Qatari Billionaire, Sheikh Jassim has withdrawn from the race to buy Manchester United from the Glazers family.

The Qatari businessman has been competing with British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe to buy United after the Glazers put the club up for sale last November but new reports say the Glazers took United off the market last month after realising that neither interested party would meet their £10 billion valuation.

Sheikh Jassim had a £5bn offer for a complete takeover of United rejected earlier this year, while Ratcliffe, the petrochemicals billionaire, had considered buying a minority stake.

Both Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe had retained their interest, despite the Glazers’ high valuation, but the Qatari billionaire has now pulled out of the race.

‘Sheikh Jassim has had further discussions with Glazers family to buy 100 per cent of Manchester United,’ transfer expert Fabrizio Romano said on his YouTube channel on Saturday, October 14.

‘Sheikh Jassim’s bid proposition has been rejected again by Glazers family. As a result, Sheikh Jassim informed Glazers that he’s ready to withdraw from the process.

‘Sheikh Jassim has presented fully cash bid, clearing all old debt, with zero new debt, for 100% of the club.

‘Sheikh Jassim’s team decline to comment on this news citing ‘confidentiality restrictions’, but have confirmed they’ve withdrawn from the process.’

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has vowed to return to the octagon after announcing that he is taking a break from the UFC.

Israel Adesanya decided to embark on the break about a month after he lost his Middleweight belt to an underdog, Sean Strickland in Sydney, Australia.

His defeat to the 32-year-old American mixed martial artist is said to be the biggest upset in MMA history.

The 34-year-old Nigerian-born Australian fighter said his break from UFC is to help him refocus, change his way of life, and prepare for the future after suffering his third competitive loss in the UFC.

“I’m not making any excuses. Strickland got me on the night because he was the better fighter on the night, and he did his work well. He had a good team behind him. Now I’m going to take time to look after myself. I’m not going to fight for a long time. I’m definitely not going to retire, because that’s not me,” Adesanya told The Rock FM.

“But if I did, I’m fine. I don’t need to prove anything else. But I know what I can do, and I know what I can change in my lifestyle to make my body adapt to where I need to be. I’m going to heal myself up, you won’t see me fight for a long time.”

He added, “Four fights in the last 14 months, takes a toll on your body.

“I’m just going to take my time to heal, and then when I come back, f**king run for the hills”.

Israel Adesanya revealed that Khamzat Chimaev could have been his opponent at UFC 294, but his team declined the opportunity due to his sabbatical.

On Saturday, October 21, the unbeaten Chimaev will face fellow Nigerian fighter Kamaru Usman instead.

Meanwhile, Adesanya admitted guilty to charges of drunk driving in New Zealand and now faces a sentence of up to $2,680 in fines or three months in jail.

On August 19, Adesanya was stopped, and it was found that he had a blood alcohol level of 87 milligrams per 100 milliliters. The legal limit in New Zealand is 50 milligrams.

He will go back to court on January 10 to receive his punishment.

[NaijaNews]

In a thrilling night of football, three national teams secured their qualification for the 2024 European Championship, as France, Portugal, and Belgium emerged victorious in their respective matches.

France, led by star forward Kylian Mbappe, overcame the Netherlands with a 2-1 victory to secure their spot in the Euro 2024 finals. Mbappe, who played a pivotal role, scored twice, with the first goal coming just seven minutes into the match.

He added another early in the second half, while Quilindschy Hartman scored a consolation goal for the hosts late in the game. France has maintained a perfect record, winning all six Euro qualifying matches, confirming their place in the tournament with two matches to spare.

Belgium secured their qualification with a hard-fought 3-2 victory against Austria. The match in Vienna was a winner-takes-all contest, and Belgium emerged victorious to top Group F with 16 points, securing their place in the finals. The match was intense and closely contested, but Romelu Lukaku’s performance helped Belgium win.

Portugal also secured their qualification to the Euros after a thrilling 3-2 victory over Slovakia. Goncalo Ramos opened the scoring for Portugal, and Cristiano Ronaldo added two goals, including one from the penalty spot. David Hancko and Stanislav Lobotka scored for Slovakia, but Portugal held on for the win. Portugal won all their qualifying matches, and they join France, Belgium, and Germany as the teams qualified for Euro 2024.

The competition promises to be an exciting showdown, with these three strong teams booking their places in the tournament.

Former Manchester United goalkeeper, Ben Foster, has suggested that Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk is the best centre-back that has ever lived.

