Ikenne, to go beyond the preliminary round of the CAF Champions League.

Nine-time league winners, Enyimba FC, on Sunday played a goalless draw against Al-Ahly Benghazi of Libya to put the aggregate score at 3-4, and got eliminated from the competition.

Also, Remo Stars FC failed to make it beyond the preliminary round for the second time after playing 1-1 draw against Medeama FC of Ghana.

The Sky Blue Stars later lost 3-4 on penalty.

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Remo Stars goalkeeper, Kayode Bankole, has been left distraught after his team’s elimination from the CAF Champions League in the first preliminary round of the competition on Sunday.

Bankole said he was left disappointed after the team failed to progress to the next stage of the competition.

Despite having the advantage of playing their return leg at home, Remo, who finished second in the NPFL last season, could not make their home advantage count as they were eliminated by Medeama Sports Club of Ghana.

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Players in the Nigeria Professional Football League and their fans are anticipating the start of the new season as fixtures for the 2023/24 season will be released on Tuesday.

It is the first time the NPFL will be starting in September in about a decade as previous seasons have usually fallen behind the August to May football calendar.

The incoming season was initially billed to start twenty-six August, but the Interim Management Committee of the NPFL, led by Gbenga Elegbeleye, shifted the resumption to nine September.

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Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen has received his award for emerging as the top scorer in the Italian Serie A for the 2022/2023 season.

He was handed the award just before the Seria A encounter between Napoli and Sassuolo where the striker scored his third goal of the new season to give the defending champions a two-nil win on Sunday.

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IN WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

FIFA will push for Luis Rubiales to be banned from all football for fifteen years after the disgraced Spanish FA president’s own federation dramatically withdrew their support for him.

Spanish FA chiefs asked Rubiales, to resign with immediate effect, saying his ‘unacceptable’ behaviour had caused ‘grave harm to the image of Spanish football’.

The U-turn followed a threat from FIFA to ban Spain’s national teams and elite clubs from international competition if the Spanish FA refused to accept their punishment of Rubiales.

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Meanwhile, Spanish Football Federation regional leaders have called on their president Luis Rubiales to immediately resign after he kissed player Jenni Hermoso.

Rubiales, has been widely criticised after the incident following Spain’s Women’s World Cup final win.

Hermoso, said the kiss on her lips was not consensual.

Earlier, Spanish prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into whether the incident amounts to a crime of sexual assault.

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Angeles Bejar, mother of embattled Spanish Football Association President, Luis Rubiales, has reportedly locked herself in a Spanish church and declared a hunger strike in protest of the “inhuman witch-hunt” of her football chief son.

This is the latest in the scandal of an unsolicited kiss with Spain striker, Jennifer Hermosos, during the Women’s World Cup trophy presentation.

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ENGLAND

Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and other European clubs have dominated the new World clubs ranking by Football database.

According to the football ranking website on Monday, the soccer club’s ranking was updated after matches played twenty-seventh August.

Out of the two thousand, eight hundred and seventy-five clubs in the ranking, Manchester City sat at number one position with two thousand and eighty-six points, Bayern Munich as second with one thousand, nine hundred and fifty points, and Real Madrid as third with one thousand, nine hundred and forty-two points.

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Former Aston Villa player, Chris Sutton, says Liverpool will be Manchester City’s closest challengers in the Premier League this season.

Jurgen Klopp’s side completed a remarkable turnaround on Sunday as Darwin Nunez scored twice in a two-one win at Newcastle, despite having ten men.

Sutton who stated the performance was a “major statement”, praised Klopp’s work in the transfer market this summer.

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Liverpool do not want to sell either Mohamed Salah or Joe Gomez to Al-Ittihad despite the Saudi Pro League side registering a strong interest in both.

News of Al-Ittihad’s attempts to lure Salah to Saudi Arabia broke last week, with the links dismissed by Jurgen Klopp ahead of the Reds’ two-one win at Newcastle on Sunday.

But that has not stopped the reigning Saudi Pro League champions from attempting to make the Egyptian the highest-paid player in the country.

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Nottingham Forest have lodged an official complaint with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited over the performance of the refereeing team in their three-two defeat at Manchester United.

Forest boss, Steve Cooper said he needed to “bite his tongue” over what he really felt about referee Stuart Attwell and his colleagues.

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Wolves midfielder, Matheus Nunes will be fined after missing training in an effort to secure a move to Manchester City.

Manchester City had a forty-seven million pounds bid for the Portugal international turned down last week.

Wolves are expecting an improved offer before Friday’s transfer deadline.

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Scotland manager, Steve Clarke has revealed a first call up for Elliot Anderson came after “good discussions” with the Newcastle midfielder and his family.

Anderson is in the squad for next month’s Euro 2024 qualifier in Cyprus and a friendly with England.

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Chelsea are drawing a close to the saga surrounding Romelu Lukaku’s immediate future by agreeing a loan deal with Roma.

Lukaku will take a pay cut to reunite with his former boss Jose Mourinho with Chelsea receiving just over five million pounds as a loan fee.

Chelsea accepted less than their desired eight million pounds fee so that they will not have to make any contribution to Lukaku’s salary while he is in Rome where he will earn around six point four million pounds.

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Manchester United legend, Rio Ferdinand has lauded the team’s captain Bruno Fernandes as the ‘most creative player in the Premier League’ – as he blasted the playmaker’s critics this season.

