Sports

How Nigeria’s Osimhen, Oshoala made history at CAF Awards 2023

Published

5 months ago

December 12, 2023

The duo of Napoli and Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen and Barcelona’s Super Falcons forward, Asisat Oshoala on Monday night made history as they won the biggest individual awards at the CAF Awards 2023 in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.

While Osimhen won the CAF African Player of the Year to become the first Nigerian player after Nwankwo Kanu last picked the award in 1999, Oshoala won CAF African Women’s Player of the Year Award for a record sixth time.

The two Nigerian stars had quite spectacular seasons in Europe which saw Osimhen making headlines in the Italian Serie A, led Napoli to its first league title, and ended up with the highest goal scorer award with 26 goals, the first time an African player will do so.

Osimhen was also named in the 2023 Ballon d’Or ranking with an eight place finish to become the highest-ranked Nigerian in the history of the award. He was also crowned the Italian Footballers’ Association Player of the Year, another first for an African player.

On the National team level, the 24-year-old scored 10 goals to lead the Super Eagles to the 2023 Afcon which will hold in Ivory Coast next year.

On her part, Oshoala’s dominance at the CAF Women’s Player of the Year continued as she was inspirational for Barcelona on their way to winning the women’s Champions League, and finishing as the club’s top scorer with 27 goals across all competitions.

There was yet another honour for Nigeria as Super Falcons’ goalkeeper, Chiamaka Nnadozie who plays for Paris FC in France was crowned Goalkeeper of the Year in the women category.

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Sports

Italian couple name new born baby after Super Eagles forward, Ademola Lookman

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

An Italian couple have reportedly named their new born baby after Super Eagles forward, Ademola Lookman, after he scored a spectacular goal against Olympic Marseille of France in the Europa League semifinal second leg match to take Atalanta to the final.

The Nigerian striker opened the scoring for Atalanta before Ruggeri and Toure sealed the win in their second-leg semi-final tie to set up a mouth-watering final tie with Victor Boniface’s Leverkusen.

According to reports from EuroFoot on X, Ademola’s performance was recognised by the couple who live in Palosco, a district in Bergamo where the Italian club is based.

“Somebody named their child after Ademola Lookman following his goal which helped send the Italian club to the Europa League final!” EuroFoot said in the post.

The post added that Lookman’s contribution to Atalanta’s advancement to the Europa League final caught the attention of the adoring Italian couple who decided to name their child after him.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian international was on Friday, named the Europa League Player of the Week following his outstanding performance in Atalanta’s 4-1 aggregate victory over Marseille in the semifinal.

According to UEFA’s official website, Lookman’s performance also included three attempts, further highlighting his influential role in Atalanta’s dominant display

Sports

AIU suspends Kenyan marathoner Josephine Chepkoech over alleged use of prohibited substances

Published

4 days ago

May 9, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has provisionally suspended Kenyan half distance runner, Josephine Chepkoech, over alleged use of prohibited substances during the Barcelona Half Marathon held on February 17, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.

The AIU, in a statement on Thursday, said Chepkoech was suspended following allegations of doping involving the prohibited substance, testosterone.

In the statement, the AIU said Chepkoech had been served with a Notice of Allegation for violating Article 2.1 and Article 2.2 of its anti-doping regulations.

“The AIU has provisionally suspended Josephine Chepkoech (Kenya) for Presence (Testosterone Metabolites)/Use of a Prohibited Substance (Testosterone),” the AIU stated.

Chepkoech ran a personal best marathon time of 2:22:38 in February at the Seville Marathon, but with the suspension, the record is not likely to stand.

The AIU said the move was part of its crackdown on prohibited substances in athletics which has seen a rising number of Kenyan athletes penalized.

The 35-year-old had made her marathon debut in 2018 at the Nairobi Marathon, dominating the women’s race with a winning time of 2:33:11.

Her provisional suspension means she cannot participate in any competition until a final decision is reached which could result in an acquittal or a formal ban.

She faces a two-year ban pending a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) appeal.