IN UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

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Nottingham Forest boss, Vitor Pereira has made the perfect start to his reign as new boss as they claimed a stylish three-nil victory at Fenerbahce in the first leg of their Europa League knockout round play-off tie.

The visitors dominated from start to finish to record their biggest ever away win in European competition.

Murillo, Igor Jesus and Morgan Gibbs-White scored a goal each for Nottingham Forest.

Forest will now be strong favourites to advance to the last 16 where either Midtjylland or Real Betis await when the second leg gets under way at the City Ground on 26th February.

Meanwhile, Pereira asked his Nottingham Forest players to express themselves prior to their commanding victory at Fenerbahce in the first leg of their Europa League knockout round play-off tie.

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Crystal Palace has failed to make their dominance count as they were held to a one-all draw by Zrinjski Mostar in the first leg of their Conference League play-off tie.

Crystal Palace’s only goal was scored by Ismaila Sarr, while Zrinjski Mostar’s only goal was scored by Karlo Abramovic

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Chelsea head coach, Liam Rosenior says anyone found guilty of racist behaviour in football should not be in the game.

Rosenior said any coach or player found guilty of racism should be banned from the sport.

Meanwhile, West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo, who managed and played for Benfica’s rivals Porto, said racism needs to be eradicated all over the world.

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Leicester City has appealed against a decision to deduct them six points for breaching English Football League financial rules.

The sanction was imposed on the Foxes by an independent commission earlier this month and saw them drop to 20th in the Championship, only outside the relegation zone on goal difference.

Two successive defeats since have led to them dropping into the bottom three, two points from safety.

The Premier League, who initially charged Leicester with breaching profit and sustainability rules in the three years up to 2023-24 in May, have also lodged their own appeal against the commission’s decision not to sanction the club for late submission of their annual accounts.

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Former Nottingham Forest manger, Ange Postecoglou says he would not consider a return to managing Celtic despite the amazing experience he enjoyed in Glasgow.

The Australian lifted five trophies in two years at the club, and won the affection of fans with his attacking style of play before leaving for Tottenham Hotspur in 2023.

Postecoglou has been out of work since being sacked by Nottingham Forest in October and has been linked with a return to Celtic in the summer as the Premiership champions search for their next permanent manager.

He talked about his time as Celtic manager in positive terms, saying he loved the passion of the fans.

Postecoglou also described the city rivalry with Rangers and shared memories of his first season in charge, when the club won the Premiership and League Cup.

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IN NIGERIA

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Super Falcons head coach, Justine Madugu has unveiled his 25-player squad for the team’s upcoming friendly matches against the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon in Yaounde.

Madugu listed captain Rasheedat Ajibade, goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie and forwards Esther Okoronkwo and Chinwendu Ihezuo in the squad.

Canada-based midfielder Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene makes a return to the squad after a couple of years, and Gift Monday, also returns after missing out on last year’s Women AFCON triumph in Morocco.

England-based goalkeeper Comfort Erhabor has been called for the first time, as Mexico-based defender Chidinma Okeke also makes a return to the ten-time African champions.

The first match against the Lionesses will hold on Saturday, 28th February, with the second coming up on Tuesday, 3rd March.

The Super Falcons will use both games to prepare for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

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Portsmouth Ladies goalkeeper, Comfort Erhabor has celebrated her maiden invitation to the Super Falcons.

Erhabor once represented Nigeria at the Under-seventeen level.

She described it as a great honour to receive her first senior call-up.

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Super Eagles star, Ademola Lookman has expressed excitement following his UEFA Champions League debut for Atletico Madrid.

Lookman made his first European appearance for Diego Simeone’s side against Club Brugge.

The winger scored Atletico’s second goal of the thrilling encounter late in the first half.

It was the Nigeria international’s third goal across all competitions for the Spanish giants.

Lookman took to the social media to celebrate his maiden appearance in the UEFA Champions League.

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Former Super Eagles forward, Mutiu Adepoju has expressed shock over the recent appointment of a Head Coach and Sporting Director for Enyimba FC by the Abia State Government, as opposed to those earlier engaged by the Nwankwo Kanu-led Enyimba FC management.

Adepoju insisted that it was the duty of the club’s management led by Nwankwo Kanu to appoint officials.

The Abia State Government instead engaged the services of Cameroon-born Emmanuel Deutsch as Enyimba Technical Adviser and Daniel Eke as Sporting Director.

Adepoju expressed surprise at the recent developments within the People’s Elephant camp, maintaining that in a proper football management structure, the club’s hierarchy was responsible for appointing a coach and Sporting Director, subject to government approval.

