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38 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2022
January window: Napoli won’t listen
to any offers for Osimhen
Super Eagles striker Victor
Osimhen may not be sold
during the January transfer
window despite huge interest
from top European clubs, as
Napoli President may not listen
to offers for the Nigerian.
According to football Italia, the
Serie A top goals scorer who has
a price tag of a €100million euros
and his teammates have started
the season electrifying under
Luciano Spalletti, topping their
Champions League group and
flying to first in the league table,
commanding an eight-point lead
over defending champions Milan.
Napoli looks to be on track to
win their first Scudetto in three
decades, bringing back the
league title to the Campania
capital for the first time since the
days of Diego Maradona.
As reported by Il Mattino, offers
and expressions of interest are
starting to filter in for Napoli stars
Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia, two
players who’ve been instrumental
to the team’s successes this
season.
President Aurelio De Laurentiis
has no intention of losing the pair,
however, and
won’t listen to
any offers in
January. The
Partenopei
are not
planning
t o
change
things
t o o
much in
the winter
transfer window
and won’t
entertain any
interest in their
stars.
Adesanya regains freedom after
arrest at New York airport
Former UFC champion, Israel
Adesanya has been released
after he was detained at a New
York airport following an attempt
to go through security with brass
knuckles.
Recall that Adesanya was
arrested on Wednesday at JFK
Terminal for possessing metal
knuckles.
Brass knuckles, made of metal
or plastic, are illegal in New York,
and their possession is considered
a misdemeanour punishable by
up to one year in prison plus fines.
A statement by Adesanya’s
manager, Tim Simpson of
Paradigm Sports Management,
disclosed that the Nigerian-New
Zealand mixed martial artist has
already been released and has
been flown home to New Zealand.
“Israel was handed a gift by a
fan, which he put in his luggage,”
Simpson said in the statement.
“When flagged at the airport,
Israel quickly disposed of the item
and cooperated with authorities.
“He has complied accordingly;
with that, the matter was
dismissed, and he is on his way
home,” he said.
He suffered a loss of the UFC
middleweight title to Alex Pereira
in what was only his second
Messi-led Argentina land in Qatar
after 5-0 World Cup warm-up win
Argentina and superstar Lionel
Messi arrived in Qatar for the World
Cup early on Thursday, just hours
after a 5-0 warm-up victory, while
defending champions France have
also touched down in Doha.
Messi, 35, has a sackful of trophies
but the tournament in Qatar is likely
to be his final chance to equal the
achievement of fellow Argentine
great Diego Maradona in leading his
country to World Cup glory.
He landed with the Argentina
squad in the Qatari capital Doha at
2:30 am (2330 GMT, Wednesday)
from Abu Dhabi where they had
beaten the United Arab Emirates 5-
0 Wednesday in a friendly in which
Messi scored.
One of the favourites going into
this year’s World Cup, the South
Americans will begin their campaign
on Tuesday against Saudi Arabia in
Group C, which also includes
Mexico and Poland.
The 1978 and 1986 World Cup
winners extended their unbeaten
run to 36 matches as Messi scored
his 91st international goal.
Gateway Region has emerged
winners of 2022 Adron Games
which took place at the Yaba College
of Technology, Lagos from Thursday,
November 10 to Saturday 12, 2022.
The team won 6 gold medals, 3
silver and 3 bronze medals to clinch
first position after sterling
performances in a series of track and
field events which saw the region at
the zenith of the edition’s games
sporting table.
All the regions of the real estate
company, Adron Homes and
Properties Limited, in the country
converged in Lagos for the games,
to compete in different sporting
events to mark the 6th edition of the
annual games.
Messi was cautious about the
team’s chances in Qatar, even
though they are among the
favourites.
“We have a very nice group that is
very eager, but we think about going
little by little. We know that World
Cup groups are not easy,” the seventime
Ballon d’Or winner said in an
interview with CONMEBOL, the
South American football federation.
The six regions of Adron Homes
namely, Eko (Lagos Island), Capital
(Lagos Mainland), Northern,
Gateway (Ogun), Oyo, Living
Fountain (Osun & Ekiti) as well as
Head Office, Directorate of
Construction Estate Properties and
Acquisition participated in the
games “Capital came second with 4
gold medals, 3 medals a piece of
silver and bronze while Head Office
took 3rd position with 4 gold medals
and 3 silver medals. These were
followed by Living Fountain,
Northern, Eko, Oyo and
Construction in that order with Gold
4, 4, 3, 1, 0, Silver 2, 2, 5, 4, 2, and
Bronze medal 5, 2, 5, 1, 2.“
career defeat.
Moffi sad Eagles won’t be in
Qatar 2022 World Cup pics/moffi
Loreint striker, Terem Moffi is
disappointed the Super Eagles
won’t be among the 32 countries
that will battle for the ultimate
prize at the 2022 FIFA World Cup
in Qatar.
The quadrennial competition
will start in Qatar on Sunday and
will run through December 17.
The Super Eagles failed to
qualify for the global soccer fiesta
after they lost to eternal rivals,
Black Stars of Ghana in the
playoff round.
“We are disappointed not to be
part of the World Cup because
every player dreams of being on
the biggest stage of football,”
Moffi told SCORENigeria
“It would have been great being
at the World Cup because many
of us are doing well at our clubs.
“But since we didn’t qualify, it
does not count for much.”
ATP Tour unveils record prize
money increase for 2023
en's tennis governing body
MATP on Thursday announced
a record increase of $37.5 million in
prize money to $217.9 million for the
2023 season.
