The reigning African tennis champion and one of the most prominent table tennis players in the world, Aruna Quadri, has embarked on a significant career move by joining Saudi Arabia’s Khaleej Table Tennis Club.

Veteran player Quadri was last attached to Fakel-Gazprom Orenburg in Russia, having joined the club in January. He has, however, chosen to leave shortly after defending his senior African title at the ITTF Africa Cup against Egyptian star Ahmed Saleh.

Aruna, who’s the tournament’s number one seed, overwhelmed Saleh in the final clash with a convincing 4-0 win to hold on to the title he won last year in Algeria.

The 35-year-old, who has fallen to 16th place in the world rankings, joins Al-Khaleej, where he will hope to feature prominently over the next two years. This adds Saudi Arabia to his impressive CV, which has already seen him play for clubs in France and Portugal.

Aruna Quadri meanwhile has been joined in Saudi Arabia by long-time rival Egyptian star Omar Assar, who joined Al-Ittihad recently. Both men will continue their rivalry in the oil-rich country.

The move underscores the growing global appeal of the sport and the attractiveness of Saudi Arabia as a destination for top-tier talent.

His arrival is expected to elevate the level of competition and inspire emerging talents within Saudi Arabia’s vibrant table tennis community.

Quadri however becomes the latest Nigerian athlete to move to the country after footballers Henry Onyekuru, Odion Ighalo, Ashleigh Plumptre, and Saviour Godwin in the last few months.

The reigning African tennis champion and one of the most prominent table tennis players in the world, Aruna Quadri, has embarked on a significant career move by joining Saudi Arabia’s Khaleej Table Tennis Club.

Veteran player Quadri was last attached to Fakel-Gazprom Orenburg in Russia, having joined the club in January. He has, however, chosen to leave shortly after defending his senior African title at the ITTF Africa Cup against Egyptian star Ahmed Saleh.

Aruna, who’s the tournament’s number one seed, overwhelmed Saleh in the final clash with a convincing 4-0 win to hold on to the title he won last year in Algeria.

The 35-year-old, who has fallen to 16th place in the world rankings, joins Al-Khaleej, where he will hope to feature prominently over the next two years. This adds Saudi Arabia to his impressive CV, which has already seen him play for clubs in France and Portugal.

Aruna Quadri meanwhile has been joined in Saudi Arabia by long-time rival Egyptian star Omar Assar, who joined Al-Ittihad recently. Both men will continue their rivalry in the oil-rich country.

The move underscores the growing global appeal of the sport and the attractiveness of Saudi Arabia as a destination for top-tier talent.

His arrival is expected to elevate the level of competition and inspire emerging talents within Saudi Arabia’s vibrant table tennis community.

Quadri however becomes the latest Nigerian athlete to move to the country after footballers Henry Onyekuru, Odion Ighalo, Ashleigh Plumptre, and Saviour Godwin in the last few months.

Former Super Eagles player Alloysius Uzoma Agu, popularly known as Alloy Agu, has called out Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen, to pick up a scoring form for Napoli

The former Super Eagles goalkeeper trainer revealed his reasons amid the infamous TikTok video incident that involved the Nigerian top center forward.

Since the incident, Napoli has played three matches and been awarded penalties in every one of those games, yet Osimhen has rejected taking any of them but has scored from two open plays.

Agu, who was the starting goalkeeper in the 1990 African Nations Cup where the team finished as runners-up and was brought to the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1994 African Nations Cup as a cover for Peter Rufai While speaking with journalists on Friday, Agu expressed that the super Eagles forward need to pick up his goal-scoring form.

“Osimhen should focus on scoring goals and improving his profile as a prolific striker in Europe,” Agu said.

“He consistently maintained that pedigree last season and I am optimistic he can maintain that form regardless of what has happened in Napoli.”

