IN NIGERIA
Nigeria’s Super Eagles have dropped four places in the latest men’s world ranking released by the Federation of International Football Association, FIFA.
The Super Eagles, who were previously ranked 26th in the world, are now in 30th position.
Eric Chelle’s side also slipped from fourth to sixth place in Africa, falling behind Morocco, Egypt, Senegal, Algeria, and Côte d’Ivoire.
Nigeria recently featured in three international matches, recording one win, one draw, and one defeat.
Meanwhile, world champions Spain retained the top spot in the latest FIFA ranking, ahead of Argentina, France, England, and Portugal.
Brazil, Morocco, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Mexico completed the top ten.
=====================
Super Falcons interim head coach, Augustine Eguavoen has played down concerns over the absence of several key players ahead of Nigeria’s 2028 Olympic qualifying fixture against Comoros.
The Super Falcons will be without several notable players, including Asisat Oshoala, Oluwatosin Demehin, Flourish Sabastine and Ashleigh Plumptre, who have withdrawn from the squad.
Eguavoen remains confident that the players available in camp have what it takes to secure a positive result.
Nigeria will face Comoros in a two-leg second-round tie, with both matches scheduled to take place at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne-Remo on 9th and 13th October.
======================
The Confederation of African Football has appointed a team of Rwandan officials for the first leg of the 2028 Olympic Games qualifying fixture between Comoros and Nigeria’s Super Falcons.
Rwandan referee Henriette Byukusenge will serve as the centre referee, with compatriots Sandrine Murangwa and Regine Mukayiranga appointed as first and second assistant referees, respectively.
Another Rwandan, Aline Umutoni, will serve as the fourth official.
Namibia’s Fransiska Katjaimo has been appointed referee assessor, while Burkina Faso’s Oumou Sy will serve as the match commissioner.
======================
Nigeria’s Flamingos have arrived in Casablanca, Morocco, ahead of the 2026 FIFA Under-seventeen Women’s World Cup.
Nigeria have been drawn in Group B alongside Poland, Puerto Rico and North Korea.
The Flamingos will open their campaign against Poland on 17th October before facing Puerto Rico on 20th October.
Morocco will host the tournament from 17th October to 8th November, with the Flamingos aiming to make a strong impression in the competition.
==================
Kano Pillars have earned their first point away to Shooting Stars Sports Club in nine years with a goalless draw in a rescheduled NPFL Matchday 3 fixture at the Lekan Salami Stadium.
The result ended a long drought for Kano Pillars, as their previous non-defeat away to the Oluyole Warriors came on 7th June, 2017—also a goalless draw.
Since then, Pillars had lost their last four trips to Ibadan, conceding six goals while scoring just once.
Both sides created chances but failed to convert.
====================
Enyimba FC assistant coach, Lawrence Ukaegbu has expressed confidence and determination ahead of his side’s crucial Nigeria Premier Football League clash against Katsina United on Friday.
Ukaegbu expressed immense gratitude to the club’s supporters and emphasized the squad’s growing confidence:
Looking ahead to Friday’s away fixture, the assistant coach made it clear that maintaining their upward trajectory is non-negotiable.
====================
Former Scotland and Rangers defender, Kirk Broadfoot has heaped high praise on Super Eagles center-back Emmanuel Fernandez.
Broadfoot described him as a supreme, all-round athlete who has become indispensable to the Ibrox club.
He emphasised that retaining the Nigerian international’s services during recent transfer windows was one of the club’s smartest pieces of business.
================
IN ENGLAND
Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta says this is only the beginning of Arsenal’s success after signing a new contract with the Premier League champions until 2030.
Arteta described the club as unique, saying he feels privileged to continue his journey with the Gunners.
He highlighted the club’s character and the special feeling it creates, expressing his appreciation for the bond he has developed with Arsenal.
Arteta said the club and its supporters have already built a special relationship and created memories that will last a lifetime.
===================
Former Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola is expected to attend Manchester City’s Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain next week.
The club’s first home match since they were found guilty of the majority of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League.
It will mark the first time the Spaniard returned to Etihad Stadium since he left the club at the end of last season after a decade as manager.
====================
Senior figures within English football are concerned that Manchester City could play in the Champions League next season even if they are relegated from the Premier League for breaching financial regulations.
It centres around the possibility that City win the Champions League, which would provide qualification for the competition as titleholders regardless of their status in the English domestic pyramid.
====================
Former Manchester City midfielder, David Silva has come out of retirement at the age of forty to join Hong Kong Premier League club Sha Tin.
Silva retired in 2023 after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament tear during pre-season training at Real Sociedad.
He won eleven major honours in ten years at City and has a statue outside the club’s Etihad Stadium.
==================
Former England captain and broadcaster Gary Lineker has called on Manchester City to own their situation and accept whatever sanctions come their way following the club’s high-profile financial rule breaches.
Speaking at the Leaders Week sports industry conference at Stamford Bridge, Lineker addressed the ongoing fallout surrounding the Premier League charges and independent commission findings.
While noting that the ongoing saga casts a shadow over English football, Lineker suggested that a cooperative stance from the club would be the best path forward to protect the game’s integrity.
