Category sport-news

Following a 3-1 aggregate victory over neighboring Benin Republic, Nigeria has qualified for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).

In the second leg of the qualifier on Tuesday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the Super Falcons and the Amazons of the Benin Republic drew 1-1.

However, a 3-1 aggregate win in the reverse fixture in Lome, Togo, earned Nigeria its spot in the tournament thanks to goals from Esther Okoronkwo and Chinwendu Ihezuo.

Read more about Dapo Abiodun Gifts Super Falcons 50m Ahead Of WAFCON Qualifier Vs. Benin.

At the MKO Abiola Stadium in Ogun, Nigeria took the lead thanks to Defender Ashleigh Plumptre’s brilliant header from an Okoronkwo corner. The Super Falcons’ first goal came against the Al-Ittihad star since 2017, when the player reverted from England to Nigeria.

Yasmine Djibril scored a goal in the 61st minute to give the visitors a level playing field. The Amazons then staged a counterattack, but Justin Madugu’s side kept the score the same and secured their place in Morocco’s Maghreb region for the upcoming WAFCON.

After a brave comeback against Morocco, Nigeria won the final WAFCON. The Super Falcons won the record-equaling 10th title with that trophy. They clinched it in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2016, and 2018.

Between March 17 and April 3, the Women’s AFCON will take place next year. The 2027 Women’s Wold Cup in Brazil will also be qualified for the competition.
WaFCON semi-finalists will be guaranteed tournament spots. However, the intercontinental playoffs allow for two more teams to join the contingent.

Enzo Maresca, the manager of Chelsea, says he will keep rotating his side as they try to compete on four fronts this year.

Wolves travel to face the Blues in the fourth round of the League Cup on Wednesday, looking to recover from Sunderland’s 2-1 home defeat.

Maresca has used his large squad’s depth this year, making ten changes in the team’s 5-1 Champions League victory over Ajax last week.

READ MORE: Cucurella Urges Frustrated Chelsea To Show Killer Instinct

Maresca stated on Tuesday that “we need to rotate.” We must protect the players because we will struggle in the offseason if we use the same XI.

We “probably will make some changes against Wolves,” the statement reads, “I don’t know how many, but we will make changes.”

“We need to make some to rotate and help protect the players,” said one player, “I don’t know if it’s going to be nine or ten like it was from (Nottingham) Forest to Ajax.

Liam Delap, a striker from relegated Ipswich, could make his first appearance since August when he injured his hamstring.

Maresca stated, “Liam left yesterday with us without a problem, and he is available for tomorrow.”

“We have to be cautious with Liam and (it’s unlikely) 90 minutes,” he said. He has been missing for two months, so it needs to be stabilized over time.

Following the Scottish giants’ uninspired start to the season, Brendan Rodgers announced his resignation as Celtic manager on Monday.

The team would be led by former managers Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney until a permanent replacement was chosen, according to the club.

After falling 3-1 to Hearts on Sunday, Rodgers’ second spell at Celtic ended with them eight points adrift of the Edinburgh side.

Brendan Rodgers, the manager of football, has submitted his resignation and will step down with immediate effect, according to Celtic’s statement.

“We applaud Brendan for the role he has played in the club’s continued success,” he said, and we wish him the best of luck in the future.

The club added that replacement hunting was already underway.

Former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill and former Celtic player Shaun Maloney have stepped in to take charge of Celtic first-team matters, according to the statement.

Rodgers, 52, won two titles at Celtic Park in 2018 and 2018, adding to his 2017 and 2018 league victories. In 2023, Rodgers, 52, won a second time there.

He previously held the positions of Swansea, Liverpool, and Leicester before stepping down as Ange Postecoglou’s manager at Celtic in June 2023.

The Northern Irishman had won three league and cup victories while working for Celtic between May 2016 and February 2019.

In his first year in charge, Celtic finished with a record 106 points, becoming the first Scottish team to finish a top-league season undefeated since 1899.

Rodgers won league titles in the 2023- to 2024-a-year seasons, as well as the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup, to further Celtic’s dominance domestically.

However, the club’s performance this year caused the club to be drenched, with Kazakhstan minnows Kairat Almaty taking the title.

Igor Tudor, the coach of Juventus, is also worth reading.

‘Hyundai Civic ‘ 

Rodgers and his employers had a row over the summer transfer window policy.

He claimed that the Celtic team had “lost a lot of firepower, a lot of goals” following their first defeat at Dundee this month in 37 years.

There’s no way you’ll enter a race and say, “I want you to drive it like a Ferrari,” when given the keys to a Honda Civic. It won’t occur, of course.

Dermot Desmond, the majority shareholder of Celtic, reacted by claiming Rodgers’ criticism had “everyone just came out of the blue.”

According to Desmond, “he never had any such concerns raised with me, Michael (Nicholson, chief executive), or any member of the board or executive team” prior to those remarks.