Osimhen is regarded as one of the best centre-forwards in European football. He has been compared to fellow young strikers Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak, and Dušan Vlahović. Opta Analyst wrote: “Among that early-prime age group, Victor Osimhen is arguably near the top”.

However last season’s Serie A top scorer appears to have attracted some of the top clubs in Europe and also the oil-rich Saudi League, with different teams patiently waiting how Osimhen’s situation with Napoli evolved.

The organisers of the Nigeria Women Football League has announced the official kick-off date for the 2023/2024 season.

The league body held its Annual General Meeting in Lagos on Thursday and announced November 15 as the kick-off date of the league.

This follows the successful draw which was conducted this afternoon with each participating team guaranteed a fourteen (14) match run with home and away rounds.

They also confirmed the promotion of Ekiti Queens and Sunshine Queens to the elite division.

Sixteen teams will now play in the league and they have been divided into two groups of 8 teams.

The full draws:
Group A
Nassarawa Amazons
Heartland Queens
Confluence Queens
Adamawa Queens
Dannaz Ladies
Naija Ratels
Royal Queens
Abia Angels

Group B
Lakeside Queens
Rivers Angels
Sunshine Queens
Robo Queens
Edo Queens
Bayelsa Queens
Ekiti Queens
Delta Queens

Meanwhile, Delta Queens are the defending champions after winning the super 8, however there will be a break spanning three weeks which will start on the 20th of December 2023 and resume back to action on January 3rd, 2024, the first week of the new year in preparation for the January 10th transfer window.

Super Falcons of Nigeria and Houston Dash player Michelle Alozie has been named Player of the Week in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in the US.

Alozie was announced as the winner on the NWSL X handle.

The right-back beat three other nominees for the award thanks to her superb performance in Houston Dash’s 2-0 win at Gotham FC at the weekend.

The three other shortlisted players are Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Casey Krueger (Chicago Red Stars) and Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave).

In a poll that was conducted, Alozie got 58.9% while Rodman, Krueger and Shaw had 23.1%, 9.1% and 8.9% respectively.

The American-born Nigerian professional footballer Alozie returned to action for Houston Dash after serving a one-match suspension and scored two goals in the 2-0 win against Gotham FC.

For her five-star display in helping her team win, Alozie was named Player of the Match.

She has now scored four goals in 15 appearances in the NWSL this season.

Super Eagles midfielder Alex Iwobi has been nominated for Fulham’s Goal of the Month award for September.

Iwobi’s superb strike in Fulham’s Carabao Cup clash against Norwich City at the Craven Cottage is in the running for the individual accolade.

The versatile midfielder’s strike proved decisive with Fulham winning the Third Round tie 2-1.

It was the 27-year-old’s maiden strike for Marco Silva’s side.

The Nigeria international joined Fulham from Everton on transfer deadline day.

The Craven Cottage-based side paid $20m to Everton to secure his services.

Nigerian-born youngster Chibuzor Nwoko is also in the running for the award.

Nwoko’s strike in Fulham’s U-18 3-1 win against Chelsea made the shortlist.

Ollie O’Neil, Lille Lambird, Tia Foreman, Callum Osmand, Madi Parsonson, Matt Dibley-Dias, and Callum McFarlane are the other players nominated for the award.

Meanwhile, João Palhinha’s dramatic equaliser away to Arsenal was voted Fulham’s Goal of the Month for August.

With (45.3%) of fans who voted went for Palhinha as their Goal of the Month winner. Andreas Pereira’s opener in the same match came second (20.7%), ahead of the slick team move finished off by Bobby De Cordova-Reid against Everton which took 9.1%.

The President of Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau has disclosed that the Super Eagles Technical Adviser Jose Santos Peseiro has been mandated to tinker the CHAN Eagles for optimum results and reinvigoration.

He made this pledge while reviewing the activities of the NFF and the teams in one year of his Board in office, and also articulating expectations for the next one year.

Speaking on the occasion to media to mark the first anniversary, Gusau disclosed that Peseiro is coming to reside permanently in the country and we have asked him to take over the CHAN Eagles which comprises of our league players.

