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The Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, said it has commenced mandatory conduct of random tests for illicit drugs on players in the League and has directed the 20 clubs to facilitate the process for operatives of the National Anti-Doping Committee.

In a memo to clubs signed by Davidson Owumi, the Chief Operating Officer, the anti-doping tests will be administered on two players from each of the clubs involved in a given fixture without prior notice.

The clubs were enjoined to extend maximum cooperation to the Anti-Doping agency in the discharge of the task that aims to cleanse the NPFL of real and rumoured doping scandals.

In the circular, Owumi reminded the clubs of the initiative to introduce random tests, noting, “Recall our earlier memo informing all clubs of the commencement of random drug test on Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) players and be further informed that we have now completed all processes for its implementation by the National Anti-Doping Committee.”

It further informed the clubs of some of the requirements for full implementation of the doping checks, stating that “a Doping Control Systems office is to be activated at all NPFL stadium for this purpose and all clubs are therefore mandated to ensure a hitch free test by the Committee.”

Reiterating that the Test Operatives must not be hindered in carrying out the task, the memo went on to say, “note that relevant operatives of the National Anti-Doping Committee would be arriving your matches for this exercise without prior notice except for purposes of access to the stadium and for your players to submit to the test when demanded.”

The test involves collection of samples from four players two (2) from each team. The four (4) players will be selected by target testing in line with the International Standard for Testing and Investigation and the FIFA Anti-Doping Rules.

The NPFL insists that it set out to implement the exercise in furtherance of the zero tolerance for doping by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), CAF and FIFA.

Kits for the tests arrived the country recently and selected operatives have since undergone training on its application.

Bala Abubakar has been appointed head coach of the Nigeria Premier Football League outfit, Katsina United.

The former Niger Tornadoes gaffer took over from Tony Bolus, who was sacked by the club’s management on Monday.

Under Bolus’ tutelage, Katsina United recorded three wins, four draws and four defeats in 11 games.

Abubakar signed a one year contract with the Chanji boys.

Abubakar’s first game in charge will be against Bendel Insurance on Sunday

Barely 30 days to the commencement of the 2023 African Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, the Local Organising Committee( LOC) in conjunction with the Confederation of African Football has commenced the sales of tickets.

24 countries including the Super Eagles of Nigeria have qualified to take part in the biennial competition.

The Africa governing football body announced the start of the sales on Wednesday morning and 9 venues have been designated for the sales.

The points of sales include Bouaké (3), Cocody (1), Korhogo (2), Port-Bouet (1), Marcory (1), San Pedro (2), Yamoussoukro (2), Yopougon (1).

The tournament is slated to start from the 13th of January to the 11th of February, 2024.

The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has rescheduled fixtures for MatchDay 15 and 16 for the 2023/2024 football season.

According to them, this was in consideration of difficult logistics associated with festive periods to re-arrange the MatchDay 15 and 16 games.

They noted that MatchDay 15 which was originally scheduled for Sunday, December 24, will now hold on Thursday, December 21.


Likewise, the MatchDay 16 fixtures originally scheduled for Sunday, December 31 has been brought forward to Thursday, December 28.

Super Falcons star Michelle Alozie is full of gratitude after she was named in the 2023 CAF Women’s Team of the Year at the CAF Awards ceremony in Morocco on Monday night.

The Houston Dash defender was one of the three Super Falcons in the CAF Best X1.

The others are Asisat Oshoala and Osinachi Ohale who stood like a rock of Gibraltar in the team heart of defence.

An elated Alozie took to the social media to celebrate her inclusion in Africa’s Best X1.

“best XI 2023…. truly an honor. a year of firsts; the super falcons are special!!,the right-back wrote on official X handle.

Alozie caught the eye with her impressive displays for the Super Falcons at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

It was a historic night for Nigerian football as Victor Osimhen and Asisat Oshoala emerged as the best players in Africa.

