Sport
Friday, 21 August 2020 05:21
Buhari appoints ex-Super Eagles striker special assistant on sports
President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a former Super Eagles striker and Nigerian Football Ambassador, Mr Daniel Amokachi, as his special assistant on sports. A statement from media office of Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, said the letter of appointment was dated August 17th 2020 and signed by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha. The letter stated in part: “I am pleased to inform you that Mr Buhari, President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, has approved your appointment as Special Assistant on Sports. “The appointment takes effect from the 11th of August, 2020.”…
Saturday, 08 August 2020 03:55
Nigerian basketball player dies at 27
Michael Ojo, a Nigerian basketball player who previously played for Red Star Belgrade, died at the age of 27 during a training session in Serbian capital on Friday, the club said. “We are deeply saddened by the news”, Red Star’s spokesperson, Mr Igor Vujicin told media. The club couldn’t confirm the cause of death, but local media reported that Ojo suffered a heart attack. Born in Lagos, the 2.16 metre (7ft 1in) centre played for Florida State University in the United States before coming to Europe to start his professional career. After a stint with the Belgrade team FMP Zeleznik,…
Friday, 24 July 2020 04:51
Mike Tyson returns to the ring to box again
Boxing legend, Mike Tyson, 54, announced on Thursday that he will be climbing back into the ring for an exhibition bout against another all-time great boxer Roy Jones Jr. The two are set to duke it out in an eight-round exhibition match on September 12 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The former Heavyweight World Champion is considered one of the most feared boxers of all time, often referred to as "the baddest man on the planet." Tyson finished his first year as a professional boxer with a 15-0 record, with all wins coming by way of knockout.…
Wednesday, 22 July 2020 05:14
Organisers break 64year history, scrap Ballon d'Or 2020
Ballon d’Or will not be awarded this year for the first time in its 64-year history after Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the football calendar, organisers France Football magazine said on Monday. The prestigious award, voted for by journalists, is an annual prize given to the best male footballer in the world since 1956. The women’s Ballon d’Or was first awarded in 2018. The 2019-20 season has been ravaged by the pandemic, with all the major European leagues suspending matches from March to June. International tournaments, such as the European Championship and Copa America, were also pushed back to 2021…
Tuesday, 09 June 2020 05:51
9-yr old Nigerian whose family fled Boko Haram to US is climbing rapidly to become world Chess grandmaster
There are plenty of reasons why Tanitoluwa Adewumi captured the world’s attention in March 2019 after winning the New York State chess championship in his age group. Nine-year-old “Tani” was living in a Manhattan homeless shelter. And he was a refugee. Tani’s family had fled northern Nigeria and sought asylum in America in 2017 after being threatened by Boko Haram, a jihadist group. Oh, one more thing: when Tani took home the state championship trophy, he had been playing for only a year. It is little wonder his inspiring story is already the subject of three books (the first was…
Sunday, 05 April 2020 05:44
The boy is mine: Floyd Mayweather’s daughter, arrested for stabbing woman over a man
Iyanna Mayweather, daughter of former American professional boxer, Mr Floyd Mayweather has been arrested after stabbing a woman. It was reported that Iyanna Mayweather was charged with assault with a deadly weapon following a confrontation with a woman identified as Lapattra Lashai Jacobs. The incident took place in the home of rapper NBA Youngboy. Iyanna arrived and told the woman, Lapattra Lashai Jacobs, she was Youngboy’s fiancee and Jacobs should leave the house. Jacobs then told Iyanna to leave. The argument moved into the kitchen, where Iyanna was holding 2 knives. Jacobs stepped toward Iyanna and Iyanna charged at her…
Saturday, 04 April 2020 05:36
Joshua’s title defence postponed due to pandemic
Anthony Joshua’s world heavyweight title defence against mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, promoters Matchroom Sport announced on Friday. The Nigeria-born British champion was due to put his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts up for grabs against Bulgarian challenger Pulev at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on June 20. But the global spread of COVID-19 has put paid to the bout on that date. “Anthony Joshua’s defence of his IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO heavyweight world titles against mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev scheduled to take place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on…