The former Zamfara State Football Association chairman also revealed that his main target right now is for the Super Eagles to pick the 2026 World Cup that will be jointly hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico as well as to win the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote D’Ivoire, which will be played from January 13th to February 11th, 2024.

It’s exactly 10 years ago that Nigeria lifted the AFCON title in South Africa, President Gusua who is celebrating his 365 days in office said that is why the board is going the extra mile for the national teams to be in good shape before any competition.

While highlighting the achievements of the past year, which included a first-ever podium finish at the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, quarter-final performance of the Flying Eagles at the FIFA U20 World Cup, qualification of the Super Eagles to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and best-ever outing by the Super Falcons at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Gusau asserted that the Board and Secretariat have worked in tandem to remove toxicity from the system and enable a more conducive environment for the game in the country.

“One of our priorities on coming into office was to ensure that the football environment was cleansed of so much toxicity that had threatened the health of the game and made some persons feel unwelcome in the system. We have tried our best to give everyone a sense of belonging with a policy of inclusiveness.

“Off the pitch, we are proud of the work of the Interim Management Committee that we constituted to organize the last NPFL League Season, which was commended by all stakeholders, and we also feel fulfilled about the constitution of the Boards of the NNL, NWFL, and NLO with vibrant, knowledgeable and competent individuals who are capable of taking the leagues to the next level. Elections into the State FAs have also been largely peaceful and successful.”

Gusau said his board will work assiduously and diligently with the secretariat and the Federal Ministry of Sports Development to see the Super Eagles off to a great start in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying series and to win the 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire early next year.

“We also want to see the Super Falcons reclaim their African title and return to the Women Olympic Football Tournament. Our expectations include making good progress in our plan for hostel accommodation and some playing pitches for the National Teams, through the FIFA Forward 3.0 program, and also see that the U17 and U20 Women National Teams achieve their best-ever outings at their different World Cups next year.

The NFF boss said his team will also not allow any FIFA window for friendly matches to go unutilized.

“As you can see, we have arranged two matches for the Super Eagles in this month’s window, against Saudi Arabia and Mozambique. Mozambique is in southern Africa where three of our opponents in the World Cup qualifiers, namely Lesotho, Zimbabwe and South Africa also are. Playing Mozambique is a good opportunity for the team to have a sneak preview of what to expect against these three teams.”

Following his outstanding display so far in the season, English Premier League side Nottingham Forest has voted Nigeria’s Super Eagles defender Ola Aina as the Player of the Month.

The 26-year-old has made a positive impression since joining Forest on a free transfer following his departure from Torino, featuring five times in the current Premier League campaign.

Capable of playing on either flank, the versatile full-back has operated on both the left and right side of defence so far this season, producing a string of solid displays.

It’s because of this that Aina has been voted by Forest supporters as Player of the Month.

Meanwhile, international teammate, Taiwo Awoniyi, picked up the award in August.

Super Eagles Head Coach, Jose Peseiro has recalled defenders Kenneth Omeruo and Bright Osayi-Samuel, as well as midfielder Alex Iwobi and forward Terem Moffi to the Super Eagles’ squad for this month’s international friendly matches against Saudi Arabia and Mozambique in Portugal.

The quartet were absent from the team that demolished Sao Tome and Principe in last month’s 2023 AFCON qualifier in Uyo.

Midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, of Hatayaspor FC of Turkey, who has registered four goals and two assists in seven appearances this season gets his first-ever invitation, while Peseiro has decided to retain the trio of Francis Uzoho, Adebayo Adeleye and Olorunleke Ojo in goal. Yet-to-be-capped defender Jordan Torunnarigha is also called.

Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, who captained the team against Sao Tome and Principe, as well as Raphael Onyedika and forwards Moses Simon, Ademola Lookman, Victor Osimhen, Taiwo Awoniyi and Kelechi Iheanacho have also been invited.