Super Eagles and Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen, has been named 2023 CAF Men’s Player of the Year.

The Napoli goal-getter beat Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi to the prestigious award – the first time a Nigerian has picked up the title since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999.

Kanu won it twice in 1996 and 1999 when he was in Arsenal and Inter Milan.

Osimhen joins the late Rashidi Yekini (1993), Emmanuel Amuneke (1994), Nwankwo Kanu (1996, 1999), and Victor Ikpeba (1997) as the only Nigeria men’s players to be crowned African Best Player.

It would be recalled that Osimhen also became the first Nigerian to finish in the top 10 of the Ballon d’Or vote with an eighth-placed finish and was made a Member of the Federal Republic in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, His compatriot, Barcelona Feminine star Asisat Oshoala won her 6th consecutive award as the 2023 Africa Women’s Player of the Year.

She beat off competition from South Africa and Racing Louisville’s Thembi Kgatlana and Zambia and Shanghai Sengli’s Barbra Banda.

Also, Super Falcons goalkeeper, Chiamaka Nnadozie won the inaugural African Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year while the Super Falcons won the African Women’s National Team of the Year.

South African Desiree Ellis picked up her fourth Caf Coach of the Year award after leading Banyana Banyana to their first World Cup.

The men’s award went to Morocco’s Walid Regragui on a great night for the Atlas Lions, who were named the National Men coach of the Year, The 48-year-old beat Senegal’s Aliou Cisse and Algeria’s Abdelhak Benchika to the award.

Their heroics at Qatar 2022 – where they became the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final – also helped Yassine Bounou win the Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year prize.

Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa were named the Women’s Club of the Year after triumphing in the African Women’s Champions League for a second time.

Egyptian powerhouse Al Ahly, who won a record 11th Champions League title in 2023, won the Men’s Club of the Year award.

The winners are voted for by a panel consisting of Caf’s technical committee plus African media professionals, head coaches and captains. Clubs involved in the group stages of Caf’s continental competitions also have a say.

Former Super Eagles Captain and Coach Christian Chukwu Okoro has told Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro, to forget about the dream of winning the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cote d’Ivoire.

Speaking on the chances of the Super Eagles at AFCON, Chukwu advised the national coach, Peseiro to change his style and focus more on discovering local football talents.

He also called on him to relocate to and live fully in Nigeria to discover from the local league the right budding players that will get him results rather than relying completely on foreign-based players.

Chairman has Chukwu was fondly called during his playing days said it would be a daydream for Peseiro to visit the country play matches and leave like the foreign players who hurry back to their clubs after every national assignment and have a successful career in Nigeria.

Chukwu expressed his concerns as a guest on the Channels Television program, ‘Channels Sports Sunday.’

You can’t come in on Wednesday or Thursday, train on Friday, play on Saturday, and return to your base on Sunday and expect to build a team that can win Africa. It might not be possible,” he coached.

Chukwu, who also coached the Super Eagles from 2003 to 2006 said, “We have plenty of talents in the Nigerian local league which he has a duty to tap into, discover them, and build a formidable team that we can rely on. I am afraid that with this present team and the structure that is more ad hoc, we should not expect to win next year.”

Chukwu further said: “The reason Clemence Westerhof remains the coach of reference is because he built the home team that won Africa from within Nigeria. It is from those players he discovered that we started having a strong foreign players’ pool. The present coach has no alternative to doing the same because that is the only way we can have a team and expect to win Africa and the world.”

Enyimba International has secured a two-year N100m worth sponsorship deal with one of the leading airlines in Nigeria, United Nigeria Arline.

Speaking at the official signing at the Corporate Office of the Airline, Enyimba Int’l Chairman, Nwankwo Kanu said the Airline has set the pace in uniting the people.

He noted that the club wants to change the narrative in Nigerian football by motivating the players to achieve maximum results.