Speaking on the Fozcast, Foster said: “I have got one I think we probably will put in the top 10 [defenders list],” ‘Some people would say about longevity, but I still think in the whole pantheon of centre-backs, this guy stepped the game up a little bit. I really do. Virgil van Dijk.

“I think for three years in a row, he was the best centre-back in the world. He had a bad injury and is probably still finding his feet from that.

“Virgil van Dijk, at the peak of his powers, is the best defender that has ever lived. I genuinely believe that. When Liverpool are winning the Champions League and Premier League, Virgil is the number one.

“People have just got short memories and the cruciate ligament injury has probably taken a yard of pace off him.”

Van Dijk joined Liverpool from Southampton in 2018.

[DailyPost]

TOTTENHAM Hotspur captain Son Heung-min and the club’s head coach Ange Postecoglou have won the main English Premier League awards for September.

While Son has been voted September Player of the Month, Postecoglou secured the Manager of the Month prize.

Korea forward Son scored six goals in four matches in September as Spurs defeated Burnley, Sheffield United and Liverpool, and drew with Arsenal, to continue their unbeaten start to the season.

He netted a hat-trick at Turf Moor, a brace in the north London derby, and the opening goal in Spurs’ first victory over Liverpool since 2017.

Son’s award is the second for Tottenham players this season after James Maddison won August’s prize.

Son has now won the award four times in his career, matching Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes, Mohamed Salah, Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Jamie Vardy.

Son topped a seven-man shortlist after votes on the EA SPORTS website were combined with those of a panel of football experts.

He beat the likes of Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen to the award.

On his part, Postecoglou has made Premier League history by winning September 2023 Manager of the Month award.

The Australian is the first manager to win the award in each of his first two months in the competition, having also claimed August’s prize, the first coach from his country to ever win it.

The last manager to win the first two awards of any season was Jurgen Klopp, in 2019/2020, when Liverpool went on to lift the Premier League trophy.

Postecoglou beat fellow nominees Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta, Aston Villa’s Unai Emery, Newcastle United’s Eddie Howe and Klopp after votes from the public were combined with those of a panel of football experts.

Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes won the Goal of the Month award for his strike against Burnley in the clash his side won 1-0.

[https://ntm.ng]

Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro has admitted that the Eagles will face a tough test against Saudi Arabia when both sides clash in an international friendly at the Estádio Municipal de Portimao, Portugal on Friday (today).

The three-time African champions also play Mozambique at the same venue on Monday.

The Eagles and the Asians have met just once, another friendly that ended in a 0-0 stalemate in 2010 in Austria.

Interestingly, Peseiro was in the opposite dugout as coach of Saudi Arabia in that encounter but he says they have a better squad now under new Italian manager Roberto Mancini.

Speaking exclusively to PUNCH Sports Extra, Eagles coach Peserio said the game against the Green Falcons would be a good test for his side as they prepare for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers next month.

The Eagles begin their World Cup qualifying matches against Lesotho and Zimbabwe in November.

“It will be a good preparatory game against a good team, which will be very useful for my team’s qualification for the World Cup,” Peserio said.

“The Saudi Arabian team has players with technical quality, who like to play an associative game and are now stronger than when I coached them.

“Saudi Arabia was the last team to defeat Argentina, so it will certainly be a tough game, which we will use to improve our organisation.”

Nigeria will begin their quest for a fourth Africa Cup of Nations title in 2024 against tournament hosts Ivory Coast alongside Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau.

The draw, which was conducted at at a colourful ceremony inside the brand-new Parc Des Expositions in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on Thursday was hosted by global music star, AKON.

A heavyweight quartet of Africa’s biggest current and former football superstars, Didier Drogba, Mikel Obi, Sadio Mane and Achraf Hakimi supported the Confederation of Africa Football as draw assistants during the pairing.

The Super Eagles were seeded in Pot 2 following their drop in the FIFA rankings released in September.

By their seeding, the three-time African champions knew they faced the task of coming up against one of the top-seeded teams on the continent.

While they avoided a confrontation against the North African sides, Jose Peseiro’s men were, however, handed a tricky start to their campaign with a game against the Elephants.

The match at the 60,000-capacity Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan is one the most highly anticipated of the tournament’s group stage fixtures.

Ivory Coast have won the tournament on two occasions, first in 1992 and later in 2015.

Both sides were also in the same group in 1980 when Nigeria hosted the football showpiece with the game ending goalless.

In the other groups, record winners, Egypt were paired in Group B alongside Ghana, Cape Verde and Mozambique.

Group C has champions Senegal, 2002 winners Cameroon, Guinea and The Gambia.