Thursday, 02 April 2020 05:38
Wimbledon cancelled first time in 75 years, Serena Williams, others react
Wimbledon organisers have scrapped the oldest Grand Slam tennis tournament for the first time since World War II as the coronavirus wreaks further havoc on the global sporting calendar The cancellation of the only grasscourt major at London's All England Club leaves the season in disarray, with no tennis set to be played until mid-July. Wimbledon is the latest major summer sporting event to be called off, with Euro 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics postponed for 12 months. It follows the postponement of the French Open, which was due to begin in May but has been rescheduled to 20 September-4…
Tuesday, 31 March 2020 05:26
Postponed Olympic Games get new dates
Head of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee has on Monday announced that the postponed Olympic Games will now begin on July 23 and run until August 8, 2021 as the coronavirus pandemic made it impossible to plan for them properly this year. The Games were postponed last week and the delay is the first in the 124-year history of the modern Olympics. The postponement represents a huge blow for Japan, which invested $13 billion in the run-up to the event, and raised $3 billion from domestic sponsors. Yoshiro Mori, head of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, confirmed the new dates…
Wednesday, 25 March 2020 04:36
Tokyo 2020: Olympic and Paralympic Games postponed because of coronavirus
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games have been postponed until next year because of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. The event, due to begin on 24 July, will now take place "no later than summer 2021". "I proposed to postpone for a year and [IOC] president Thomas Bach responded with 100% agreement," said Shinzo Abe, Japan's Prime Minister. The event will still be called Tokyo 2020 despite taking place in 2021. In a joint statement, the organisers of Tokyo 2020 and the IOC said: "The unprecedented and unpredictable spread of the outbreak has seen the situation in the rest of…
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Tuesday, 10 December 2019 05:23
Anti-doping agency imposes 4-year ban on Russia
Russia was slapped Monday with a four-year ban from international sports events, including next summer’s Tokyo Olympics, over a longstanding doping scandal, although its athletes will still be able to compete if they can show they are clean competitors. The ruling by the World Anti-Doping Agency’s executive committee means that Russia’s flag, name and anthem will not appear at the Tokyo Games, and the country also could be stripped of hosting world championships in Olympic sports. The sanctions are the harshest punishment yet for Russian state authorities who were accused of tampering with a Moscow laboratory database. Russia’s anti-doping agency…
Sunday, 08 December 2019 05:24
Anthony Joshua beats Andy Ruiz to reclaim world titles
Anthony Joshua has reclaimed his World Heavyweight titles after winning a grueling rematch against Andy Ruiz on Saturday night in Saudi Arabia. The scores were 118-110, 118-110, 119-109 in favour of the Nigeria-born boxer who now has his WBO, WBA, IBF, IBO Heavyweight Titles back. In the first bout, back in June, Ruiz came in as a late replacement and dropped Joshua four times to secure a seventh-round stoppage at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Though Joshua could not get a knockout win as he wished, he would be happy to have done enough to get his revenge…
Monday, 11 November 2019 06:13
How Nigeria got so good at competitive Scrabble
Oluwatosin Adesokan It is 2019 and the Nigeria Scrabble national team has won the World English Scrabble Players Association Championship [WESPAC] title a third time. Since the inception of WESPAC in 1991, no other African nation has won the championship until Nigeria did in 2015 and then in 2017. In the finals held in Goa, India, thirty countries were represented with Nigeria featuring eleven players and officials. Two Nigerians were ranked in the top ten in the competition while others were ranked in the top thirty. The coach of the Nigeria Scrabble team—Prince Anthony Ikolo also won the title in…
Sunday, 08 September 2019 05:51
Andreescu’s 1st Slam title at US Open prevents Serena’s 24th
Bianca Andreescu knew this would happen, because she knows all about Serena Williams. Looked up to her. Dreamed of playing her. Andreescu knew Williams would not go quietly. Knew Williams would not make things easy. And so as a big lead in the U.S. Open final dwindled Saturday, as she stuffed fingers in her ears to drown out the decibels from the delirious thousands filling Arthur Ashe Stadium, Andreescu knew she needed to be just as bold, and hit just as big, as she did earlier in the match — and as Williams has done for years. Displaying the same…