IN ENGLAND
======================
Chelsea captain, Reece James says there were plenty of encouraging signs despite a two-one loss to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
James noted that his side started strongly and showed real fight.
Also, Chelsea defender Maxence Lacroix said the Blues deserved a draw against Arsenal on Sunday as luck was against them in the two-one defeat at the Emirates.
===============
Former Liverpool forward, Ryan Babel believes that beating Atlético Madrid in the Champions League will give the Reds a major boost.
Recall that Liverpool have won four of their nine previous meetings against Atlético, who have three victories.
The former Dutch international believes beating the Spanish giants under manager Andoni Iraola will provide crucial momentum for the squad.
===============
New video footage has been released that shows the ball coming off Neco Williams’ arm in the lead-up to his disallowed goal in the goalless draw against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Nottingham Forest defender bundled the ball home in the 67th minute but video assistant referee Peter Bankes stepped in to rule out the goal for accidental handball.
Williams and Forest manager Oliver Glasner were adamant after the match that there was no proof the ball touched an arm.
While the footage vindicates the VAR’s decision, it may not end the arguments about the decision to rule out the goal.
================
Global head of football Edu has left Nottingham Forest after just over a year at the City Ground.
The former Arsenal midfielder has not attended a games since February and his exit, with his contract believed to have been terminated, has been expected.
His position came under the spotlight after a falling-out with Nuno Espirito Santo, who was sacked last September, the first of four managers at Forest last season.
Edu is not expected to be replaced, with Forest’s chief football officer George Syrianos assuming his responsibilities.
================
IN NIGERIA
================
Nigeria’s Falconets have begun their campaign at the 2026 FIFA Under-twenty women’s World Cup on a losing note, after falling to a two-nil defeat to Spain in the Group F opener.
Goals in each half by Marisa Garcia and Alba Cerrato earned Spain a perfect start to the tournament.
Spain started strongly and controlled much of the match and created multiple early chances but were denied by Falconets goalkeeper Ineoma Uzoma.
The Spaniards eventually took the lead on 13 minutes thanks to Garcia, who finished a strong run and cross from Noe Bejarano.
Cerrato then sealed the win on 73rd minute finishing with a left-footed shot which beat the Falconets keeper at her near post.
Spain are in second place behind group leaders China, who had beaten New Caledonia five-nil.
================
Meanwhile, Falconets head coach Moses Aduku has expressed disappointment with the team’s two-nil loss to Spain in the opening group F game of the FIFA Under-twenty Women’s World Cup.
Reacting after the game, Aduku, expressed displeasure with the performance of the players against Spain.
He noted that Nigeria would qualify for the knockout stages of the competition in Poland.
The Falconets will now regroup and turn their focus to their second group game against China PR on Thursday, 10th September.
================
FC Ranchers Bees have recorded their first victory of the season in emphatic fashion, thrashing Abia Warriors four-nil in their Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL.
Mohammed Zulkifilu was the star of the show at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium, scoring a hat-trick to inspire the home side to a comprehensive victory.
Zulkifilu opened the scoring for Ranchers Bees in the 41st minute before doubling their advantage on the stroke of halftime.
The forward completed his hat-trick two minutes after the hour mark, putting Ranchers Bees firmly in control of the encounter.
Yusuf added further gloss to the scoreline by netting the fourth goal in the 90th minute.
The victory marked Ranchers Bees’ first win of the season, while Abia Warriors remained without a victory after two matches.
==================
Nigeria’s D’Tigress have ended their disappointing campaign at the 2026 FIBA women’s basketball World Cup with a humiliating 111-56 defeat to France in Group B on Monday.
It was D’Tigress’s third consecutive group stage defeat following loses to South Korea and Hungary.
It was a one-sided affair as D’Tigress scored just 13 points in each of the first three quarters (finishing 13-13-13-17), while France led 31-34-30-16.
France had already sealed top spot and secured qualification to the last eight with wins against Hungary and South Korea.
================
Sky Bet Championship club Charlton Athletic have confirmed goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo’s call-up to the Nigeria squad for the Super Eagles’ upcoming 2026 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixtures against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau.
Okonkwo, who joined Charlton on loan from Wrexham this summer, will be hoping to make his competitive debut for the Super Eagles in the two qualifying matches.
The 24-year-old has two international caps for the three-time African champions, having made his Nigeria debut during the team’s Unity Cup success at The Valley in May.
Okonkwo is expected to compete with Stanley Nwabali and Maduka Okoye for a starting place in Eric Chelle’s squad for the upcoming qualifiers.
Nigeria will begin their qualifying campaign at home against Madagascar on Friday, 25th September, at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.
================
OTHER LEAGUES
=================
Real Madrid forward, Kylian Mbappe says this could be a good year for him to win the Ballon d’Or for the first time.
The 27-year-old scored forty-two goals in forty-four games for his club last season but they did not win any trophies.
