As Nigerian women, who predominate in other sports on the continent, are competing against top talent from abroad, with a culture of mismanagement, pay disparities, and even the possibility of being reprimanded for speaking out.
Nigeria recently captured their fifth consecutive championship at the continent’s top hardwood basketball competition, Women’s AfroBasket, while last month the Super Falcons won their 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) football title.
However, the football team’s successes have been made when they are paid at all despite pay disparities compared to their male counterparts.
The majority of the women’s pay comes from per-match bonuses, which vary depending on the team’s results, despite receiving training camp allowances.
Despite their reputations as arguably the best teams on the continent, both the women’s basketball and football teams have experienced late or unpaid match bonuses for years.
None of the players, however, eluded questioning from an AFP reporter in the press scrum about being paid the same as the men’s team when the Super Falcons arrived in Abuja following their 3-2 win over hosts Morocco last month.
Following their victory at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, Nigeria’s Super Falcons head coach Justin Madugu and goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie arrive at Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja.
The question was deemed useless by Nigerian journalists present because it was far too politically charged.
According to Solace Chukwu, senior editor at Afrik-Foot Nigeria, “speaking up against what’s happening completely eliminates the chance of getting what you’re entitled to,” you could be blacklisted.
Not that there won’t be conflicts: Basketball players called out the authorities when they won the game in 2021 in protest of unpaid match bonuses.
The Nigeria Basketball Federation at the time blamed clerical errors for the situation, and at the time, denied any wrongdoing.
In action at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games basketball competitions are Ezinne Kalu and Jackie Young of Team USA, left.
The women’s football team, like the basketball team, has had remarkable success thanks to a diaspora-heavy diaspora and a population of more than 200 million, which is the largest on the continent.
According to Chukwu, they also benefited from early investments in women’s football when other African nations concentrated on men’s teams, helping the Super Falcons win the WAFCON’s first seven games between 1991 and 2006.
Yet they only played a small number of test matches before making their final-minute comeback plans for this year’s competition in Morocco.
Despite mismanagement and disinterest from the authorities, the Super Falcons have not remained silent.
However, it seems as though doing too much rocking the boat will cost.
Players who take the initiative or dare to protest “always run the risk of not being invited or completely sidelined,” according to Harrison Jalla, a union official.
She was removed from her position as captain and not called up for the 2022 tournament after leading protests led by former Super Falcons captain Desire Oparanozie, who is now a commentator.
Former men’s coach Sunday Oliseh, who was fired from the national team in early 2000s as a result of protests over backpay, described the situation as “criminal” retaliation.
The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) at the time denied dropping Oparanozie due to the protests.
According to an AFP request for comment, the Super Falcons and the NFF did not respond to the allegations that players were hesitant to speak up.
Before the Paris 2024 Games, Nigeria’s Promise Amukamara and Senegal’s Cierra Dillard, left, chase a loose ball in a group A match between the women’s Olympic qualifying team members.
Women’s sports continue to grow in players’ minds.
Fresh off her AfroBasket victory, Nigerian point guard Promise Amukamara told AFP in Abuja, “I think the sky is the limit.”
“Nigeria should obviously have more facilities built around it. Perhaps once a year, we should host the AfroBasket.
Meanwhile, NFF official Aisha Falode urged the government to “invest in the facilities, invest in the leagues, and the players, because the women’s game can no longer be taken lightly.”
Despite the difficulties, younger fans continue to support women’s sport.
Justina Oche, 16, a player at an Abuja football academy, claimed her exploits had spurred her on to pursue a career in the sport.
The youngster, whose role model is Asisat Oshoala, six-time African Footballer of the Year, said, “They say what a man can do, a woman can do even better.”
Watch highlights as the Oval Invincibles beat the London Spirit in their opening game of The Men’s Hundred at Lord’s with debutants Rashid Khan and Sam Curran taking three wickets.
Men’s Hundred: Oval Invincibles v. London Spirit: MATCH REPORT
Sarah Ferguson, also known as Fergie, is alleged to have spent wildly on holidays, parties, flowers and staff during her marriage to Prince Andrew
Sarah, Duchess of York (Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
The Duchess of York had debts totaling hundreds of thousands of pounds paid off by the late Queen after living a life of “opulent excess”, according to a new explosive biography.
Sarah Ferguson, known as Fergie, spent wildly on staff, holidays, parties and flowers, with no regard on settling bills during her marriage to Prince Andrew, it is alleged.
The Duchess, who was married to the disgraced Duke of York for a decade between 1986 and 1996, was bailed out on “several occasions” according to renowned historian Andrew Lownie, including one payment of £500,000 in April 1994 when the bank Coutts “demanded £500,000 within 14 days”.