Kanu said: “United Nigeria Airlines has set the pace in uniting Nigerians with their services using the most uniting factor, football.

“I hope other airlines in the country can emulate this as it is very vital for the clubs and our league considering what has happened to Sunshine Stars FC and others recently.

“In Enyimba we are trying our best to change the narrative and this deal is very key to the way we are moving as the news has delighted the team especially propelling and motivating our players to give their best for ultimate result.”

Earlier, The founder and Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Professor Obiora Okonkwo said that…” As a proud supporter of the Aba-based football club, the rebranding efforts have soared to a new heights with this collaboration

“It’s a relationship we expect to grow bigger and better with time. So this is the starting point and i hope they will benefit from it through air travels and other areas we may commonly agree that would be of their need and it is an initial two year period.

“Football is a factor that unites the Nigerian people regardless of tribe, state of origin. So in our Corporate Social Responsibility, we see that as an important thing that we should identify with.

“It is a significant honour for United Nigeria Airlines to become the official kit sponsor of Enyimba Football Club based in Aba, Abia State”. Okonkwo said.

In the same vein, Kanu Nwankwo (Papilo) however, condemned the attack on Sunshine football club saying…” The attack is not something to write home about

“United Nigeria Airlines have come in and we expect other philanthropists to emulate the United Nigeria Airlines.

Nigeria’s Victor Boniface was on Friday named the Bundesliga Rookie of the Month for the fourth time in a row.

Boniface, who won the Bundesliga Player of the Month award in August has been in fantastic form since switching Union St Gilloise for Bayer Leverkusen in the summer.

Boniface also won the award in September and October.

Boniface, despite not scoring in the league during November, has been awarded the award due to his significant goal contributions.

He chipped in with two assists in the 3-2 win away at Hoffenheim on Matchday 10. The Nigerian was his usual shot-happy self with 11 attempts, but he is much more than just a classic center-forward,” the league wrote about the 22-year-old.

“He also set up three attempts for teammates, meaning he was directly involved in a shot on goal every 18 minutes on average,” they stated

The Nigeria international beat RB Leipzig winger Xavi Simons and Freiburg’s Merlin Rohl to the award.

Xavi Simons has been nominated four times for the individual accolade this season.

Bayern Leverkusen’s number 22 jersey has scored 14 goals and provided six assists in 20 appearances across all competitions for Xabi Alonso’s side this season.

Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen and Super Falcons striker, Asisat Oshoala and Deborah Abiodun have been named in the CAF Player of the Year final three-man list for the men, women and young categories.

Osimhen was instrumental to Napoli’s success last season, as the club won Serie A for the first time in 33 years. Osimhen also won the Golden Boot, scoring 26 goals and becoming the highest-scoring African in the league. He was also named the best striker in the league.

Also up for the prestigious award are Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi and Egypt and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.

Oshoala, who is the reigning Africa women’s player of the year, scored 21 goals in just 28 games to lead FC Barcelona to the 2022/23 Spanish League title and was the Spanish club’s top scorer with 27 goals in all competitions. The 28-year-old was instrumental as Barcelona retained their domestic title and won the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

At the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, 5-time record African Player of the Year award winner Oshoala made history as the first Nigerian and first female African player to score at three different editions of the FIFA World Cup. She has now scored 31 goals and won the Women’s African Cup of Nations three times with the Super Falcons.

Meanwhile, in the CAF Young Player of the Year (WOMEN) award – Final 3, Super Falcons midfielder Abiodun is up for award along with Comfort Yeboah of Ghana and Morocco’s Nesryne El Chad.

Nigeria’s Super Falcons, who had the best outing at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup among the African teams, are in the running for National Team of the Year (Women) with Morocco and South Africa, who also impressed at the global tournament.

However, Randy Waldrum, who led the Super Falcons to the World Cup, has been cut from the Coach of the Year (Women) nominations, leaving Reynald Pedro of Morocco, Desiree Ellis of South Africa and Jerry Tshabalala of Mamelodi Sundowns.

