Sports

Rap star, Drake, has lost a £478,000 bet on Francis Ngannou defeating Anthony Joshua in a heavyweight boxing bout on Friday.

Drake was in line for a huge payday of over £1million.

However, Joshua dispatched Ngannou in just two rounds.

Joshua delivered a devastating knockout on Ngannou that sent the former UFC champion crashing to the surface in brutal fashion and later receiving medical care in the ring before getting to his feet.

The outcome sees Drake’s losing streak in combat sports continue.

In January, Drake lost over half-a-million pounds when he backed Sean Strickland to defend his UFC middleweight championship against Dricus Du Plessis.

The 37-year-old also lost £430,000 when Israel Adesanya suffered a shock defeat against Strickland in the octagon and previously bet £700,000 on Logan Paul to beat Dillon Danis in the boxing ring.

Aluko-Olaseni died after an eight-year battle with cancer.

The Nigerian Football Federation announced this in a post via its X account, @thenff late Saturday night.

It read, “We are sad to hear of the passing of former @NGSuper_Falcons goalkeeper, Bidemi Aluko-Olaseni after an eight-year battle with cancer.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.

“May her gentle soul rest in peace.”

During Aluko-Olaseni’s stint as a goalkeeper for the Super Falcons, she showcased remarkable skills.

Jose Peseiro has ended his reign as coach of the Super Eagles.

The Portuguese disclosed this in a post via X on Friday.

The Portuguese disclosed this in a post via X on Friday.

According to Peseiro, he concluded his contract with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Thursday.

He wrote: “Yesterday, we concluded our contract with the NFF. It was a pride and honor to coach the Super Eagles. It has been 22 months of immense dedication, sacrifice, emotion, and enormous enthusiasm. We feel a sense of fulfillment.

“We would like to express our gratitude to Sir Amaju Pinnick (the president who signed us), President Ibrahim Gusau, General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi, Secretary Dayo Enebi, the NFF, all the Staff, and especially all the PLAYERS, with whom leading has been a great pleasure.

“Guys, we are thankful; it has been a privilege to be part of this family. We will miss you, but we will always be there for you, no matter where you are. A big hug to all of you.🇳🇬”

The 63-year-old tactician, who took charge in June 2022 after the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, guided Nigeria to win the silver medal at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

In a shocking turn of events, Alex Iwobi, the talented footballer representing Nigeria in the Super Eagles national team, is reportedly considering retirement amidst escalating concerns over cyberbullying.

The talented midfielder, known for his contributions on the field, is now facing a critical decision regarding his future with the national team.

The decision comes in the wake of persistent cyberbullying directed towards Iwobi, highlighting the emotional toll it has taken on the player.

The cyberbullying concerns have transcended geographical boundaries, originating from various online platforms and social media networks.

Alex Iwobi, a key player for the Super Eagles, is the central figure in this distressing narrative, as he grapples with the decision to potentially retire from international football.

The decision to contemplate retirement is rooted in the relentless cyberbullying Iwobi has endured, impacting his mental well-being and overall experience as a representative of Nigeria on the global stage.

The cyberbullying has manifested through online harassment, negative comments, and unwarranted criticism, prompting Iwobi to assess the feasibility of continuing his career with the Super Eagles.

As the football community awaits further developments, the incident underscores the pressing issue of cyberbullying and its far-reaching consequences on the mental health of athletes. The call for increased awareness and support for players facing such challenges has never been more crucial.

After the final whistle of the title match for the 34th Africa Cup of Nations in Abidjan late Sunday night, the Nigerian football team, the Super Eagles became coachless.

The interim contract signed with the Portuguese manager, Jose Peseiro lapsed as it was tied to the end of the AFCON 2023. The original contract ended last year June, but had to be extended to cover the period of the Africa Cup of Nations.

The renewal of the interim six-month contract was tied to Nigeria getting to the semi-finals, a condition that Peseiro met when the Super Eagles defeated Angola in the quarter finals.

Nigeria’s next assignment is the qualification for the 2025 AFCON which preliminaries begin next month.

Although for the first time in recent history of the competition, CAF failed to announce the fixtures for the preliminaries of the next edition.

But a time line had already been issued since last year. The detail schedule runs thus:

Preliminary round: 18–26 March 2024
First and second matchdays: 2–10 September 2024
Third and fourth matchdays: 7–15 October 2024
Fifth and sixth matchdays: 11–19 November 2024
In addition, the Super Eagles have two match days of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. On 2 June they will be hosting Bafana Bafana and then travel to Benin Republic for another World Cup qualifier on 9 June.

The preliminary round of the qualifying series for Morocco 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is expected to begin on 18 March.