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Sarah Ferguson with the late Queen in 2004(Image: Rupert Hartley/REX/Shutterstock)
The biography, ‘Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the Yorks’, gives a startling insight into the Duke and Duchess’ “hedonistic life, controversial friendships and secretive money-making endeavours”.
Said to be based on four years of research and hundreds of interviews, Lownie claims Ferguson’s life as a member of the royal family was notable for being “marked by ambition and financial recklessness”.
The Duchess is alleged to have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on royal staff, renting foreign villas and demanding security for her two daughters, Eugenie and Beatrice. Lownie writes: “The bubbly young redhead was initially seen as a breath of fresh air when she married him in 1986, but her exploitation of her royal status to make money has seen her join her ex-husband as a hugely diminished figure.”
Despite a string of failed business ventures, often trading on her royal connections, including putting her name to a chain of retirement homes that went bankrupt, Ferguson reportedly had debts in excess of £3.7 million by 1994.
Fergie with daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie (Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for The)
Lownie states “she needed bank approval to pay even modest cheques. But even then, according to a member of her staff, she always believed there would be ‘a deal around the corner’ that would solve all her problems”.
According to the author behind several books on the royal family including Prince Philip ’s uncle Lord Mountbatten and King Edward VIII, who famously abdicated after less than a year in 1936, Fergie became well known for running up huge bills on credit in stores such as Harrods and not paying.
Lownie writes: “She also found ‘ways and means of getting around her financial restrictions’. For example, Mohamed Al-Fayed, owner of Harrods, never pressed her to settle her account at the store, a practice she exploited elsewhere. A former employee confided: ‘These accounts just never get paid, somehow. The shops don’t complain because of who she is, or they never used to.'”
In one newspaper article, her former lover and financial adviser John Bryan revealed that Fergie’s estimated £860,000 annual expenditure included £300,000 on staff, £150,000 on gifts, £50,000 on flowers, £50,000 on parties, £150,000 on travel and £100,000 on clothes – £25,000 of it in an hour’s spending spree in Bloomingdales.
Fergie with former husband Prince Andrew (Image: Getty Images)
The explosive book also alleges how friends also engaged in lending the Duchess money, often never seeing full payment in return. It is claimed that one one who had lent her £100,000 to pay for a holiday in the South of France threatened to sue Fergie at the High Court “after she paid back only £5,000, claiming she understood the rest to be a gift”.
Further allegations of more wild spending include £14,000 in just one month with a London wine merchant, as well as luxury holidays to “Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Poland and four trips to America”, each time reportedly staying at the luxury Carlyle Hotel, where the cheapest suite was £330 a night.
Lownie also details further extravagant spending including visits to New York, where she allegedly took one car to the airport “and another for her ten suitcases”.
The book also claims that her assistant at the time, Christine Gallagher, had once been sent on Concorde, at a cost of £5,000, to bring her some paperwork.
Buckingham Palace released a statement in 1996 following the York’s divorce, stating: “The Duchess’s financial affairs are no longer Her Majesty’s concern but matters which the Duchess of York must discuss and resolve with her bankers and other financial advisers.”
Fergie at the royals’ Easter Sunday church service(Image: UK Press via Getty Images)
However, further financial mismanagement was revealed in the form of thousands of unpaid bills to personal shoppers, the late Queen’s personal mail service, and allegations of irregularities with charity funds from her The Sarah Ferguson Foundation.
Following her divorce, the Duchess became involved in a series of money making ventures, trading on her royal connections, including accepting £100,000 from Austrian building magnate, Richard Lugner, in 1997 to open a shopping precinct in Vienna, do a book signing and accompany him to the Vienna Opera Ball.
In the same year she became the first royal to endorse a product on television when she advertised Ocean Spray cranberry drink for a fee of $500,000 (£376,000). With an advance on her memoirs in the same year, as well as considerable income from a £500,000 deal with WeightWatchers, Fergie attempted to settle debts despite reportedly owing £1.6 million in taxes.
A sacked staff member also reveals to Lownie that “greed and wastefulness that contributed to the duchess’s financial downfall”
The former courtier claimed: “Every night she demands a whole side of beef, a leg of lamb and a chicken, which are laid out on the dining room table like a medieval banquet. It’s a feast that would make Henry VIII proud.”
The source continued: “But often there is just her and her girls, Bea and Eugenie, and most of it is wasted. There is no attempt to keep it to have cold the next day. It just sits there all night, and the next day it’s thrown away.” Lownie also claims Fergie “would regularly miss flights that were not refundable”, totting up thousands of pounds in unnecessary costs.
Fergie is said to have declared her love for golfer Tiger Woods (Image: AP)
According to one source, the Duchess “thought nothing of arriving at an airport with 25 cases and paying between £800 and £4,000 in excess baggage. At least five of those cases were packed with toiletries and make-up. Another would be used solely for clothes hangers.”
