SPORTS

Minister of Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare has assured that the breath-taking performance of long jumper Ese Brume at the Chula Vista Festival in the US, where she shattered Chioma Ajunwa’s 25-year African record would propel her to excel at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Brume leapt 7.17m to beat Olympic champion Britney Reese and Chantley Malone to the second and third positions respectively. Her jump erased the record of […]

Up to 16,500 spectators will be allowed to attend the Champions League final in Porto on Saturday, UEFA announced on Tuesday with the opening of ticket sales. The figure permitted by the Portuguese authorities is one-third of the capacity of the Estadio do Dragao which took over hosting the final in mid-May after Istanbul was ruled out by Covid-19 problems. UEFA had already allocated 6,000 tickets each to finalists Chelsea […]

Spain coach Luis Enrique on Monday left veteran defender Sergio Ramos out of his Euro 2020 squad but called up centre-back Aymeric Laporte, who recently switched his football nationality. Ramos, the 35-year-old Real Madrid captain has struggled with injury this season and has featured just five times since the start of the year. The absence of Ramos means there is not a single Madrid player in the Spain squad. Laporte, […]

Liverpool moved into the Premier League top four for the first time since February with a 3-0 win at Burnley as Jurgen Klopp’s men remain on course to salvage a place in next season’s Champions League. Roberto Firmino and Nathaniel Phillips struck either side of half-time before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain smashed home two minutes from time as the Reds edged ahead of Leicester on goal difference into fourth. Victory at home […]

Spanish football legend Andres Iniesta said Friday he wants to “achieve big goals” with Japan’s Vissel Kobe after signing a two-year contract extension. The former Barcelona maestro, who has battled back to action after a serious thigh injury, inked the two-year deal on Tuesday, his 37th birthday. Iniesta said what drives him is that he is motivated to work with Vissel Kobe to achieve big goals, adding that he wants […]

Lionel Messi scored a brilliant volley but Barcelona’s title hopes could be over, with a 3-3 draw away at Levante on Tuesday giving Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid the chance to pull away at the top of La Liga. Another slip could prove decisive given Atletico will move four points clear of Barca with two games left if they can win away at Real Sociedad on Wednesday. Real Madrid will […]

Leicester City’s in-form striker, Kelechi Iheanacho, says he never lost faith in himself while going through a rough patch in his career, adding that he was confident that he would return to form. Iheanacho had his worst ever scoring run of his professional career in 2019, failing to score in over 365 days, with trio Jamie Vardy, Ayoze Perez and James Maddison all ahead of him in the pecking order. […]

Hansi Flick, who is stepping down as Bayern Munich coach at the end of this season, will take over the German national team after this summer’s Euro, a German newspaper reported on Monday. Flick is expected to sign for three years, according to the Abendzeitung, a Munich newspaper, allowing him to lead the national team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and Euro 2024, which is scheduled to take […]

Edinson Cavani will remain at Manchester United next season after the on-form Uruguayan signed a one-year contract extension on Monday. The 34-year-old Uruguayan has scored 15 goals in his first season in England, including eight in his last seven games, to help United to second place in the Premier League and to the final of the Europa League. United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had repeatedly stressed his desire for Cavani […]