Algeria will slug it out with Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Angola in Group D.

In Group E, Tunisia face Mali, South Africa and Namibia, while Group F has Morocco, who are ranked number one in Africa, DR Congo, Zambia and Tanzania.

Next year’s edition of the AFCON will take place from January 13 to February 11, 2024.

The host cities are Abidjan, Bouaké, Korhogo, San Pédro and Yamoussoukro.

Nigerian Mixed Martial Artist, Kamaru Usman, will face Sweden’s Khamzat Chimaev at the co-main event of UFC 294 scheduled to take place on October 21, 2023, at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The late substitution was announced by UFC President, Dana White, on the championship’s social media handles Wednesday evening.

Usman nicknamed the Nigerian Nightmare, was not originally part of the UFC 294 fight card. The event was billed to feature Chimaev against Brazil’s Paulo Costa.

Following tests conducted on the fighters ahead of the Abu Dhabi showdown, Costa was deemed ineligible to compete due to an elbow injury.

Usman, who competes in the welterweight division, is now expected to make weight within the next ten days to fight Chimaev, who competes in the middleweight class.

The Edo-born mixed martial artist had impressed since signing with the UFC in 2015, going on a 19-match winning streak that saw him capture the welterweight title.

On August 20, 2022, Britain’s Leon Edwards scored a knockout with a head kick in the final minute of round 5 to end Usman’s long reign as champion in the division at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. The loss ended Usman’s 19-fight winning streak that extended over nine years.

Usman has not been in any in-ring competition since losing his rematch against Leon Edwards on March 19, 2023.

Athletics Integrity Unit on Thursday slammed one of the country’s fastest sprinters ever, Divine Oduduru with a six-year ban for doping-related offences.

As contained in a press statement issued Thursday by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), Oduduru has been handed a six-year ban by a three-member Disciplinary Tribunal for committing two Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs).

The violations include the Possession of Prohibited Substances and the Attempted Use of a Prohibited Substance or Method. Additionally, Oduduru has been ordered to pay World Athletics a fine of US$3000 )over N3m) to cover expenses related to the case.

The ban is retroactive, starting from 9 February 2023, the date of Oduduru’s provisional suspension – and extends until February 8, 2029.

Furthermore, all of Oduduru’s results from 12 July 2021, to the date of his provisional suspension have been disqualified.

According to the AIU statement on Thursday, the case unfolded as part of a criminal investigation into Eric Lira, the first person to plead guilty under the US Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act for providing performance-enhancing drugs to Olympic athletes ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

The US Department of Justice’s initial complaint, issued in January 2022, referred to two athletes, “Athlete-1” and “Athlete-2.” The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) identified “Athlete-1” as Blessing Okagbare, who faced an 11-year ban last year, and, following an interview with Oduduru, concluded that he was “Athlete-2.”

Brett Clothier, Head of the AIU, expressed satisfaction with the outcome, stating, “We are very pleased with the outcome of this matter, given its particularly grievous nature, exposing the sinister collusion between athletes and other persons in deliberate plans to corrupt athletics at the highest level.”

Clothier emphasised the AIU’s commitment to uncovering cheats and acknowledged the cooperation with investigative organizations such as the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the United States Department of Justice, whose legal reach provided crucial evidence in both Oduduru’s and Okagbare’s cases.

The panel found Oduduru guilty of Possession of a Prohibited Substance and Attempted Use of a Prohibited Substance, treating them as a single first violation.

The mandatory four-year ban for the combined violation was extended by an additional two years for Aggravating Circumstances.

The panel justified the longer ban by citing Oduduru’s involvement in a scheme with a teammate to procure multiple non-specified Prohibited Substances to influence athletic competitions.

Oduduru, who turned 27 on 7 October, maintained his innocence despite overwhelming evidence against him.

The AIU’s case relied on WhatsApp messages between Okagbare and Lira, revealing Oduduru’s solicitation of Prohibited Substances and photographic evidence of these substances in his Florida apartment.

The substances found included human growth hormone (Somatropin), synthetic Insulin Growth Factor (IGF LR3), and recombinant erythropoietin (EPO).

The panel considered it an extraordinary coincidence that these substances precisely matched those requested by Okagbare from Lira for both herself and Oduduru.

The panel concluded that Oduduru was in constructive possession of the Prohibited Substances based on the circumstances surrounding their discovery in his exclusive control.

Despite the ban and the damning evidence, Oduduru maintained his innocence, and the fallout from this scandal is set to have lasting repercussions on his athletic career and the broader integrity of track and field competitions.