NIGERIA
Nigerian Professional Football League champions, Enyimba have been selected among the eight teams that will take part in the inaugural edition of the African Football League by the Confederation of African Football CAF.
The African Football League is a partnership between CAF and Federation of International Football Association FIFA.
The eight teams were selected from three African Regional Blocks: the North Region, the Central-West Region and the South-East Region.
The draw for the competition will take place in Cairo, Egypt, Second September.
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Sunshine Stars General Manager, Tunde Ogunja has described his team’s opponent in the first home match as a “propeller”.
The Owena Waves will lock horns with Kano Pillars in their opening fixture of the 2023-24 Nigeria Professional Football League season.
Ogunja opined that with effective and robust synergy among football stakeholders, the league will be the best on the continent in a few years.
The new season will kick start ninth September.
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Niger Tornadoes have embarked on a one-week closed camping season ahead of the new season.
The team will be based in Kontagora until the commencement of the new season.
The essence of closed camping is to allow the technical crew, concentrate fully on different training programs and build the player’s fitness level and stamina with a focus on the commencement of the new football season.
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Newly appointed, General Manager of Rangers, Amobi Ezeaku, has been elected Assistant Secretary of the Nigeria Professional Football League Club Owners Association.
He was elected into the new position at the NPFL Congress in Abuja.
His counterpart at Heartland, Promise Nwachukwu, assumed the position of Coordinator of the association.
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Nigeria’s women’s Volleyball team have won a silver medal at the just-concluded 2023 CAVB U21 Beach Volleyball Championship in Morocco on Wednesday.
The host country, Morocco beat Nigeria 2-1 (13-21, 21-15, 18-16) in an intense match watched by a mammoth crowd at the Beach Resort in Casablanca.
Nigeria temporarily led at 16 -15 points before Morocco picked up three points to emerge Champions of the women’s category.
The result means Nigeria’s women’s Volleyball team have now qualified for the 2023 World Championship.
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The Handball Federation of Nigeria has called up 18 players to camp ahead of next month’s African Women Youth Handball Nations Championship.
The players are expected to report to camp at the Rowe Park training centre in Yaba Lagos.
The 19th Africa Women’s Youth Handball Nations Championship will take place from sixteenth September in Monastir, Tunisia and serves as a qualifier for the 2024 Youth Handball World Cup.
According to the federation, 14 players who participated in the IHF Challenge Trophy were invited to the Nation’s Cup.
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IN WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
Under-fire Spanish FA boss, Luis Rubiales has been accused of causing ‘grave harm to the image of Spanish football’ with his conduct around the Women’s World Cup final.
Rubiales has been at the centre of a storm of controversy since he kissed World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso on the lips after the final earlier this month in Sydney.
His actions sparked a global outcry, with people accusing him of both assaulting Hermoso and taking attention away from Spain’s achievement.
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Outspoken LaLiga chief, Javier Tebas has launched a blistering attack on disgraced Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales, describing him as a ‘madman who touches his genitals’.
Tebas said Rubiales, who has refused to resign from his post despite being suspended by FIFA, had ‘undermined Jenni’s dignity and also that of Spain.’
Rubiales’ shocking behaviour in which he appeared to grab his crotch in the presence of Spain’s Queen and her 16-year-old daughter, and then kissed player Jenni Hermoso on the lips, has overshadowed their Women’s World Cup triumph.
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USA forward, Megan Rapinoe will play her final match for the United States in a friendly against South Africa on twenty-four September.
Rapinoe played in four World Cups, winning the 2015 and 2019 editions.
Prior to the 2023 World Cup she confirmed plans to retire when the National Women’s Soccer League season ends in November.
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ENGLAND
Chelsea has reached the third round of the Carabao Cup, following a two-one win over League Two AFC Wimbledon at Stamford Bridge.
AFC Wimbledon started brightly and took the lead through a penalty in the 18th minute.
It was also a penalty which brought Chelsea level on the stroke of half-time, as Enzo Fernandez completed the turnaround when he picked up on Alex Bass’ poor clearance to fire in from outside the area.
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Arnaut Danjuma struck an eighty-eight minute winner as Everton came from behind to beat League Two’s bottom side Doncaster Rovers two-one and reach the third round of the Carabao Cup.
An upset looked on the cards when Joe Ironside put the hosts ahead a minute before half-time, glancing in a header from Tommy Rowe’s whipped ball.
But new Everton signing Beto levelled with a goal on his debut, reaching an Abdoulaye Doucoure ball to calmly poke past Rovers goalkeeper Ian Lawlor.
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Burnley star, Zeki Amdouni struck a cool, last-minute winner as the team edged past Nottingham Forest to reach the third round of the Carabao Cup.