But as a departure from tradition, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) did not release the fixtures for the qualifying series of the next edition as Cote d’Ivoire 2025 came to a close on Sunday night.

In the past, the draws were conducted during a running final series. For instance, that of the one just concluded was conducted and released on 21 January 2022 in Douala as the Cameroon 2021 was on.

The draw for the qualification series for Cameroon 2021 was conducted during Egypt 2019 on 18 July 2019 in Cairo just like that of Egypt 2019 was conducted on 12 January 2017 during Gabon 2017.

A day after the final match of Cote d’Ivoire 2023, it is already 34 days to the start of the preliminary competition of the next edition. The opponents don’t know themselves.

The next available international window is that of March 18 to 26 where teams can play just two matches. The June window is already dedicated to the World Cup qualification.

Super Eagles star Alex Iwobi has deleted photos from his Instagram page following Nigeria’s loss to Ivory Coast in the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The Nigerian side were defeated 2-1 by the hosts, ending the team’s dreams of a fourth continental crown.

Hours after the encounter, Iwobi who has been a subject of stiff criticism from fans, deleted photos from his Instagram handle for fear of cyber abuse.

He only left one video post. The Fulham man also locked the comment section of the post for fear of bullying.

Iwobi featured for 79 minutes in Nigeria’s defeat to Ivory Coast and was replaced by Alhassan Yusuf.

Before the recent development, a similar one took place in the aftermath of the Super Eagles ouster from the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon. Iwobi and teammate Maduka Okoye were also heavily criticised after the team lost to Tunisia in a round of 16 tie, prompting them to disable comments on their social media handles.

Cote d’Ivoire has declared Monday a work-free day to celebrate Les Elephants Africa Cup of Nations triumph.

The hosts defeated Nigeria 2-1 on Sunday night to win their third AFCON title.

The Super Eagles went in front through William Troost-Ekong eight minutes before the break.

Emerse Fae’s side, however, scored twice after the break through Franck Kessie and Sebastien Haller.

The locals celebrated the team’s success all through the night.

Meanwhile, there will be a trophy parade at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan today.

President Alssanne Quattara and other top government officials are expected to be in attendance.

The president is also expected to announce a cash reward for the players and their officials during the parade.

Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro has admitted the Elephants of Ivory Coast were the better side following the former’s loss in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Sebastien Haller scored a dramatic late winner as hosts Ivory Coast fought back to beat Victor Osimhen’s Nigeria 2-1 in Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations final and complete the most remarkable of major tournament turnarounds by claiming their third continental title.

But speaking after the match, Peseiro, who was leading Nigeria to its first final since 2013, admitted that the hosts were better on the night.

“Ivory Coast were better than us today,” Peseiro admitted in a post-match interview. “I am sad, my team is sad, but for me they did the maximum, each one. Sometimes you want to do something but you cannot do it.”

Sunday’s win was an incredible achievement for an Ivory Coast side that was on the brink of elimination in the group stage after losing 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea on January 22.

That was their heaviest-ever home defeat and the Ivorians then parted company with coach Jean-Louis Gasset, replacing him with Fae, a teammate of Drogba’s in 2006.

They then began a remarkable turnaround which saw them oust holders Senegal on penalties, beat Mali with a last-gasp goal in extra time, and edge out DR Congo with a Haller goal in the last four.

Their supporters packed out the stadium to its 60,000 capacity, with many fans having to watch from vantage points on stairways.

Anyone wanting to dampen the excitement levels might have pointed out that Cup of Nations finals tend to be low-scoring affairs.

There were just 10 goals scored in the last 11 finals, five of which were decided on penalties after a 0-0 stalemate.

Indeed, Ivory Coast’s four previous final appearances had all ended goalless before going to penalties, two of which they had won.

A self-acclaimed prophet, Dr Kan Ebube Muonso of the Power and Victory in Christ Church, has predicted hosts Ivory Coast will win the AFCON 2023 tournament.

He stated that Ivory Coast will go home with the cup in error.

However, he said that he has been interceding for Nigeria in his mountain programme by the power of God and would collect the cup from Ivory Coast and hand it over to Nigeria.

In a post on his church’s Facebook page on Friday, Kan predicted that the error would be caused by the referee.

According to him, Nigeria is the rightful team to go home with the cup.

“IVORY COAST VS NIGERIA.

“I saw Ivory Coast going home with the cup in error by ref/partial against Nigeria but Nigeria is the rightful team that is supposed to go home with the cup, but I will collect the cup from Ivory Coast to Nigeria by the power of God after my mountain program which will commence tomorrow.

“In my next post after mountain, you will know that there is power in God.

“Operation show your power. My God will prove himself again,” the post reads.