The Super Eagles take on the Green Falcons of Saudi Arabia in the city of Portimão, Portugal on Friday, 13th October 2023, starting at 5pm before a clash with the Mambas of Mozambique in the same city three days later.

Meanwhile, the players are all expected to arrive in Faro, Portugal on Tuesday, 10th October.

However, both encounters have been arranged as tune-up games for the Eagles ahead of the commencement of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches, in which the three-time African champions host Lesotho’s Crocodiles in Uyo on 17th November before travelling away to play Zimbabwe four days later.

Nigeria Cricket Federation will play host to the first edition of the West African Trophy, which is scheduled to kick off at the Tafawa Balewa Square Oval in Lagos, from October 4th to 15th.

Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda are the other teams that will be represented in the ten-day event.

Two matches will be played daily from the opening day till the final day.

The opening match will see Nigeria taking on Rwanda by 10 a.m. on Wednesday, October 4th, at the TBS Oval while Ghana will take on Sierra Leone later in the day.

President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Uyi Akpata, has said that the event is a result of cementing new partnerships with new sponsors and will create platforms for the exposure of the national team to more international engagement which is key to their development.

“This event is the first in its series and we are glad to put it together along with some partners, especially Dafabet. Again, it will form part of events that will prep the National Men’s Cricket team “The Yellow-Greens” ahead of other international engagements later in the year,” he said.

“Sierra Leone and Ghana are our rivals on the West African corridor, and Rwanda’s profile has been on the rise as well. So, it will be a great chance to test the might of the Nigerian team, which has also been beefed-up of late with the promotion of former U19 players.”


Nigeria’s team would be led by Kenyan Steve Tikolo as Chief Coach and captained by Sylvester Okpe.

Also speaking the General Manager of the Federation, Emeka Igwilo, said that the event also draws on the growing capacity of the Federation to host international competition, both in facility and personnel.

According to him, “Amidst all these are the up-skilling of our staffs and development of special relationship across industries for event management and all the accouterments necessary for international event hosting. This follows naturally from the uptick we have been making in games development across the country as our yearly recruitment goals that has crossed 250, 000 per year now.”

Nigeria has six turf wickets that can host international cricket matches now, from zero in just four years ago.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has also made a note of Nigeria, as one of the countries to give special attention to, to help sustain the gains it has made in recent years.

Confederation of African Football (CAF) has named Togolese referees for the 2024 Olympics qualifier match between the Super Falcons of Nigeria and Ethiopia.

The Second Preliminary Round match of the Paris 2024 women’s Olympic football tournament will hold at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.

Ethiopia’s women’s national team, Dinknesh (Lucy), set up a meeting against the Super Falcons in the qualification series for after beating Chad 6-0 away from home, and completed their job at the Abebe stadium in Addis Ababa 4-0 to round off proceeding, making it 10-0 on aggregate in what was a complete annihilation of their counterpart.

The Africa governing football body stated that Kindedji Edoh will be at the centre and will be assisted by her compatriots, Agbedanu Abra Sitofe, Awoutey Kossiwa Kayigan, and Amedome Vincentia Enyonam.

Oulare Daloba from Guinea will serve as the referee assessor, while Ghanaian Ziga Christine Enyonam will be the match commissioner in Abuja.

The Super Falcons have failed to qualify for the last three editions of the Olympics.

The Nine time WAFCON champions last featured in the event at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 where they crashed out in the group stages and only scored one goal from the penalty spot, by Perpetual Nkwocha.

The West Africans are high on confidence after making it to the Round of 16 at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Meanwhile, in the qualification process, the eight winners of the second round will advance to the third round.

Afterwards, the teams will compete in the fourth round, with only four teams remaining.
The winners of the fourth round will secure qualification for the final tournament.

Delta State emerged overall champions of the 2023 National Youth Games (NYG) tagged “Asaba 2023” with a total of 116 medals to underline its dominance of the games.