Shifting the focus to other categories, the Coach of the Year (Men) race features Senegal’s Aliou Cisse, Morocco’s Walid Regragui, and Algerian coach Abdelhak Benchika of USM Alger.

Meanwhile, Al Ahly, Wydad, and Mamelodi Sundowns are in contention for the Club of the Year (Men) title, while AS FAR, Sporting Casablanca and Mamelodi Sundowns vie for Club of the Year (Women).

The Awards Gala will take place on Monday, 11 December 2023, at the Palais des Congrès, Movenpick, Marrakech, Morocco at 19H00 local time (18H00 GMT).

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Nigeria’s Super Eagles striker Victor Boniface scored in the third straight game for his German Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB Pokal against Paderborn on Wednesday night.

The Nigerian ended the 5-game goal drought in the UEFA Europa League game against BK Hacken and followed it up with another goal against Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.

Leverkusen defeated Paderborn 1-3 in the round of 16 of DFB Pokal and it was Boniface who netted the opening goal in the 12th minute of the game.

The victory over Pderborn ensured that Leverkusen progressed to the quarter-final of the competition and remained unbeaten in the season.

Boniface has scored eight goals in 13 appearances in the league.

Meanwhile, it is a return to winning ways for Leverkusen, following the draw against Dortmund.

The only time Leverkusen won the DFB-Pokal was in the 1992/93 season, it will now be seen if Xabi Alonso can take Leverkusen to the promised land.

Super Falcons interim head coach, Justin Madugu has led the Super Falcons of Nigeria to the next Africa Women Cup of Nations (WAFCON)


The 9th time wafcon champions secured their qualification ticket to the 2024 Women’s African Cup of Nations in style after their victory over the Blue Shark in Praia.

Cape Verde started like a house on fire at the Santiago-Estádio Nacional Cabo Verde in Praia raiding the Super Falcons’ goal area, hoping to reduce the five-goal deficit in the first leg at Abuja, and their quick-off-the-blocks approach paid off when Ivania Tavares Moreira got the ball past goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie for a goal in the 9th minute and they were able to protect their lead going into halftime.

Meanwhile, Coach Justin Madugu threw Esther Onyenezide and the clinical Esther Okoronkwo into the fray at the beginning of the second half, for Peace Efih and Uchenna Kanu, and knuckled when Okoronkwo, never one to engage in frivolities in the fore, got the ball in the net 11 minutes into the second half, only to be judged off-side.

The homers would not be as lucky six minutes later, as Okoronkwo, who got two of the goals in the first leg scored to draw Nigeria level.

However, Atletico Madrid Feminine forward and Super Falcons captain Rasheedat Ajibade scored Nigeria’s winning goal in the 92nd minute to end the game 1-2, and a record 7-1 aggregate win in the final round of the qualification series.

Shooting Stars head coach, Gbenga Ogunbote believes his team remains on the right track despite Sunday’s stalemate against Heartland.


3SC failed to convert their chances in the encounter. The oracle as Ogunbote is fondly called said the team will make up for the points lost in their subsequent matches.

“I think matchday 38 is still far we just played 11. We still have 27 games to determine the champion,” he stated during the post-match interview.

“Our dream is to finish strong as we still have more games to come.

“We hope to have a free level playing field in our next games as we have been seeing it here in Ibadan.

We will definitely make up for the points dropped here in Ibadan.”

Meanwhile, the Oluyole Warriors will face former coach Edith Agoye’s Sunshine Stars in Akure in a Southwest derby on Wednesday.

However, after the goalless draw against Kennedy Boboye’s Heartland of Owerri at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Shooting Stars dropped to fifth position following the draw.

The Ibadan club has recorded 18 points from 11 matches.

Daniel Ogunmodede and Sikiru Alimi, sodiq Ismail, have been nominated for the Nigeria Premier Football League Player and coach Of The Month award for November.