The overall prize money pot was
for both the ATP and Challenger
Tours, with ATP Tour players
collectively taking home an
additional $18.6 million of on-site
prize money from next year, the ATP
said in a statement.
Earlier this year, the ATP
Gateway Region wins 2022 Adron Games
had announced that purses on the
Challenger Tour would receive a
significant boost.
"The record increase also includes
a significant uplift on the ATP
Challenger Tour, which will see onsite
prize money grow by 75%, from
$12.1 million to $21.1 million," the
ATP said.
African soccer ruling body has
announced the date for the
remaining qualifiers of the 2023
African Cup of Nations in Ivory
Coast.
Matchday 1 and 2 of the qualifiers
were held in mid 2022 while
matchday 3 and 4 were slated for
September before it was suspended
The suspension came after the
competition was moved from the
Massive boost for GCU Relays
Ahead of Saturday’s
Government College Ughelli
invitational intercollegiate
Athletics Competition (GCU
Relays) old Boys and Ancient
Mariners of the school have
rushed in massive funding
support for the games.
President General Worldwide,
GCUOBA Arc. Charles Majoroh
had made a passionate plea to all
products of the school for
increased funding with the desire
to make this year's edition fun
filled, exciting and glamorous,
whilst leaving all participants
with lasting memories.
“All contributors towards
sustaining the GCU Relays shall
be recognized and printed on our
huge banners and platforms. It is
envisioned that by looking
inwards into our financial inner
strength, we can collectively
make the annual GCU Relays a
constant annual reality” Majoroh
Said.
This clarion call instantly
Premier
League
dominates
2022
World
Cup
The 2022 World Cup will be the
most unique in history. It will
be played between November
and December, taking place in
winter for the first time.
It will become the most
expensive tournament in history,
as Qatar has invested nearly 200
billion dollars in hosting it. The
country's regime has come under
scrutiny for the way they were
awarded the tournament, the
alleged deaths of workers and
human rights breaches.
Meanwhile, the majority of the
big football stars will be there
with the Premier League
dominating the call-ups.
The Premier League is the
league that will have the most
representatives in this World Cup
with 134 participants. Manchester
City will have 16 players in the
tournament, followed by rivals
The 61st edition of the FirstBank
sponsored Lagos Amateur Golf
Championship will hold this
weekend at the golf section of Ikoyi
Club 1938.
FirstBank in a statement said that
the sponsorship of the golf
championship, which begins today
till Sunday, is in furtherance of its
commitment to the development of
sports in Nigeria.
To be played over 54-holes (3-
days), the FirstBank Lagos Amateur
Open Golf Championship is a World
Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR)
listed competition that attracts the
AFCON 2023 Qualifiers: CAF announces
date for remaining matches
pulled in massive and
unprecedented response from
Mariners, leading him to add “my
sincere appreciation for the
massive contribution by all
towards the 2022 GCU Relays”.
Meanwhile, Hussey College
Warri that made a clean sweep of
the Events last year have vowed
to effectively defend their laurels
with a firm promise of settling
new meet records.
“We are very determined, not
only to defend the honours we
won last year, but to set new
records” disclosed an official of the
School, noted for producing great
footballers in the past.
Still, there are feelers that
Hussey College dominance will
be rudely challenge at the fourth
edition by United College of
Commerce, Warri.
‘we have trained hard for this
our maiden appearance at the
GCU relays, Ohwo Fasa Said”.
Adding ‘we are best positioned to
dethrone Hussey College”.
Manchester United (14).
LaLiga Santander will
contribute 84 players to the World
Cup with Barcelona and Real
Madrid being represented by 16
and 13 players, respectively.
However, there are teams that do
not have any players in the
tournament such as Girona and
Elche.
Meanwhile, all Premier League
teams have at least one
representative each in the
tournament.
The Bundesliga is ranked third
with 73 players going to Qatar, but
they have the team with the most
representatives in the tournament
in Bayern Munich (17).
The German league is followed
by Serie A (66) and Ligue 1 (52),
with MLS being the non-
European league with the most
representatives (35).
FirstBank Lagos Amateur Open Golf
tourney tees off today
summer of 2023 to January/
February 2024.
The football body late on
Wednesday evening announced the
resumption of the qualifier and
matchday 3 and 4 will come up on
March 20th and 27th, 2023
Matchday 5 is slated to come up
on June 12th - 20th while the final
match is scheduled for September
4th -12th, 2023.
best golfers from the amateur scene,
not only in Nigeria but across the
world. Winner of the championship,
the Amateur Champion for the year,
also earns points that contribute to
their WAGR ranking. The 61st
FirstBank Lagos Amateur Open Golf
Championship is also supported by
Seven-Up Bottling Company, One
Spirit Company and Palton Morgan
Holdings.
Speaking ahead of the 61st
edition, Mrs. Folake Ani-Mumuney
Group Head, Marketing and
Corporate Communications
highlights FirstBank’s consistent role
in driving development through
sports: ‘’As an institution that is
woven into the fabric of the society
for nearly 129 years, FirstBank has
been at the forefront of the growth
and development of sports in Nigeria
for decades. Our constant
commitment to sports is a
demonstration of our belief that
sport remains a major vehicle for
social and economic development.
From infrastructure development,
employment generation to social
skills, sport remains a unifying force
for socio-cultural interaction and
development regardless of language,
culture and religion.’’