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The World's football governing body, FIFA has hammered South Africa for using an ineligible player for the 2026 World Cup qualifier against Lesotho in March this year. FIFA, in a statement issued on Monday, confirmed the deduction of three points and goals from South Africa for breaching its rules. The statement reads:  Meanwhile, the South African Football Association, SAFA, has rejected the decision by global football governing body FIFA to deduct three points from them in the ongoing 2026 World Cup qualifying series. The South Africans are challenging the decision, insisting they were not granted the opportunity to present their argument. SAFA also claimed that the decision was made by a single-member panel of the FIFA disciplinary committee, describing the ruling as “unprecedented.” In a statement on Monday, SAFA said the decision was handed down without any explanation or opportunity for the Association to present its legal arguments. The statement read in part: “As SAFA, we a...

The  Flying Eagles  were unlucky to lose 0-1 to Norway in their opening match of the 24 th  FIFA U20 World Cup finals on Monday despite dominating play and creating a hatful of chances, particularly in the second period.   Norway went ahead after they were awarded a contested penalty in the 9 th  minute, but the Flying Eagles fought hard to redeem things, only to be denied penalty awards on two occasions in the second half.   Kparobo Arierhi’s left-footed shot inside the box drifted just wide in the 47 th  minute, with the goalkeeper completely beaten, and in the 63 rd  minute, Tahir Maigana’s left-footed shot inside the box was stopped by the base of the upright.   The two-time silver medallists launched onslaught after onslaught against the Europeans, but Norway had too many players behind the ball in the box and foiled dozens of attempts.   In the 71 st  minute, the crowd rose to cheer the equalizer, but midfielder Nasiru Salihu’...

  Kwara United and Abia Warriors have been bungled out of the CAF Confederation Cup. Both sides lost on aggregate to their opponents on Sunday. Kwara United lost 1-0 at home to Ashanti Kotoko to end up with a 5-3 aggregate loss having lost 4-3 penultimate weekend in Kumasi. It was lost hope for the FA Cup winners having raised the hope of Nigerians after a battling performance in Ghana. Also, Abia Warriors had a slim hope having been held to a 0-0 draw by Djoliba of Mali in the first leg. However, the Abia side lost 2-1 in the return leg of the preliminary round on Sunday. On the contrary, Remo State defeated   Zilimadjou of Comoros 1-0 away on Friday to advance on 5-0 aggregate having won the first leg at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta penultimate weekend. Rivers United also saw off  Les Aigles of DRC Congo 1-0 on Sunday at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo to advance on the same aggregate scoreline after the first leg in Kinshasa ended 0-0. Steven Manyo scored the o...

  The Rivers International Film Festival 2025 edition has promised to be another breathtaking edition with free medical services among other side attractions. CEO of RIFF, Kate Ezeigbo, disclosed this during the inauguration of the newly elected executive committee of Actors Guild of Nigeria, Rivers State Chapter, led by Dr Ken Osunwa on Saturday. The event also was the induction and training of new members of the  AGN, held in Port Harcourt. Ezeigbo further said several filmmakers within and outside the country have indicated interest in the 2025 edition. On his part, the Chairman Actors Guild of Nigeria, Rivers State

  Remo Stars got off to a wonderful start in the preliminary round of CAF Champions League. The Ikennne based side thrashed visiting Comoros Island's champions  Zilimadjou FC at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abeokuta on Sunday. Abia Warriors of Umuahia, on their part, drew 1-1 against AC Djoliba of Mali at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo in the CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round. In Congo, Rivers Utd fought Les Aigles to a 0-0 draw on Saturday while Kwara Utd fell 4-3 to Ghana's Ashanti Kotoko at the Baba Yara Stadium in   Kumasi on Sunday. Kinshasa-Complexe Omnisports Stade des Martyrs played host to Saturday's CAF Champions League Clash with FC Les Aigles du Congo

  The just concluded World Athletics Championship in Tokyo, Japan once again displayed the rot in the sporting sector in Nigeria. Not only did Nigeria failed to qualify for the relay events, the country heavily relied on world record holder, Tobi Amusan, for her only medal. It was a continuation of the very poor performance at the Paris Olympics in 2024 where Team Nigeria left with zero medals. Amusan's silver medal in the 100mH was the only bright spark at the event with honourable mentions to Ezekiel Nathaniel, who narrowly missed the podium in the men's 400mH final, and Oyinkansola Ajayi, who missed the final of the men's 100m event. The rest of the 15-man athletics did not make much impact. But stories abound about poor kits. Amusan actually raised alarm with the AFN making a tame reaction to the allegation. Their kits came in batches, they said. We were also told that AFN oficials were more than the athletes in Japan with some allegedly going with girlfriends and concu...

 Nigeria's hopes for another medal at the ongoing World Athletics Championship in Tokyo, Japan was dashed as Ezekiel Nathaniel narrowly missed the podium after coming fourth in the 400mH final. The Nigerian, who ran the best time of 47.47 in the semi final had to contend with the "big three" but fell short in new blistering time of 47.11. It was still not good enough as American Rai Benjamin won the race in 46.52 while Brazilian Alison Dos Santos came second for the silver medal in 46.84. Abderrahman Samba from Qatar clinched the bronze in 47.06. A brief drama, however, occurred when Benjamin was briefly stripped of the gold medal and Nathaniel upgraded to Bronze for stripping over the hurdle. US eventually protested and had the verdict overturned. That decision effectively ended Nigeria'a quest for any more medals part from the only silver medal won by Tobi Amusan in the 100mH. Nigerian went with 15 athletes with just few of them making it to the final of their vario...