A set of six jerseys that Lionel Messi wore during Argentina’s victorious 2022 World Cup run will be auctioned in December, Sotheby’s announced Monday, estimating their value at more than $10 million.

The football star donned these shirts during the first halves of the group-stage rounds against Saudi Arabia and Mexico, as well as later games against Australia, the Netherlands and Croatia — and the final against France.

Argentina’s winning run in Qatar last year was the final feather in the forward’s cap, having failed to secure the championship in four previous World Cups.

If the jerseys indeed fetch above $10 million, that could make the sale the most valuable collection of sports memorabilia ever auctioned off, Sotheby’s said.

The most expensive individual jersey ever sold at auction was one that basketball legend Michael Jordan wore during his NBA finals run with the Chicago Bulls in 1998.

It sold for $10.1 million last year.

Auction houses have increasingly taken note of sports memorabilia in recent years, considered a growing market.

The shirts are being brought to auction by US tech startup AC Momento, which helps athletes manage memorabilia collections.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the UNICAS Project, an initiative with a Barcelona children’s hospital that helps kids with rare diseases.

The jerseys will be available for free public viewing when they are up for auction, from November 30 to December 14.

Former Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy is set to sue the Premier League champions after claiming he is owed millions of pounds in unpaid wages.

Mendy will take City to an employment tribunal in a bid to recoup what the French left-back believes were “unauthorised deductions from wages” after he was charged with rape and sexual assault two years ago.

The 29-year-old was cleared of the rape and attempted rape charges and left City when his contract expired in June.

It is alleged City stopped paying Mendy in September 2021 after he was initially charged and held in custody.

“Nick De Marco KC… is acting for the former Manchester City player Benjamin Mendy in a multi-million-pound claim for unauthorised deductions from wages,” a statement on behalf of Mendy told Sky Sports and The Guardian.

“Manchester City FC failed to pay Mr Mendy any wages at all from September 2021, following Mr Mendy being charged with various offences all of which he was subsequently acquitted of, until the end of his contract in June 2023. The claim will come before an employment tribunal.”

In January, Mendy was cleared of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, but the jury were unable to reach verdicts on two charges, leading to a retrial.

He was found not guilty on those two charges by a jury at the retrial in July.

Mendy, who was reportedly paid around £100,000 ($125,000) per week by City, is seeking the return of pay he is owed up until the end of his contract with the treble winners.

A three-time Premier League champion with City, Mendy last played for Pep Guardiola’s team in 2021 and joined French club Lorient at the start of this season.

Coach Justin Madugu has called 21 players to the Super Falcons’ camp ahead of next week’s 13th Women Africa Cup of Nations final qualifying round, first leg clash with the Senior Women National Team of Cape Verde.

The nine-time African champions will host the Cape Verdians at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Thursday, 30th November, before both teams trade tackles in a return leg in Praia on Tuesday, 5th December.

To be eligible for this final round, the Super Falcons accomplished a commanding 5-1 aggregate win over their counterparts from Ethiopia, with the first leg in Addis Ababa ending 1-1 before a 4-0 lashing of the ‘Lucy’ in Abuja.

All invited players have been advised to report to the team’s camp in Abuja between the 25th and 27th of November.

The Falcons have never failed to reach the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations since the competition was launched as the African Women’s Championship in Nigeria in 1998, and have swept nine out of 12 titles that have been contested so far.

ALL THE INVITED PLAYERS:
Goalkeepers: Chiamaka Nnadozie (Paris FC); Tochukwu Oluehi (Shualat Alsharqia FC, Saudi Arabia); Christiana Obia (Edo Queens)

Defenders: Osinachi Ohale (Pachuca FC, Mexico); Glory Edet (FCF TP Mazembe, DR Congo); Rihanat Kasali (Bayelsa Queens); Oluwatosin Demehin (Stade de Reims, France); Akudo Ogbonna (Remo Stars Ladies); Rofiat Imuran (Stade de Reims, France)

Midfielders: Christy Ucheibe (SC Benfica, Portugal); Esther Onyenezide (FC Robo Queens); Peace Efih (Sporting Club de Braga, Portugal); Rasheedat Ajibade (Atletico Madrid FC, Spain); Deborah Abiodun (University of Pittsburgh, USA); Toni Payne (Sevilla FC, Spain); Jennifer Echegini (Florida State University, USA)

Forwards: Omorinsola Babajide (Coasta Adeje Tenerife Egatesa, Spain); Asisat Oshoala (FC Barcelona Feminine, Spain); Esther Okoronkwo (Coasta Adeje Tenerife Egatesa, Spain); Uchenna Kanu (Racing Louisville, USA); Gift Monday (Coasta Adeje Tenerife Egatesa, Spain)

[DailyTrust]

The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, would fire coach Jose Peseiro if they had the money to pay him off after two poor performances in World Cup qualifiers, according to executive committee member Nse Essien.