Amdouni delightfully controlled Josh Brownhill’s pass before firing a finish past Matt Turner for the winning goal and one of only two shots on target in the entire contest.
It gave Vincent Kompany’s side their first victory of the season and sent four-time winners Nottingham Forest out of the competition at the first hurdle.
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Treble winners Manchester City will travel to Newcastle United in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
Holders Manchester United will face Crystal Palace at Old Trafford.
Aston Villa host Everton, Brentford play Arsenal and Brighton travel to Chelsea in the other all-Premier League ties.
League One side Lincoln’s reward for beating Sheffield United on penalties is a home tie with West Ham, while Salford City host Burnley.
Fulham, who beat Tottenham on penalties in the second round, host Championship side Norwich, while nine-time winners Liverpool are at home to Leicester City.
The third-round ties will take place in the week commencing twenty-five September.
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Five British teams await their fate in Thursday’s Champions League group stage draw in Monaco.
Manchester City will be among the top seeds as holders, while Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle are England’s other representatives.
Newcastle were last in the group stages in 2002-03, while it will be Arsenal’s first appearance since 2016-17.
The teams are split into four pots, according to seeding, with one from each placed in eight groups, as teams from the same country cannot be drawn together.
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Manchester United defender, Raphael Varane will miss a few weeks with the injury he sustained against Nottingham Forest.
Varane, was forced off at half-time of Saturday’s three-two win at Old Trafford.
Club sources have played down suggestions he could miss as many as six weeks, and note the forthcoming international break will limit the number of matches he is absent for.
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Manchester United remains in talks with Chelsea over a loan move for left-back Marc Cucurella.
The Red Devils agreed personal terms with the Spaniard, who has fallen out of favour at Stamford Bridge since his sixty-two million pounds move from Brighton last summer.
Cucurella became a key target for Manchester United after their first-choice left-back Luke Shaw picked up a long-term muscular injury in training.
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Manchester City have reached a verbal agreement with Wolves over a forty-seven point three million pounds deal to sign midfielder Matheus Nunes.
The deal for Nunes has not been formally agreed yet but if completed, there will be no add-ons.
Manchester City had a previous bid for the Portugal international rejected last week, with Wolves believed to be wanting in excess of sixty million pounds.
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Chelsea have an interest in signing Manchester City and England Under-twenty-one forward Cole Palmer.
It is understood that no official bid has yet been made.
Chelsea manager, Mauricio Pochettino has said the Blues may look to bring in one more offensive player during this transfer window, but insists a new recruit would have to fit the right ‘profile’.
Palmer can play in various positions both in the forward line and midfield.
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Former Chelsea midfielder, Cesc Fabregas says the partnership between Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo in the midfield will make the Blue very strong.
Fabregas believes Fernandez will grow in his game this season, while he branded Caicedo as a top and strong player.
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Meanwhile, the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust CST, has accused the club of ‘penny-pinching’ as it slammed the ‘appalling’ decision to remove a coach subsidy for travel to domestic away games.
Chelsea announced it will remove the ten pounds coach subsidy for away games.
The decision drew a furious reaction from CST, which noted the club’s largesse in the transfer window.
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Nottingham Forest are in advanced talks with Chelsea to sign winger Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Hudson-Odoi is surplus to requirements at Chelsea and has been training with their under-twenty-one since returning following a loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen last season.
A potential move to Fulham has failed to materialise for Hudson-Odoi, and Nottingham Forest are now his most likely destination ahead of Friday’s transfer deadline.
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Aston Villa are closing in on a loan deal for Barcelona defender, Clement Lenglet as they seek cover during the absence of injured Tyrone Mings.
Mings faces months on the sidelines after sustaining a serious knee injury in Villa’s five-one defeat at Newcastle on the opening day of the season.
Lenglet, returned to parent club Barcelona after a loan spell at Tottenham last season.
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The global record for transfer spending in a single window has been broken this summer.
The previous high was set in 2019 when clubs spent a collective six point five-one billion pounds, but this summer six point five-six billion pounds has been spent worldwide.
According to Transfermarkt, Premier League outlay has reached two point one billion pounds, rendering it the highest-spending division by far.
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OTHER SPORTS
Iran has banned a weightlifter from sports for life and dissolved a sports committee after the athlete greeted an Israeli counterpart on a podium.
A veteran weightlifter, Mostafa Rajaei, finished second in his category in the 2023 World Master Weightlifting Championships in Poland and stood on a podium with an Iranian flag wrapped around him.
The two athletes shook hands and took a picture together, which led to the Iran Weightlifting Federation banning Rajaei from all sports for life due to what it called an “unforgivable” transgression.