This year’s competition hosted by Delta kicked off on September 20 and ended September 30, 2023 in Asaba.

According to the final medal table released by the Main Organising Committee (MOC) of the 10-day long events, Team Delta emerged Champions of the competition after raking in a total of 51 gold, 34 silver, and 31 bronze medals.

Team Lagos occupied the 2nd position after winning 21 gold, 19 silver and 21 bronze to narrowly went ahead of Team Edo who came 3rd best in the National Youth Games with 21 gold, 15 silver and 17 bronze medals.

Bayelsa and Kwara settled for the 4th and 5th positions after winning 20 Gold, 7 silver, 16 bronze and 13 gold, 14 silver and 9 bronze medals respectively.

Team Ogun cliched the 6th position with 11 gold, 12 silver and 9 bronze, closed followed by FCT who raked in 11 gold, 10 silver and 16 bronze to emerged in the 7th position.

The 8th position went to Team Anambra with 7 gold, 6 silver and 9 bronze, as Team Rivers clinched the 9th position with 6 gold, 16 silver and 13 bronze.

Delta’s win at home soil makes it six wins from the seven National Youth Games since 2013 when Abuja hosted the first which was won by Cross River.

Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh, represented by Acting Director of Grassroots Sports Development, Mr Patrick Okeke, commended the Delta State Government for being a worthy partner in sports development.

He said the National Youth Games continues meeting expectations each year, adding that participating Athletes had gone ahead to win laurels for the country over the years.

The minister said the games contributed to the growth of the state’s economy with the creation of direct and indirect jobs in the sports value chain.

He added that the ministry was open to partnerships that will further improve sports development in the country, adding that over 400 athletes have been identified across the participating states at the games.

Also speaking, during the closing ceremony of the games held at Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, congratulated team Delta and other participating teams for their efforts.

Represented by Secretary to the State Government, Kingsley Emu, the governor thanked the organisers for their hard work leading to the success of the games.

“After seven days of intense sports competition, rivalries, and pomp and pageantry, the curtain draws on the 7th National Youth Games today. New champions have emerged, new talents discovered, and new heights have been attained by the participants and organizers.

“I congratulate the winners and all the participants. In the last one week, we watched with admiration as you dazzled us with your talents and abilities, the will to win, and the spirit of excellence.

“Every one of you did your best to win and I commend your drive and determination to succeed. But as it is the case in sports, not everybody will climb the medals table.

“Those of you who did not win a medal can hold your head high that you competed with the heart of a champion and showed us a great deal of promise. Thank you for the exciting moments you gave us. We are proud of you.

“As you all return to your various states, I trust that you will apply the lessons you have learned from this competition into your daily lives.

Speaking with sports journalists shortly after the closing ceremony on Saturday in Asaba, Acting Permanent Secretary, Edo State Sports Commission, Dr. Emmanuel Igbinosa, commended the athletes for putting up their best for Edo.

Dr. Igbinosa who was visibly elated thanked the state governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, for his commitment to sports development, particularly grassroots sports

“I am proud of our athletes because they did their very best despite competing with their ‘elder brothers and sisters’ (much more order athletes) in the competition and at the end, they came out 3rd.

“I want to give kudos to the state government, led by Governor Godwin Osaretin, for the tremendous support he gave us. With his support, we were able to go to a closed camp for the first time in Edo.

Kenya’s football national team, Harambee Stars, has landed yet another high-profile friendly match, with the team now set to face Russia on October 16.

Harambee Stars will play the 2018 World Cup hosts in Turkey as they seek to step up their preparations for the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers that begin in November.

It will be the third time in a year that Kenya is facing a nation ranked way above her following friendly games against Iran and Qatar. They fell to the former 2-1 in March before beating the 2022 World Cup hosts this month by a similar scoreline in Al Wakrah.