Ferdinand also claimed that the Portuguese midfielder was going to stand out more because he ‘takes risks’.

He has been an important cog in the heart of Untied’s midfield so far during the opening few matches of the 2023-24 Premier League season.

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Manchester United are weighing up a move for Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the remaining days of the transfer window.

The Red Devils are looking to conduct late business in the window that shuts on Friday with Erik ten Hag desperate to reinforce his midfield with further bodies.

Hojbjerg has not been the first name on United’s shortlist but could be braced for a late move after the club were offered the chance to open talks over a deal.

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Police are investigating a city-centre brawl involving Newcastle captain, Jamaal Lascelles in which it is claimed a gang of men ‘threatened to shoot’ the player and his brother.

Officers from Northumbria Police were called following the clash on Westgate Road in Newcastle during the early hours of twentieth August.

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OTHER SPORTS

In Tennis; Iga Swiatek began her US Open title defence with an emphatic first-round victory as eighth seed Maria Sakkari fell to a surprising loss.

World number one Swiatek breezed to a 6-0 6-1 win over Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson in 58 minutes.

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Dominic Thiem won his first Grand Slam match in more than two years with a straight-set victory over Alexander Bublik at the US Open.

The Austrian won the title at Flushing Meadows in 2020 but suffered a serious wrist injury shortly afterwards and struggled to return to his past best.

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British qualifier Lily Miyazaki earned her first win at a Grand Slam with a confident display against Margarita Betova on day one of the US Open.

The 27-year-old won 6-3 6-3 in New York and her reward is a second-round match against Swiss 15th seed Belinda Bencic.

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In Athletics; Commonwealth Games 10,000m champion Eilish McColgan has revealed she spent five “distressing” days in hospital last week to address a “fluid leak” in her spine.

The 32-year-old was forced to pull out of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest this month with a knee injury.

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In Cycling; Remco Evenepoel suffered a bleeding cut above his right eye from crashing into a fan after winning stage three of the Vuelta a Espana.

Defending champion Evenepoel outpaced Jonas Vingegaard in a sprint finish but collided with the spectator shortly after crossing the finish line.

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In Cricket; New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has been given about two weeks to prove his fitness for the men’s one-day World Cup, which starts in India in October.

The 33-year-old, who is his country’s ODI and T20 captain, tore cruciate ligaments in his right knee in April.

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In Golf; World number one Lilia Vu and second-ranked Nelly Korda are among nine automatic qualifiers who will represent the United States at the Solheim Cup next month.

LPGA Tour rookie Rose Zhang, who won the Mizuho Americas Open on her professional debut in June, is also named.

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In Rugby; Ireland captain Johnny Sexton says the protracted disciplinary process which threatened to affect his World Cup was frustrating and took a toll on his family.

Sexton is unsure why he endured such a lengthy wait to discover his fate for “confrontational and aggressive” behaviour towards referee Jaco Peyper.

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OTHER LEAGUES

Atletico Madrid have hammered city rivals Rayo Vallecano seven-nil for their biggest ever away win in La Liga.

Diego Simone’s side were three-nil up inside thirty-six minutes as Antoine Griezmann, Memphis Depay and Nahuel Molina got on the scoresheet.

Four goals in thirteen second-half minutes then completed the rout with Alvaro Morata netting twice, alongside Angel Correa and Marcos Llorente.

Atletico move second, two points behind Real Madrid after three games.

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Real Madrid star, Vinicius Junior is out for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury.

The team confirmed the Brazilian’s injury in a statement but did not specify his expected absence time.

Vinicius limped off injured against Celta Vigo on Friday early in Madrid’s one-nil win at Balaidos, which kept the team top of La Liga with a percent record after three games.

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Bayern Munich have began to make moves in their pursuit of Trevoh Chalobah after opening discussions with Chelsea for the defender.

The German giants have already dipped into the Premier League this season after forking out one hundred million pounds for Harry Kane and are now hoping to return to London for Chalobah.

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Bayern Munich’s new reserve goalkeeper, Daniel Peretz, says he would not settle for a spot on the bench, while the future of full back Benjamin Pavard continues to hang in the balance.

Peretz, has been brought in on the cheap from Maccabi Tel Aviv as a deputy to Sven Ulreich, while Manuel Neuer recovers from a broken leg.

He will be coached to be a future number two to Neuer, with Ulreich reaching the end of his career, but the Israeli is aiming big.

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Englishman, John Herdman has resigned as head coach of the Canadian national men’s football squad.

Herdman is to become the new head coach of MLS side Toronto FC from 1 October.

He led Canada into last year’s World Cup their first appearance in thirty-six years after taking up the role in January 2018.

Herdman’s assistant Mauro Biello will take over as interim manager for Canada, who will co-host the next men’s World Cup along with Mexico and the United States, as the search starts for a new coach.

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Roberto Mancini says he hoped to lead Saudi Arabia to Asian Cup victory within months as he signed a multi-million dollar deal on Monday, just a fortnight after quitting as Italy coach.

The former Inter Milan and Manchester City boss, held up a green shirt that read “Mancini 2027” after inking a contract to stay with the Green Falcons beyond the next World Cup.

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A Polish top-flight goalkeeper has suffered hand injuries after being attacked.

Kewin Komar, who plays for newly-promoted Puszcza Niepolomice, is likely to miss the autumn round of fixtures.

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TODAY’S THOUGHT

“Only he who can see the invisible can do the impossible.” ….words from Frank L. Gaines.