The book also alleges “personal trainers, hairdressers and Pilates instructors were paid hundreds of pounds an hour to wait for her to emerge for the day in the late afternoon. Her butler had to get in at 4.30am to put watercress on ice”.
As the Duchess continues to live rent free with her ex-husband in his Royal Lodge mansion in Windsor, Lownie reveals her extravagant ways continue.
In May 2009, she signed a year’s lease on a house at £8,000 a month but stayed with Andrew at Royal Lodge instead. The result was £50,000 spent on a house she never lived in.
The explosive book, which Lownie claims is the product of four years of research and hundreds of interviews, the author claims that Fergie was hotly in pursuit of a famous cast of potential lovers over the years. He claims on a trip to New York, the Duchess tasked her staff to find out if John F. Kennedy Jnr – handsome son of the assassinated US president John F. Kennedy – was in town.
On discovering he was, she immediately invited him for drinks or dinner at her hotel, which he is understood to have accepted. When the Duchess allegedly discovered that Kennedy was seeing the actress Daryl Hannah, the Duchess allegedly replied: “That’s not going to bother me!”
According to Lownie, Hannah was indeed bothered which led to Kennedy cancelling, claiming a prior engagement. Lownie claims Fergie then ordered staff “to spy on his apartment all night to check that he had told the truth”.
Lownie also claims the Duchess declared she was “in love”, with the legendary American golfer Tiger Woods. It is claimed she flew 1,500 miles to meet him, then confided to broadcaster Piers Morgan: “I’m in love.”
Morgan is reported to have asked her: “Who’s the lucky guy?” to which Fergie replied: “He doesn’t know yet.” Fergie then suggested she was going to “follow him around the course for a bit and see how I get on”. Morgan concluded: “Poor old Tiger isn’t going to know what’s hit him.”
A spokesperson for the Duchess of York was contacted for comment.
‘Entitled’ by Andrew Lownie (William Collins, £22), to be published August 14.
Former co-star Selina Christoforou, who has since shared a cryptic post purportedly aimed at the TV personality, accused comedian Mo Gilligan of being a “deadbeat dad.”
Mo Gilligan’s ex makes cryptic dig at ‘deadbeat dad’ over sharing clip of secret son(Image: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Mo Gilligan had been hitting headlines in the last week after the mother of his first child has slammed him as a “deadbeat dad” and claimed he doesn’t see his first born. The comedian, 37, is getting ready to welcome his first child with current partner Taia Tulher, 28, but his ex Selina Christoforou, 35, posted an explosive video on TikTok where she claimed he already has a child but is a “deadbeat dad”.
Selina claimed she knows how few times the star has met his son Rudi and insisted you “can’t make someone be a dad”. Their son was born in January 2024, and Selina claimed she could “count on her fingers and toes” how many times Mo has seen their child over the last 17 months.
Comedian Mo stayed silent on the claims made by Selina, he seemingly hit back at her with a post featuring Rudi. In a post shared last week, the short black and white clip showed a little boy playing a giant game of Connect 4. It comes after Helen Skelton and Gethin Jones split as he joins a notorious dating app on a lads’ holiday.
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His ex shared a cryptic post(Image: INSTAGRAM)
Mo chose to conceal the boy’s identity, but he also included a powerful song in the video. He paired it with Drake’s Emotionless, which had the lyrics “I wasn’t hiding my kid from the world/ I was hiding the world from my kid.”
From the people I can call, the only ones I want to tell, are those who wake up and wake up and debate. “Until you starin’ at your seed, you can never relate,” I said.
“They always ask, “Why let the story continue if it’s false?” A wise man once said there was nothing to be ashamed of. Selina posted a cryptic message on her Instagram Stories a few days later.
He recently shared a post of a toddler after he was called a ‘deadbeat dad’(Image: @mothecomedian/Instagram)
Lorde’s Man of the Year lyrics are displayed on a black screen. Let’s hear it for the year’s man, the lyrics read. The man of the year, hear it.
TikTok users started using the song to highlight all the wrongdoing or hurtful actions the men in their lives have committed. Images of heartbreaking texts, crude Snapchats, ugly encounters, voice memos, and other things were posted.
She claimed she knows how few times the star has met his son Rudi and insisted you ‘can’t make someone be a dad’(Image: semclol/TikTok)
It is said that Mo met Selina online, but she never made the announcement that he would become a father when Rudi was born. She learned about her pregnancy in May of 2023, and the two women were shocked by how cautiously things turned out, according to a source.
They added, “She found out she was pregnant in May 2023, and it was quite shock for them both because they were being fairly cautious,” in a statement to the Sun. Despite the fact that they weren’t actually a couple, she still wanted to have the child.
She and Mo see their son semi-regularly, and she adores him. He is excited about becoming a father for the second time and is excited about it. He feels comfortable with Taia and has been with her for a while.
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If a foreign national travels to the country on a tourist visa, they will be subject to bonds of up to $15, 000, according to the US Department of State.