The Sky Blue of Ikenne manager won the award for October and was also nominated after guiding Remo stars to an enviable position in the league, winning 3 matches, including Champions Enyimba

Ijaball has Ogunmodede, fondly called by his teeming supporters, is up against Doma United manager Akinade Onigbinde, who guides his team to 6 unbeaten runs, picking Draw Remo Stars, Bendel Insurance.

Sunshine Stars manager Edith Agoye is also nominated for the prestigious monthly award after an incredible performance in the month under review, Eugene Agagbe of Lobi Stars was recognized after recording remarkable wins against Ranger international, Sporting Lagos, Shooting Stars, and Bayelsa United away from home in the month under review.

In the Player of the month nominees, Sikiru Alimi, the Prolific goal-getter of Remo Stars is up for the award again, after being nominated for the September awards, the NPFL top scorer lost the accolade to Robert Mizo of Bayelsa United, Alimi is against teammate Sodiq Ismail, the right fullback has 5 assists in 6 matches.

Andrew Majalisa was also nominated for Marshaling the Doma United backline without conceding in the month under review and scoring the winner against Plateau United.

Meanwhile, Super Eagles goalkeeper Amas Obasogie was among the nominees for the Player of the Month award, keeping 4 clean sheets, recording an assist against Enyimba International, and saving a spot kick against Kano Pillars justifying his Super Eagles call-up.

However, the rave of the moment among NPFL goalkeepers, keeping a 630-minute clean sheet and recording 2 assists in a match against Gombe United Kingdom Osayi of Doma United was recognized for his heroics for Akinade Onigbinde’s team.

For the goal of the month, Doma United Emmanuel Jesam’s delicious goal against Gombe United in the match day 7 encounter was nominated, after lifting the ball over the rushing Goalkeeper of Gombe United, with Kingdom Osayi graciously accepting the assists.

Kareem Ademola of Shooting Stars of ibadan step over and low drive against Kano Pillars at the lekan Salami stadium, was picked while Thumping header from Dare Ojo for Akwa united against Daniel Ogunmodede’s Remo Stars match day 9 was nominated, at the Ilorin Township Stadium, Mohamed Alao classical volley was nominated, match day 10 goals was not completed with mentioning Alao’s goal.

Matchday 10 also saw another goal worth nominated with Bashir Usman for Niger Tornadoes vs. Akwa United, where he lifted the ball over the defender before unleashing his missiles against the akwa United goalkeeper.

Heartland Football Club Bernard Mundi won the goal of the month of September.

The winners will be decided by a panel of football experts and announced by the league Bloggers Awards on Saturday, December 9th, 2023.

Rivers United FC has successfully landed in Ghana for their upcoming CAF Confederation Cup Matchday 2 fixture.

The Pride of Rivers is poised to face a challenging encounter on foreign soil as part of their continental campaign.

The arrival of Rivers United FC in Ghana signifies the club’s preparedness and determination to make a mark in the CAF Confederation Cup.

The former Nigeria Premier Football League champions arrived at the Kotoko International Stadium on Friday morning after departing the Murtala Mohammed International Airport on the same day.

Rivers United will trade tackles with Dreams FC at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium on Sunday.

The team, led by its coaching staff and players, is expected to acclimatize to the new environment and fine-tune their strategies ahead of the crucial fixture.

The CAF Confederation Cup provides a stage for clubs to test their mettle against diverse opponents, fostering a spirit of competition and camaraderie within the African football landscape.

Stanley Eguma’s side defeated Academica Petroleos Lobito of Angola in a matchday one fixture last week in Uyo.

Dreams FC lost 2-0 away in Tunisia to Club Africain.

Meanwhile, The success of Rivers United FC in this continental campaign will not only enhance the club’s reputation but also contribute to the broader narrative of Nigerian football on the African stage.