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In Cricket; England comprehensively thrashed New Zealand by seven wickets with a professional performance in the first T20 of their four-match series at Chester-le-Street.
Switching formats for their first action since the Ashes a month ago, the hosts romped to victory in a chase of 140 with six overs to spare.
Jonny Bairstow nicked the second ball of the chase to slip but Dawid Malan made a composed 54 from 42 balls.
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In Rugby; France centre Jonathan Danty is a doubt for their World Cup opener against New Zealand because of a hamstring injury.
The 30-year-old scored at the weekend in France’s 41-17 win over Australia in their final warm-up game.
The French Rugby Federation (FRF) confirmed extra tests post-game showed a “slight problem” with his hamstring.
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In Tennis; British qualifier Lily Miyazaki saw her memorable US Open run come to an end with a second-round exit against Olympic champion Belinda Bencic.
Miyazaki, 27, had never qualified for a Grand Slam main draw until she won three matches to reach the first round.
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Seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas suffered a shock defeat by qualifier Dominic Stricker in the second round of the US Open.
World number 128 Stricker came out on top of a four-hour epic 7-5 6-7 (2-7) 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (8-6) 6-3.
Tsitsipas of Greece was serving for the match in the fourth set but his Swiss opponent fought back to force a third tie-break and then won the fifth set.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles in straight sets.
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OTHER LEAGUES
Rangers’ dreams of an immediate return to the Champions League group stage were extinguished in excruciating fashion by a ruthless PSV Eindhoven.
The Ibrox side had harboured hopes of exorcising last season’s disfigured continental campaign but were unable to eject the Dutch from the competition in the way they did last term.
Ismael Saibari’s first-half header nudged PSV ahead on aggregate for the first time in the tie, and the Moroccan added a second not long after the break.
Luuk de Jong , Joey Veerman and Connor Goldson own goal make it five-one win for PSV Eindhoven, while Rangers’ goal was scored by James Tavernier.
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Eintracht Frankfurt striker, Randal Kolo Muani has told the club he will not train as he tries to force a move to Paris Saint-Germain.
The PSG target, said he wants to move to the French champions as it was a unique chance for him.
The France international will not take part in Thursday’s Europa Conference League qualifier against Levski Sofia.
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Besiktas are reportedly prepared to offer Mason Greenwood a chance to restart his career with the Turkish club expected to make a loan offer to Manchester United for the forward.
Manchester United announced earlier this month that Greenwood will leave the club after concluding an internal review into the striker.
Greenwood, who was arrested in January 2022 on suspicion of a number of offences including attempted rape, will not play for the club again and is likely to leave on loan or see his contract settled.
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Monaco have completed the thirty-five million pounds signing of striker Folarin Balogun from Arsenal on a five-year deal.
The United States forward returns to France after scoring twenty-two goals on loan at Reims last season.
Balogun had not featured for Arsenal in the Premier League at the start of this season despite first-choice striker, Gabriel Jesus being out injured.
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Bayern Munich’s Ryan Gravenberch has agreed personal terms with Liverpool as the Dutchman seeks regular minutes and the Bundesliga side’s pursuit of Joao Palhinha could pave the way for a move to Liverpool.
Liverpool are hoping a fee around thirty-five million pounds can complete the deal for Holland international Gravenberch.
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Al-Nassr captain, Cristiano Ronaldo has expressed happiness after leading his team to beat Al-Shabab four-nil in Tuesday’s Saudi Pro League tie.
Ronaldo also hailed his teammates for their fantastic performance against Al-Shabab.
A brace from Ronaldo and a strike each from Sadio Mane and Sultan Al-Ghannam gave Al-Nassr the victory over Al-Shabab at KSU Football Field.
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Argentine footballer, Lionel Messi has taken Inter Miami by storm, scoring nine goals in his first six games for the Florida club during their Leagues Cup campaign.
Messi continued that goalscoring form when he made his Major League Soccer (MLS) debut on the weekend, coming off the bench in the 60th minute before scoring late in the game to help his side to a two-nil away win against New York Red Bulls.
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Wales boss, Robert Page has recalled Tom Lockyer for their September games against South Korea and Latvia following the Luton Town captain’s recovery from heart surgery.
Lockyer was set to return to Wales duty before his collapse in the Championship final play-off at Wembley in May.
Leeds United’s Dan James has been ruled out by injury, as Page included uncapped trio Tom King, Morgan Fox and Liam Cullen and recalled Josh Sheehan.
Wales return to action with a friendly at Cardiff City Stadium against South Korea seventh September before a Euro 2024 qualifier in Latvia.
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TODAY’S THOUGHT
“It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters….words from Evander Holyfield
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