He was actually given the upper hand in all football decisions, and he was consistently supported throughout the hiring process, including record investment in players he had identified and approved.

Rivers Hoopers, the reigning champion of the 2025 Nigeria Basketball Premier League (NBPL), Super 8 Playoff campaign, won 73–50 over Hoops & Read in the competition’s opening game.

The KingsMen seized control early, lighting up the court in the first quarter, making multiple three-pointers, and collecting 12 points to give the home side a significant lead at the Indoor Sports Hall, Port Harcourt.

Ogoh Odaudu, the head coach of the Rivers Hoopers, praised his players for bringing the win, but said there was room for improvement after the game.

READ ALSO: NBA Coach and Player Arrested in Illegal Gambling Probe – Report

“We played, we won, and we’ll take the victory,” the player said. The overall game’s margin isn’t really reflected in the score. The urgency tends to fade once players realize they can easily defeat a team, Odaudu said.

Isaiah Williams, a star player, also shared his thoughts on the team’s performance in the opening minutes.

“We performed well in the first quarter, but fatigue may have begun to wear us down.” We’ll become even better once we find our rhythm. As a point guard, Williams said, “My job is to keep winning.”

The Hoopers performed admirably and the state government’s commitment to supporting the team and developing emerging sports talent was reiterated by Rivers State Commissioner for Sports who was present at the event.

“The Rivers State Government is unwaveringly in favor of the Hoopers.” The Commissioner stated that we are investing in our athletes to ensure that they receive the support they need to excel in all sports, not just basketball.

Prior to the second leg of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) 2026 qualifier against the Amazons of the Benin Republic, the governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, gave the Super Falcons 50 million dollars.

Governor Abiodun made the gesture as he welcomed the team ahead of the team’s scheduled Tuesday practice match at the Moshood Abiola Sports Arena in Abeokuta, the state capital.

He noted that the Super Falcons’ second appearance at the Moshood Abiola Sports Arena demonstrates that the state is doing something right when he received his guests.

The governor stated that the Ogun State Government has plans to construct, among other things, four or five-star hotels, a cinema, and a shopping complex.

Governor Abiodun expressed gratitude to the team for winning the historic 10th WAFCON title while praising their remarkable victory in Morocco, which continued to be the country’s dominant force in African women’s football.

In the WAFCON 2026 Qualifier, Super Falcons Soar Past Benin.

Are you prepared, Abeokuta? !

Let’s paint the city green and white because Matchday is on Super Bowl Sunday! #NGABEN #WAFCONQualifiers #SoarSuperFalcons image twitter.com/DcU5g3qxDD

He added that the Super Falcons team’s actions go beyond just playing football, and they also serve as examples of leadership, teamwork, and discipline.

Justin Madugu, the team’s head coach, acknowledged the team’s warm welcome, support, followership, concern, and care that they always receive while they are in Abeokuta earlier in his remarks.

According to Madugu, MKO Abiola Sports Arena has always provided ease of employment for employees.

The captain, Rasheedat Ajibade, praised Governor Abiodun for his constant support and for putting in place a stunning facility in a statement on behalf of the team.

Ajibade also assured the governor that whenever they donned the country’s green and white jerseys, they would continue to cheer up the faces of Nigerians and guarantee resounding victories.

In the first leg of the match, Nigeria defeated Benin Republic 0-2 to claim the title of defending champion of the WAFCON.

Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, has criticised the Nigerian Football Federation for allegedly failing to deliver an Anambra stadium that was supposed to be funded by FIFA.

Obi responded to recent accusations of fund mismanagement in a post on X on Monday, addressing the NFF. According to some reports, NFF allegedly cheated on FIFA money to fund stadium and grassroots football development.

When Obi became governor of Anambra, “officials from the Sports Federation” informed him that the state’s capital had been chosen for a FIFA project.

The former governor claimed that the officials had chosen Akwa as one of “six geographical locations” where FIFA would fund the construction of a stadium of the highest caliber.

They assured us that the project would be carried out through the Federal Ministry of Sports, and we immediately allocated land for that purpose. He claimed that this was the last time we heard about it.

We focused our resources on building mini-stadiums throughout the state to promote grassroots sports, believing that such a significant project was in progress.

We built, among others, the Godwin Achebe Stadium in Onitsha South and the Chuba Ikpeazu Memorial Stadium in Onitsha.

Corruption in Sports: A Retrospective of Nigeria’s Deeper Malaise

The most heartbreaking reality is that our country is rife with corruption that permeates every aspect of its society, even as we grapple with insecurity, poverty, and the rising unemployment rate among our youths. https://twitter.com/cdVTtIo0j0

Obi continued, “The promised FIFA project was unrealized, and his administration held the stadium itself.”

The former presidential candidate expressed disappointment with Nigeria’s youth’s “blatant squandering of opportunities.”

He then stated that “even worse realities” would emerge from a further investigation into the allegations against NFF.

The NFF announced on Friday that external auditors audit every dollar received from FIFA and the CAF.