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The Nigeria Women’s Football League has fined Osun Babes two point five million pounds after regulatory breaches led to the abandonment of their 2025/2026 Premiership fixture against FC Robo Queens in Lagos.

The match, scheduled for Wednesday, 18th February, at Onikan Stadium, failed to commence after Osun Babes, listed as the away side, did not provide an alternative kit with clearly displayed names and numbers despite a confirmed colour clash with the home team.

With no compliant change strip available, match officials awarded a walkover to Robo Queens in accordance with league rules.

Following a review, the league ruled that the club’s actions violated Article 10.3 of its regulatory framework, which compels visiting teams to adopt their second-choice colours where necessary to avoid clashes.

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President Bola Tinubu has approved the constitution of the Board of the Nigeria Anti-Doping Agency.

Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Shehu Dikko, disclosed this to State House Correspondents after meeting the president at the State House, Abuja.

He said Tinubu had earlier signed the Anti-Doping Bill into law after nearly 20 years of delay.

Dikko said the move met a key requirement of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and strengthened Nigeria’s clean sport status.

Dikko said the visit was to brief the president on the achievements recorded in 2025 and outline plans for 2026.

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Moroccan prosecutors have sought jail terms of up to two years for eighteen Senegalese football fans imprisoned in Rabat since last month’s AFCON final over hooliganism.

Seeking the maximum penalty for some, the prosecution told the court that the defendants had deliberately sought to disrupt the proper conduct of the match.

It said the group committed acts of violence broadcast live on television, while the defendants have denied any wrongdoing.

The Senegalese fans have been in pre-trial detention since 18th January, the day of the heated AFCON final in which Morocco lost to Senegal one-nil on home turf.

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The Nigeria Cricket Federation has unveiled the 7th edition of the National U-17 Cricket Championship set to begin with the zonal qualifications across the country.

The federation’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Musa Bodie, made this known in a statement on Thursday in Lagos and made available to newsmen.

He said this year’s edition would witness 36 states, across the country, participating in the zonal qualification.

He said the best from the states would be selected to form a team that would represent the zone in both Boys’ and Girls’ categories.

The Mobolaji Johnson Sports Complex, Rowe Park, will come alive on Saturday, 21st February, 2026, as medalists from the 2025 National Youth Games (NYG) return to the pool to battle for honours in the long course event of Season 7 of the Dolphin Swimming League.

The one-day swimming fiesta is hosted by the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC) in partnership with Dynaspro Sports Promotion and Advanta Interactive, organisers of Nigeria’s foremost private inter-school swimming tournament.

Among the star attractions are NYG gold medalists who will proudly represent their schools and clubs in what promises to be a high-octane contest.

LSSC Director General, Lekan Fatodu, said the Lagos State Government is committed to supporting platforms like this, ensuring young people have opportunities to showcase their talents and launch into greatness.

Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has revealed a bold blueprint for the final chapter of his fighting career, announcing his intention to retire only after capturing both the welterweight and middleweight world titles in what would rank among the most remarkable comeback stories in mixed martial arts history.

The Nigerian Nightmare laid out his ambitious two-division plan at a time when many had begun to write off his prospects of returning to the sport’s summit.

Having suffered back-to-back losses to Leon Edwards and a defeat to Khamzat Chimaev at middleweight on short notice, questions about whether the 38-year-old’s best days were behind him had grown louder.

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OTHER LEAGUES

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Napoli striker, Rasmus Hojlund has praised manager Antonio Conte for transforming his game.

Recall that Hojlund joined Napoli on loan from Manchester United last summer.

He stated that the Italian tactician has made him a better player.

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Scotland midfielder, John McGinn has described VAR as a mess amid controversy in Aberdeen’s Scottish Cup win over Motherwell at Pittodrie.

Three players were sent off at Pittodrie, with VAR playing a role in all three dismissals made by referee John Beaton.

Oscar Priestman was red-carded after he impeded Lyall Cameron as he was through on goal, allowing Aberdeen forward Kevin Nisbet to find the bottom corner from the resulting free-kick.

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Scotland defender, John Souttar has signed a new contract with Rangers, keeping him at the Ibrox club until May 2027.

The 29-year-old’s previous deal was due to expire at the end of this season, but he has committed to at least one more season, with Rangers also holding an option to extend by an additional year.

Having come through the Dundee United academy, Souttar then spent more than six years at Hearts before making the switch to Glasgow in the summer of 2022.