The win in Al Wakrah was, however, watered down after they lost to minnows South Sudan days later on home soil.

Harambee Stars will face the Ivory Coast, Gabon, Gambia, Seychelles and Burundi, with only one team gaining automatic qualification to the 2026 World Cup.

However, it comes at a time when Kenya was confirmed as the host of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations. Kenya’s joint bid with Uganda and Tanzania emerged successful, beating the likes of Senegal, Zambia and Egypt to the hosting rights.

Nigerian International forward, Paul Ebere Onuachu continued his impressive scoring form as he scored in Trabzonspor’s 2-1 win over Pendikspor, on Saturday, at the Papara Park in the Turkish Super Lig.

Onuachu joined the Turkish giants on a long-season loan from the English Championship side, Southampton.

The Super Eagles forward scored just three minutes into the game before Anastasios Bakasetas made it 2-0 in the 27th minutes.

Endri Cekici pulled a goal back for Pendikspor in the 36th minutes, but Trabzonspor held on for the win.

It was Onuachu’s third goal in three consecutive Turkish Super Lig outings for Trabzonspor.

The 29-year-old made a name for himself as the first Trabzonspor player to achieve the feat since the 2007/28 season.

Onuachu scored on his debut for Trabzonspor against Besiktas and was also on target in his second game against Hatayspor.

It is a return to winning ways for Trabzonspor who went into Saturday’s game on the back of a 3-2 loss at Hatayspor on Monday, 25 September.

Trabzonspor move up to third place on 12 points after seven league games in the Turkish topflight.

Trabzonspor finished the game with 10 men after Batista Mendy was sent off 14 minutes from time.

The 2023/24 season of the nation’s second-tier domestic league, Nigeria National League (NNL) will kick off on October 28th.

The NNL in its Annual General Meeting held at De Bridge Ville Suites, Jos, Plateau State, approved the kick-off date with the star match only, while other Matchday One matches are to be played on 4th, 5th, and 6th November 2023 respectively at various venues.

The game between Dakkada FC vs. 1472 FC has been fixed as the star match of the commencement of the league season scheduled for the Uyo Township Stadium.

The new season will be run in an abridged format of 4 conferences of A, B, C, and D. It would be recalled that the 2022/23 NPFL season was also run in an abridged format.

It was agreed that only stadia that meet the required NNL Stadium facilities criteria shall be approved for the 2023/2024 League season.

The promotion of Heartland FC, Kano Pillar FC, Sporting Lagos FC, and Katsina Utd FC to the Nigeria Premier Football League was confirmed, with Heartland winning the NNL title last season. likewise the relegation of the following 12 clubs to the Nationwide League One (NLO).

The twelve clubs that are relegated to NLO1 are:

Kogi Utd FC – Lokoja, FWC Champions FC of Abuja – Abuja, Zamfara Utd FC – Zamfara, Green Berets FC – Zaria, ABS FC – Ilorin, Police Machine FHQ FC – Gombe, Go Round FC – Omoku, FC Ebedei – Shagamu, Joy Comts FC – Lagos, Ibom Youths FC – Ikot Ekpene, Edel FC – Awka and Henserd FC – Yanagoa.

The NNL Annual General Meeting agreed that at least 20 effective security personnel must be present before a league match can commence in any venue hosting NNL match in the 2023/2024 league season.

The AGM appreciated the various sponsorship moves so far made by the Board of the Nigeria National League, while praying that they shall come to fruition.

The NNL Annual General Meeting also passed a vote of explicit confidence on the Board of the Nigeria National League led by George Aluo for their achievement so far and for their resolve to improve the standard of the League beginning from the new season.

Meanwhile l, the NNL Annual General Meeting appreciated Dekaizen Worldwide Ltd the official Insurance Brokers for providing a cash price of N5,000,000.00 (Five million naira) only for the winners of the 2023/2024 league season.

However, cash prices for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th positions shall be worked out based on availability of funds before the close of the season.