He won the World Cup Golden Boot with ten goals, taking his career tally at World Cups to a record twenty-two although France finished fourth.
The highest Mbappe has finished in the Ballon d’Or rankings is third in 2023, when he was a Paris Saint-Germain player.
Three players are given shorter odds with the bookmakers to win the Ballon d’Or, which will be awarded on 26th October.
====================
Meanwhile, England captain Harry Kane is odds-on to win, after a club-record sixty-one goals in fifty-one games for German double winners Bayern Munich last season.
He also scored six times at the World Cup.
Lamine Yamal, who won La Liga with Barcelona and the World Cup with Spain, is the second favourite followed by his club and international team-mate Rodri, formerly of Manchester City.
=================
Red Star Belgrade fans unveiled a tifo of war criminal Ratko Mladic before their derby win over Partizan Belgrade.
Mladic, who died in a United Nations prison in August, was given a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2017.
He and his troops were responsible for the systematic killing of the non-Serb population of Bosnia-Herzegovina during the wars in the former Yugoslavia between 1992 and 1995.
Red Star have already been fined seventy-seven thousand pounds this season by Uefa, after their fans unveiled a banner commemorating Mladic in a Europa League play-off against Czech side FC Viktoria Plzen last month.
=================
Belgium’s Football Association says it still wants answers about why Folarin Balogun was allowed to play against their team at the World Cup and have asked for the issue to be on the agenda at the next Fifa Council.
In one of the most controversial moments of the summer’s World Cup, Balogun was cleared to play for co-hosts USA in the last-16 tie with Belgium after a one-game ban following a straight red card in his previous game was suspended for a year by Fifa.
The association said it had asked Fifa for a clear justification of the decisions taken and details on how such situations will be handled in the future.
A statement by the association, said it now wants the issue discussed on the Fifa Council meeting on 15th October and says it will not support Gianni Infantino’s bid for a further term as Fifa president.
===================
Former Wales captain Ashley Williams and ex-Swansea boss Alan Sheehan have joined Craig Bellamy’s backroom staff as assistant coaches before Wales’ Nations League campaign.
Williams, played eighty-six times for Wales and skippered the side during their memorable run to the Euro 2016 semi-final.
The former central defender, a Uefa A Licence holder, has recently been involved in coaching at several Wales age group camps but this is his first senior role.
Sheehan was sacked as head coach of Swansea in November 2025, the former Republic of Ireland youth international having previously been an assistant coach at Swansea, Southampton and Luton Town.
===================
OTHER SPORTS
===================
In Tennis, Zheng Qinwen has won a set from 5-0 down for the second match in succession as she extended her fantastic US Open run by beating former champion Iga Swiatek to reach the quarter-finals.
Zheng, the reigning Olympic champion and former world number four, dropped outside the world’s top 100 earlier this year while struggling to regain her best form following elbow surgery in July 2025.
The 23-year-old from China had trailed Madison Keys 5-0 in the deciding set of their third-round match before winning seven successive games to secure her spot in round four.
The second set was on serve until the seventh game, when Zheng crushed a powerful backhand return winner to secure a crucial break, and she broke again two games later to complete a 7-5, 6-3 victory.
===================
In Cricket, England have appointed former Ashes-winning batter Kevin Pietersen to their white-ball coaching team in the build-up to the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Pietersen, joins as a specialist mentor and will start in the role for the upcoming T20 and one-day matches against Sri Lanka.
He will also be involved in this winter’s tours to Australia and South Africa, before joining up with the teams again for the home series against Pakistan and New Zealand next summer, and the 50-over World Cup, which is being held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in the autumn.
===================
In Rugby, Cap centurion Courtney Lawes says England selection should no longer be restricted to players based at domestic clubs.
The 37-year-old is back in contention to add to his 105 England appearances, having signed a one-year deal with Sale after two seasons at Brive in the French second tier.
A clutch of English talent notably Toulouse star Jack Willis, remain across the Channel and out of reach for England head coach Steve Borthwick.
===================
Former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has denied being arrested at an airport in Portugal after arriving with a shotgun he intended to use in a clay pigeon shooting competition.
Ecclestone, said he was stopped and questioned by four police officers and customs officials at the Tires Aerodrome in Cascais on Monday after arriving from Switzerland.
The British businessman told the Press Association he had to surrender the weapon he travelled with as he did not have the right documents to correctly import it.
Ecclestone, who was in charge of F1 for nearly 40 years until 2017, said the Portuguese police were very helpful and rejected reports he had been arrested.
===================
TODAY’S FIXTURES
===================
IN UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – LEAGUE STAGE
AEK Athens vs LASK
Club Brugge vs Aston Villa
Borussia Dortmund vs Villarreal
Lille vs Real Betis
Porto vs Manchester City
Real Madrid vs Inter Milan
======================
FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
The ideal attitude is to be physically loose and mentally tight…words from Tennis Great, Arthur Ashe.
securityandsafetymatters 