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OTHER SPORTS

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In Basketball; Labaron Philon Jr. scored a season-high 35 points and added seven assists and No. 25 Alabama overcame a 14-point deficit for a wild 117-115 double overtime victory over No. 20 Arkansas in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The Crimson Tide prevailed despite yielding 49 points, a freshman school record, to the Razorbacks’ Darius Acuff Jr.

Aiden Sherrell had a season-high 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Amari Allen logged 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Crimson Tide (19-7, 9-4 Southeastern Conference), who have won five straight.

Meleek Thomas put up 24 for the Razorbacks (19-7, 9-4), who had won three in a row.

Acuff and Thomas each made six 3-pointers.

In Tennis; Top-seeded Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz ushered himself into the quarterfinals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open with a straight-set romp against France’s Valentin Royer 6-2, 7-5 in the round of 16 in Doha.

Alcaraz had a clean first set, saving the two break points he faced while breaking Royer twice.

Royer jumped ahead 5-2 in the second set, but Alcaraz won 21 of the final 27 points of the match to storm back and seal the win.

In Formula one, Lando Norris has admitted he described the new Formula 1 cars as a lot of fun last week to see what the reaction was of everyone.

The world champion also suggested Max Verstappen, who had said the cars were just not F1, could go and find something else to do if he did not like them.

The McLaren driver also admitted the cars were certainly not the purest form of racing, and he shared Verstappen’s views in many ways.

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In Cricket, Pakistan cricketers are not being considered by Indian-owned sides for next month’s Hundred auction.

Players from Pakistan have not featured in the Indian Premier League since 2009 because of diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

Four of The Hundred’s eight franchises Manchester Super Giants, MI London, Southern Brave and Sunrisers Leeds are now at least part-owned by companies that control IPL teams.

A senior official from the England and Wales Cricket Board indicated to an agent that interest in his Pakistan players would be limited to sides not linked to the IPL.

Another agent described the situation as an unwritten rule across T20 leagues with Indian investment.

ECB chief executive Richard Gould said last year he expected players from all nations to be selected for all teams in The Hundred and warned clear anti-discrimination policies were in place.

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In Rugby, Jack Crowley will start at fly-half as Ireland head coach Andy Farrell makes five changes to his starting XV for Saturday’s Six Nations match against England at Allianz Stadium.

Sam Prendergast started in Ireland’s opening loss to France and last week’s victory over Italy, but Farrell has brought Crowley back into the XV after the 26-year-old’s impact off the bench against the Azzurri.

Prendergast is not named in the matchday squad with Farrell opting for the versatile Ciaran Frawley on the bench.

Munster’s Crowley will partner Jamison Gibson-Park in a changed half-back pairing as Craig Casey drops to the bench.

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In Athletics, Keely Hodgkinson has broken the long-standing women’s indoor eight hundred metres world record, set by Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak on the day the Briton was born almost twenty-four years ago.

Olympic champion Hodgkinson crossed the line in one minute 54.87 seconds in Lievin, France, taking almost one second off Ceplak’s time of 1:55.82 which had endured since 3rd March 2002.

The 23-year-old, who broke the rarely contested six hundred metres record during her previous indoor season three years ago, joins triple jumper Jonathan Edwards as the only British athlete to hold a current world record in one of the sport’s championship events.

Joined on the start line by Ethiopia’s Olympic silver medallist Tsige Duguma and Switzerland’s Audrey Werro, who Hodgkinson replaced as the fastest woman this year, Poland’s Anna Gryc was tasked with setting a pace of 55.8 seconds through halfway.

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SOCCER ACTION CONTINUES THIS WEEKEND

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IN ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

ON SATURDAY

Aston Villa vs Leeds United

Brentford vs Brighton

Chelsea vs Burnley

West Ham United vs Bournemouth

Manchester City vs Newcastle United

ON SUNDAY

Crystal Palace vs Wolves

Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool

Sunderland vs Fulham

Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal

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IN SPANISH LA LIGA

ON SATURDAY

Real Sociedad vs Real Oviedo

Real Betis vs Rayo Vallecano

Osasuna vs Real Madrid

Atletico Madrid vs Espanyol

ON SUNDAY

Getafe vs Sevilla

Barcelona vs Levante

Celta Vigo vs Mallorca

Villarreal vs Valencia

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IN ITALIAN SERIE A

ON SATURDAY

Juventus vs Como

Lecce vs Inter Milan

Cagliari vs Lazio

ON SUNDAY

Genoa vs Torino

Atalanta vs Napoli

AC Milan vs Parma

Roma vs Cremonese.

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT.

It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation….words from Herman Melville.