Nigeria’s qualification for the 2026 World Cup is already in serious jeopardy after they managed only two draws in their first two qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.

Walter Musona scored direct from a free kick to put Zimbabwe ahead in the first half and Leicester forward Kelechi Iheanacho equalised midway through the second half.

Portuguese coach Peseiro has been singled out for criticism for the Super Eagles’ slow start to qualification.

“If we had the money (to pay for compensation), we will be willing to relieve him of his job. We’re not happy,” NFF member Essien told reporters.

“Everybody is asking for the sack of the head coach. It’s unfortunate that from a possible six points, we only have two points. We’re in a very precarious situation.”

South Africa lead Group C of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers with three points. And they will be expected to widen the gap on Tuesday when they visit Rwanda, while Lesotho host Benin in South Africa.

Nigeria, who failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, have two points from as many matches.

The qualifiers will resume in June 2024 with Nigeria hoping to make up lost ground when they welcome South Africa to the southern city of Uyo. Then, a tricky trip to Benin.

[Vanguard]

Novak Djokovic won a record-breaking seventh ATP Finals title on Sunday after beating local hero Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-3 in Turin.

World number one Djokovic moves clear of retired great Roger Federer in victories at the season-ending tournament after denying Italian Sinner a triumph on home soil.

Djokovic came into the Finals at the end of a year which has brought three Grand Slams, taking his total to an all-time best of 24, and a 40th Masters 1000 title.

And he has crowned an incredible season — in which he also reached the Wimbledon final — with yet another record, comfortably seeing off two of the game’s best young players in the process.

Sinner was bidding to become the first ever Italian to claim a Finals crown and looked like the right man to do it after his impressive group stage win over Djokovic.

But the 22-year-old, like Carlos Alcaraz in Saturday’s semi-final, simply could not handle Djokovic, a man on a mission who hit his best form at exactly the right time in the tournament.

It is a testament however to how far Sinner has come in the past year that he had Djokovic’s tournament fate in his hands at the end of the group stage, when defeat by Holger Rune would have sent the Serb home early.

Sinner saved Djokovic’s skin and in the end paid for it in the final, but the quality of his performances at the Pala Alpitour has been a cause for much optimism in Italy and suggests that he should be a Grand Slam contender next season.

– Djokovic in control –

Djokovic took control early in the match, breaking Sinner at the first opportunity in game four and then comfortably serving out the opening set.

Such was his dominance that Djokovic silenced a partisan crowd which has been rambunctious for all of Sinner’s matches, and he immediately broke serve again at the start of the second set.

He reeled off 14 straight points from the start of the final game of the first set into the third game of the second, which was eventually won by Sinner to just hold his serve.

Sinner looked like he was going to be walked over but he showed huge heart and brought the crowd to its feet when he held his serve in game seven, a 15-minute mini-epic in which Djokovic had two break points, to stay at 4-3.

However in the end he couldn’t stay with Djokovic and in the end surrendered the match in disappointing fashion with a double fault.

Earlier, Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury retained their ATP Finals doubles title on Sunday as they cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.

The US Open champions kept hold of their crown with a near-perfect campaign in Turin, going unbeaten in their five matches.

American Ram and Briton Salisbury took their winning streak at the season-ending tournament to 10 matches after also sweeping to last year’s title undefeated.

Granollers and Zeballos missed out on the year-end top spot in the world rankings following the straight-sets defeat, with their eliminated Green Group opponents Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek remaining in first

Zimbabwe head coach, Baltemar Brito has said his side deserved more from Sunday’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying tie against the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

The Warriors were held to a 1-1 draw by their more illustrious opponent at the Huye Stadium, Butare.

The Southern Africans took the lead on 26 minutes through Walter Musona.

Leicester City forward, Kelechi Iheanacho, however, salvaged a point for Nigeria in the second half.

The Warriors and Super Eagles are yet to record a win in the qualifier having drawn their opening two games.

Brito believes they should have secured maximum points from the game.

“We started the game to win, we expected to win this game, unfortunately we drew,” Brito said in his post-match press conference.

“We had the ambition of winning this game, the players fought hard and this good performance is about them. They deserve all the credit for this good performance.

“We had the chance and in football it is about the team that creates chances and scores. We scored a beautiful goal, Nigeria maybe had one, two chances also they didn’t create many chances in our box.”

Zimbabwe’s next game in the qualifiers is against Benin Republic in June 2024.