On Tuesday, the State Department announced that both Zambia and Malawi, both from Africa, would be subject to visa bonds.
The idea is to impose bonds on nations whose citizens have high rates of overstaying their US visas, as it was announced earlier this week.
Tourists from those nations would have to pay a fee to enter the US that ranged from $5, 000 to $15, 000. Then, if the tourist leaves on or before their visa expires, the money will be refunded.
If the tourist’s visa was revoked, the travel was not made possible, or the USCIS denied them entry, the money would also be returned.
The federal government would retain the funds if a tourist overstays their visa or applies for asylum or another immigration-related program while living in the US.
In addition to Malawi and Zambia, more nations are anticipated to be added to the list. Beginning on August 20, the bond requirement for those two nations is anticipated to become effective.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce stated on Tuesday that “this targeted, common-sense measure strengthens the administration’s commitment to US immigration law while preventing visa overstays.”
Since regaining office in January for a second term, US President Donald Trump has taken a tough stance on immigration.
Trump signed an executive order denying the “unprecedented flood of illegal immigration” into the US on his first day back in office.
It vowed to rigorously impose US immigration regulations. The new visa bonds were ultimately based on that executive order.
The pilot program, which is scheduled to last 12 months, includes the bonds.
A Federal Register filing states that “this]temporary final rule] responds to the Trump Administration’s call to faithfully uphold the immigration laws of the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) releases a report on visa overstays in the US every year.
There were 565 and 155 visa overstays for the fiscal year 2023, according to the most recent report, which was released in 2024. Only 1.45% of the total non-immigrant admissions to the US made up that percentage.
In other words, 98.55 percent of the in-scope visitors left the country on time and within their accepted conditions, according to the report.
According to the report’s breakdown of country-by-country overstay rates, both Malawi and Zambia had relative high visa overstay rates of 14.3 and 11.1 percent, respectively.
However, both Zambia and Malawi have fewer arrivals in the US because they are both smaller and have fewer business or tourism-related visitors.
Only 1, 655 people from Malawi came for business or pleasure in the fiscal year 2023, according to the report. 237 of those overstayed their visas total.
In the same time frame, 3, 493 people from Zambia came to the country for business or tourism. 388 of those total exceeded visa requirements.
The sheer numbers from the richest, most populous nations with the largest consumer base outweigh those figures. For instance, 40, 884 overstays came from Colombia, and an estimated 20 811 Brazilians stayed in the US longer than their tourist or business visas permitted.
Residents of less developed nations are now more expensively unable to travel to the US, thanks to the newly imposed bonds, according to critics.
The new bond scheme was criticized as discriminatory by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an advocacy group. In a statement released on Tuesday, it described the system as a “legalized shakedown” of exploitation.
Robert McCaw, CAIR’s director of government affairs, said, “This is not about national security.” It’s “about using immigration policy to extort vulnerable visitors, punish disfavored nations, and turn America’s welcome mat into a paywall,” the statement read.
Depending on who misses out on RB Leipzig forward Benjamin Sesko, Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson is seen as a backup option for both Manchester United and Newcastle, while West Ham is interested in Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey.
If Chelsea lose RB Leipzig’s 22-year-old Slovenian forward Benjamin Sesko, both Manchester United and Newcastle have made a backup plan for the club’s 24-year-old. (The Athletic is required to subscribe)
Harry Maguire, a 32-year-old England defender, has received five offers from Premier League clubs and clubs in Italy. (Mail)
England’s 26-year-old centre-back Lloyd Kelly is wanted by Juventus, who also has interest in Arsenal’s 25-year-old Poland defender Jakub Kiwior. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian)
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, a former Everton striker, wants to be signed for free, but the 28-year-old Englishman wants to see if any other Premier League clubs are interested. (Talksport)
The 24-year-old English midfielder has not yet decided on his long-term future, but West Ham are still interested in signing him from Aston Villa. (Mail)
Giovanni Leoni, an 18-year-old Italian from Parma, is one of the young centre-backs Liverpool have been looking at throughout Europe. (Times: A subscription required)
Malick Thiaw, a 23-year-old German defender, is expected to make an approach to AC Milan. (Romano-Fabrizio)
As they attempt to close a deal for the 27-year-old, Nottingham Forest will talk with his agent about signing a player from Brazil and Juventus. (Football Italia)
Mads Bidstrup, 24, a Danish international from RB Salzburg, is at the top of Nottingham Forest’s transfer target list. (Florian Plettenberg)
Despite missing a club for a year, former Manchester United left-back Brandon Williams, 24, is wanted by a number of Championship clubs, including Hull City. (Mail)
Former Liverpool midfielder Bobby Clark is set to join Derby County on a season-long loan deal from RB Salzburg, who is just 20 years old. (Sky Sports)
