Category: Sports

World champion, Tobi Amusan, qualified for the final of the 100-meter Hurdle at the ongoing World Athletics Championship in Budapest on Wednesday. The Nigerian athlete won the second semifinal with a time of 12.56 seconds to qualify for the final billed for Thursday evening. Despite a slow start, the world hurdles record holder recovered in time, clocking 12.56s to finish ahead of Jamaican Achkara Nungent’s 12.60 seconds and Dutch Nadine Visser’s 12.62 seconds.

Women’s 100m hurdles world record holder, Tobi Amusan, has been charged by the Athletic Integrity Unit (AIU) for missing doping tests. In a post on her Instagram page in the early hours of Wednesday, Amusan said the AIU claimed she violated its rule by “missing three tests in 12 months”. According to the AIU, an athlete who misses tests within a period of 12 months is guilty of anti-doping rule violation, and the penalty includes suspension for two years, which may be reduced to a minimum of one year depending…

American heavyweight boxer and former WBC champion, Deontay Wilder has provided an update regarding the highly anticipated Saudi clash with Anthony Joshua slated for December 2023. Boxing fans have been sceptical about any rumoured big fight involving heavyweights recently, given the lack of high-profile match ups in the division so far this year. Talks are also ongoing for Wilder to take an interim fight against Andy Ruiz, though these appear to have reached a stalemate. ‘The Bronze Bomber’ assured 78SportsTV that the blockbuster bout with Joshua in the Middle East…

Nothing is going well for Cristiano Ronaldo Last January, Cristiano Ronaldo joined the Saudi club Al-Nassr, and judging by the over-the-top welcoming ceremony the team gave him, life in Riyadh was going to be kind to the Portuguese striker. But it seems the enthusiasm for the star in Saudi Arabia has given way to criticism and controversy. Problematic behavior for Saudis Lately, the Portuguese-international’s behavior has been a problem in the Islamic monarchy. To the point where voices are rising in the country to demand his deportation… A tense game…

Family members spent Christmas morning on Sunday with Pele at the Sao Paulo hospital where the legendary footballer is battling worsening cancer as well as kidney and heart problems, according to a social media post by his daughter. Fans of the player, considered by many the greatest of all time, have been expressing hope for his recovery since he was hospitalized in Sao Paulo in late November. Shortly after midnight, at the start of Christmas Day, Pele’s daughter Kely Nascimento posted a picture of the footballer’s wife, Marcia Aoki, and…

Thirty-six years after Argentina’s ‘god,’ Diego Amando Maradona, led his country to win their second FIFA World Cup title, his heir, Lionel Messi, yesterday at the Lusail Stadium, Qatar, entered the global football immortality list when he motivated another group of players from the South American country to another Copa du Mundo glory. But success came in the worst possible manner for a team that had waited for so long for football’s holy grail. The Argentines raced into a first half 2-0 lead and controlled the final so well, that…

Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team the Flamingos beat the USA in a nervy penalty shootout to reach the semi-finals of the U-17 Women’s World Cup for the first time in India. The young Nigerian girls triumphed on 4-3 penalties after the full-time ended 1-1. The Flamingos had consistently failed to get past the last eight of the competition since it was first hosted in 2008, but with the hard-fought win, Bankole Olowookere’s side broke the jinx to reach the final four of the cadet tournament. Flamingos scored first in the…

Italian police pulled AC Milan’s Bakayoko over to search him until they realized it was him. Source: @julietbawuah

North London side, Arsenal have completed the signing of Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus on a long-term contract from Premier League champions Manchester City. The fee for the 25-year-old is understood to be £45m and he moves to the Emirates after undergoing medical and agreeing to personal terms. Jesus will wear the No 9 shirt recently vacated by Alexandre Lacazette, who left for Lyon on a free transfer. The Gunners put in nearly six months of work with Jesus’ representative Marcello Pettinati to ensure they were in pole position to recruit…

Liverpool defeated Chelsea FC of London 6-5 on penalties to lift th2 2022 English FA cup thanks to Alisson Becker’s spot-kick heroics that secured another penalty shoot-out triumph against their arch-rival. Just 76 days after the Reds edged past Thomas Tuchel’s men on penalties following a scoreless League Cup final, Wembley witnessed another gripping clash between the two Premier League giants. Nothing could split them after 90 minutes and extra time finished goalless again, with Alisson coming up trumps in the shootout as Liverpool won their first FA Cup since…

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich on Wednesday confirmed he will sell the Premier League club amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian billionaire Abramovich has decided it is in the “best interest” of the Champions League holders if he parts ways with the club he has transformed since his purchase in 2003. “As I have stated before, I have always taken decisions with the club’s best interest at heart,” Abramovich said in a statement. “In the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the club, as I believe this…

Nigeria’s 2008 long jump silver medalist Blessing Okagbare has been banned for 10 years for doping, the Athletics Integrity Unit thus ending her hitherto illustrious athletics career in shame. Okagbare, 33 who also doubled as a sprinter for Nigeria, was expelled from the Tokyo Olympics last year before the women’s 100m semi-finals after testing positive for human growth hormone at an out-of-competition test in Slovakia on July 19. “The Disciplinary Tribunal has banned Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare for a total of 10 years,” read an AIU statement. A copy of…

The Super Eagles of Nigeria are out of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations courtesy of a lone goal victory by the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia in the AFCON Round of 16. Tunisia had shocked the Super Eagles of Nigeria by scoring just two minutes into the second half. A long-range shot from Youssef Msakni gave the Carthage Eagles their first goal in the game. The goal came after Msakni’s shot from outside the 18-yard box was poorly parried into the net by Nigeria’s goalkeeper, Maduka Okoye. Super Eagles had…

Bayern Munich’s record-setting striker Robert Lewandowski retained FIFA’s top men’s player title Monday at “The Best” of 2021 ceremony as Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas collected the award for best women’s player. The 33-year-old Lewandowski, who set a Bundesliga goal record last season, won the trophy for the second time, edging Argentine Lionel Messi of Paris Saint-Germain and Egyptian Mohamed Salah of Liverpool. It was some consolation for the Polish striker who lost out to Messi for the Ballon d’Or in November. For Putellas, it marked an awards double as the Spaniard triumphed…

Amaju Pinnick, President of the Nigerian Football Federation, has said that Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr was sacked to forestall a “disaster” waiting to happen. “It wasn’t an individual decision; it was a collective decision from the committee,” Pinnick said on Monday when he featured as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily breakfast programme monitored by The PUNCH. “We didn’t want a disaster to happen before taking the decision,” he added. Pinnick said the last two games under Rohr were abysmal and Nigeria won’t have qualified for the last round…

Argentine soccer star, Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or title for a record seventh time ahead of highly favoured Bayern Munich star, Robert Lewandowski. He was announced as the winner of the men’s award at the prestigious awards ceremony held in Paris, France. The Argentine defeated Lewandowski and other players on the 30-strong shortlist for the men’s award. Prolific Bayern Munich striker Lewandowski finished second and Chelsea and Italy midfielder Jorginho was third in the voting by a jury of journalists from around the world. Ronaldo, meanwhile, came in…