Former Nigerian international Joseph Dosu has told Nigerians to hold Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro responsible if Nigeria fails to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Dosu stated this as Nigeria drew 1-1 against Zimbabwe in a World Cup qualifier at the Huye Stadium, Butare, on Sunday.

Goals from Walter Musona and Kelechi Iheanacho ensured both Nigeria and Zimbabwe shared a point each.

Nigeria now has two points from two games after the Zimbabwe encounter.

“I really don’t know what to say again because, from the beginning, Nigerians came out to say a lot of things with the way the Super Eagles have been playing and Jose Peseiro said we are putting pressure on the team and that we should not put pressure so that the team will play very well,” Dosu told Complete Sports.

“So we have decided not to put pressure and we are still seeing the same thing. So whatever the federation [NFF] and the coaches want to do with our national teams, they should keep on doing it. If we qualify [for 2026 World Cup], fine, and if we don’t qualify, there is nothing anybody can do. We can’t hold anybody responsible except the head and the coach, Peseiro.”

Argentines voted Sunday in a nail-biter election pitting Economy Minister Sergio Massa against outsider Javier Milei, polar opposite candidates that have divided the country as it reels from triple-digit inflation.

Voters were gripped by fear, uncertainty and resignation as they cast their ballots, with few confident either candidate could put an end to decades of economic decline.

Massa, 51, is a charismatic and seasoned politician seeking to convince Argentines to trust him despite his performance as economy minister which has seen annual inflation hit 143 percent.

His rival Milei is an anti-establishment outsider, who has vowed to halt Argentina’s unbridled spending, ditch the peso for the US dollar, and “dynamite” the central bank.

Argentines are “on the edge of a nervous breakdown,” said political analyst Ana Iparraguirre of GBAO Strategies, describing tensions over what comes next.

[NaijaTimes]

Super Eagles captain, Ahmed Musa has insisted that some Nigeria supporters are interested in betting not the team.

According to Musa, most Nigeria fans don’t support the Super Eagles because they are bettors.

The former Leicester City star spoke in Lagos on Friday during a ceremony to unveil the team’s ‘Let’s Do It Again’ mantra in their bid to win a fourth AFCON title in Ivory Coast next year. 

“I love this country and I know whenever we lose, I have a family back home, I know the pressure they face when we lose. When we are on the pitch, they say ‘na him mother be this, go insult me (this is his mother, insult her). So, I know I must put in everything I have so that people don’t insult my family,” Musa said. 

“Nowadays, with the players we have in the team, none of them stay in Nigeria. They don’t know the anger that most of us, who have families in Nigeria, face when the team loses.

“He [Amaju Pinnick] did his best so that we qualified for the World Cup. We lost a lot of money and that is why most of our players right now are facing challenges because we failed to qualify for the [2022] World Cup. So, we as players lost so much money.”

The 31-year-old added, “No matter where you are playing you always go down into your corner to think when you lose money. Nowadays I understand what football is and the anger of the fans. Most of us don’t support Super Eagles because we like them, they will say, ‘hey dem don cut my ticket, give me my money’ (hey they’ve spoiled my ticket, refund my money). You will see on most of our DMs ‘you cut my ticket, you no sabi play’ (you spoiled my ticket, you don’t know how to play), its because they are bettors. Before, you will see the love and passion for the team but nowadays, betting has spoiled everything.”

Scotland will not face the firepower of Erling Haaland in Sunday’s Euro 2024 qualifier after the Manchester City striker was ruled out with a foot injury.

Haaland was hurt in Norway’s 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands on Thursday.

The match at Hampden is a dead rubber with Scotland already assured of their place in Germany next year, while Norway face an anxious wait to see if they will drop into the playoffs via their Nations League ranking.

Haaland said he is focused on being back fit as soon as possible with City facing Liverpool in a top-of-the-table Premier League clash on Saturday.

“Unfortunately, I am missing tomorrow’s game against Scotland. Wishing the boys all the best. Now treatment and trying to get back asap,” Haaland, who has 17 goals in 18 games for City this season, posted on social media.

The Norwegian Football Federation said the injury is “not serious” but that the game in Glasgow comes too early for the 23-year-old.

Scotland boss Steve Clarke said he had mixed feelings about not coming up against one of the world’s most feared strikers.

The outcome of the game will help determine whether Scotland are second or third seeds for the Euro 2024 draw on December 2.

But Clarke said it was a shame for the Hampden crowd to miss out on seeing Haaland live.

“For the crowd, it would have been great to see a player of Haaland’s standard,” he said.

“If it was a game that really meant something I’d probably be sitting here saying, ‘yeah, delighted he’s not playing’. But for the game tomorrow, it would be better I think if he played.”