==================
Sheffield United’s CEO says the club do not expect to receive an English Football League points deduction and the owners would fight hard if any such sanction is imposed.
The EFL launched an investigation after the company used to buy the club was placed into liquidation by the High Court in August.
COH Sports Bidco Limited agreed to purchase the Championship club for just over one hundred million pounds in December 2024 but about thirty-five million pounds is still owed on the deal.
===================
Former Tottenham Hotspur defender, Ramon Vega says he intends to stand as a candidate in next year’s Fifa presidential election.
The 55-year-old is the first person to confirm they want to challenge Gianni Infantino, who has defied calls to step down in the wake of his failed plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors, which has sparked a major backlash across football.
A former Switzerland centre-back, Vega also played for Celtic and Watford and has worked in finance since retiring from football in 2004.
==================
Manager Tonda Eckert is free to continue as Southampton manager after being given a suspended ban for his role in the Spygate scandal.
A Football Association independent regulatory commission handed the German a six-week ban from all football, but suspended it until the end of next season.
Eckert has also been given a twenty-eight thousand pounds fine and reprimand but avoided a lengthy ban that could have cost him his job.
===================
OTHER LEAGUES
Cardiff and Wales defender Dylan Lawlor says club boss Brian Barry-Murphy and national team head coach Craig Bellamy have similar outlooks.
Lawlor has become a key member of Barry-Murphy’s Cardiff side which last season secured promotion to the Championship.
The 20-year-old was handed his first senior Wales cap by Bellamy in September 2025 and has made six appearances in the past year.
==================
Rabbi Matondo has joined Hibernian on a deal until the end of the season, with the option of a further year.
The Wales and former Rangers winger, had been on trial at Easter Road and becomes new manager Marink Reedijk’s first signing since replacing David Gray in the dugout last month.
=================
Rangers captain Lawrence Shankland aims to be back playing well before the season run-in.
The striker has sat out Rangers’ past three games after tearing his hamstring, an injury that has required surgery.
He is projected to return in early 2027.
=================
South Korea’s government says it intends to review the military exemptions it grants athletes after the controversy surrounding South Korean footballers at the Asian Games.
Following their win against hosts Japan in the final, three players were criticised for celebrating securing their exemptions, including South Korea captain Lee Gi-hyuk.
South Korean men are required to undertake between eighteen and twenty-one months of active military service before the age of twenty-eight.
===================
OTHER SPORTS
In Boxing, Two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has sounded a fierce warning ahead of his long-awaited showdown against arch-rival Tyson Fury, scheduled for December 11 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
Joshua made it clear that his game plan relies on much more than raw power alone, pointing to his tactical maturity and ring IQ as the ultimate weapons for the historic clash.
Reflecting on his grueling journey back to the top, which included surviving two terrifying opening-round knockdowns before stopping Kristian Prenga in July, Joshua admitted that high-stakes heavyweight battles often demand deep emotional and physical resilience.
====================
In Tennis, Coco Gauff says she had a draining few days after receiving racist abuse online before her fourth-round China Open exit.
The American received an insane amount of racist comments and direct messages following an incident in her third-round win over 16-year-old Sun Xinran.
After a video review which players are allowed to request the point was replayed, with Gauff winning it and subsequently going on to clinch the match.
Gauff was beaten 6-3, 6-3 in her next match against Elise Mertens on Wednesday.
======================
In Cricket, Decorated former England batter Tammy Beaumont has signed a new two-year deal to remain with the treble-winning Blaze after retiring from international cricket.
The 35-year-old agreed new terms with the Trent Bridge-based side just three months after she called time on her career with the national side.
She followed up her international exit by helping The Blaze to a clean sweep of major trophies in 2026 as they won the T20 Blast, County Cup and One-Day Cup competitions.
====================
In Formula one, Britain’s George Russell will start from the back of the grid in Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver has received a power-unit penalty from a dramatic Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia last Sunday.
The 28-year-old qualified in eighth but was heading for a podium finish before an engine failure forced him to retire from third place with five laps remaining.
===================
In Golf, Jon Rahm will leave LIV Golf after deeming the proposed terms for LIV 2.0 unacceptable, his lawyer has told a bankruptcy court hearing.
Rahm’s lawyer, John Beck, told the hearing the 31-year-old Spaniard independently reviewed the terms of LIV 2.0 and determined those terms are unacceptable as to him.
It is hoped this will be finalised by a court hearing on 5th November.
=====================
In Cycling, Tom Pidcock wanted to stop racing after saying two of his team-mates were hit by a police vehicle travelling the wrong way down the course at the Tre Valli Varesine in Italy.
Pidcock finished second at the one-day race in Varese but was left mad after Pinarello-Q36.5 team-mates Marcel Camprubi and Thomas Gloag were knocked off their bikes with six laps of the finishing circuit to go.
====================
In Athletics, President of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Witold Banka, says Kenya must demonstrate it can be a clean home of athletics if it is to retain its credibility as it prepares to stage the 2029 World Athletics Championships.
Banka was speaking at the end of a three-day visit to Nairobi where he held talks with President William Ruto, government and sports officials, the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya, athletes and representatives of law enforcement.
========================
FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another…words from William James.
