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Embattled President of the Nigerian Football Federation, NFF, Aminu Maigari has reportedly been arrested by the State Security Service agent in Abuja. Mr Maigari is said to have been arrested today August 26th alongside Musa Amadu the NFF Secretary General and Chris Green, a board member, as proceedings for the General meeting of the NFF began at Chida Hotel in Abuja. Reason for their arrest has not yet been disclosed. Embattled Maigari was recently reinstated as Chairman of the NFF by FIFA after being impeached by the NFF Board members in July.

Drogba just  announced on his instagram page that he's back at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho revealed recently that he wanted Drogba back, and he's made it happen "We want to win matches and win titles and Didier is one of the best strikers in Europe.  He is still very adapted to the needs of the Premier League and we are thinking about it in a non-emotional way. If I bring him back, and the decision has to be made soon, it is because as a player he has qualities to make the team stronger. The team is not about the eleven. It is about the different options and as an option I would not say no about the possibility.’ Mourinho said. Congrats to Drogba.

England captain Steven Gerrard has retired from international football after winning 114 caps. Gerrard, 34, won his first cap in a 2-0 win over Ukraine in 2000 and made his last England appearance in a  0-0 draw with Costa Rica  at the 2014 World Cup. The Liverpool midfielder said: "I have enjoyed every minute of representing my country. It's a sad day for me." Gerrard will now take on a "high profile" ambassadorial role with the Football Association. He retires from international duty having scored 21 goals and played at six major tournaments. He ranks third on England's most-capped player list behind only Peter Shilton (125) and David Beckham (115). Chief football writer Phil McNulty analysis "It is the right decision for England, Liverpool and most importantly for a player who had earned the right to choose his own time of departure. He may not have touched the same heights for country as he did for club, but he still made a fine...

Brazilian striker Neymar has been ruled out of the remainder of the 2014 World Cup after suffering a fractured vertebrae during Brazil's quarter-final match against Colombia yesterday. Brazilian Team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar revealed the unfortunate news to Brazil's SportTV: "Neymar had a scan, which confirmed he had fractured his third vertebra. It's not serious in the sense that it doesn't need surgery, but he’s in pain and he’ll need to immobilise it to recover. He’ll have to have it immobilised with a belt for a few weeks to be able to get back to full mobility. Unfortunately, he's not going to be able to play." he said Neymar, who suffered the injury after colliding with another player, was carried off in tears on a stretcher towards the end of their 2-1 victory over Colombia. He will be unable to play for about a month, ruling him out of Tuesday's semi-final against Germany.

34 year old Jimi 'Poster Boy' Manuwa is a Nigerian-British mixed martial artist, who competes in the light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, and is blazing an amazing trail for Nigerians in the MMA sporting field.  Jimi, the grandson of Sir Samuel Manuwa (first neuro surgeon in Africa) was born in the U.S but came home to Nigeria when he was about a year old and then moved to England with his parents at when he was 10.  His family lived in Lagos and he attended Corona School in Apapa.  Jimi is ranked #11 in the official UFC light heavyweight rankings. He's been cage fighting since 2003 and has won all his fights After being away for 24 years, Jimi returned home to Nigeria this past Sunday June 29th. Continue.. Jimi, who now trains youngsters in the sport, which demands participants practice mixed martial arts and battle it out in the ring, said: "People might think it's violent but it's a sport, like boxing. You get...

Lol. This is so not nice. A lot of people, including Italian footballer Mario Balotelli, are having fun at the expense of Uruguayan footballer Luis Suarez, who was sent home from the World Cup for biting Italian defender Chiellini during a match. A poster of Suarez with his mouth open was placed at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro and you can't imagine what people were doing. See the photos after the cut...

Thirty-two of the world's best football teams are now competing for the iconic golden World Cup trophy -- but the planet's most populous nation is not among them. Team China failed to qualify for the "beautiful game's" showpiece event in Brazil. In fact China's World Cup dream turned into a nightmare as early as 2011, when it was eliminated in a regional qualifying round. But for all the interest in football in this country of more than one billion people, it is a huge source of frustration that they can't field a competitive national team. "China's weakness in football is a pain point and there is certainly an ambition to improve," said Scott Kronick, President of Ogilvy Public Relations Asia Pacific. Indeed, a multitude of Chinese -- from the state president, to a Peking University student, to a Beijing taxi driver -- share one Chinese dream: that Team China will one day win in the World Cup finals.

Two-time NBA Champion and Basketball Hall-of-Famer Hakeem Olajuwon was yesterday named NBA Ambassador to Africa and will play a prominent role in the development of basketball on the continent. Olajuwon will work closely with the NBA Africa office, which is located in Johannesburg and led by Amadou Gallo Fall, NBA Vice President for Development in Africa. The Nigerian native will represent the NBA through a range of basketball development events and NBA Cares activities across the region to help grow the game, give back to communities in need, and bring attention to diplomacy through sport. “Basketball has given me so much in life,” said Olajuwon. “In this new role I am looking forward to impacting young Africans and utilizing the power of sport to help change lives in what is an exciting new chapter in my career.” “We are elated that one of the greatest to ever play the game, a son of Africa, and a legend of Hakeem’s stature will officially represent the NBA in Afric...

Attackers Ahmed Musa and Emmanuel Emenike who played full 90 minutes without impressing or scoring a goal did not get Stephen Keshi’s open reprimand, but Osaze Odemwingie who substituted Ramon Azeez in the mid second half has been blamed by Keshi for not playing to his instructions. The same reason kept Ike Uche who scored 16 La Liga goals out of Keshi’s list. Speaking after the match against Iran, Keshi said Osaze was busy doing something different from what he instructed him to do before entering the pitch. With Eagles failing to find the back of Iran’s net, Osaze was sent in to get a goal. “Osaze did not play to my instructions; it was not what I sent him to do on the field that he was doing. When he came in he was busy doing something else. I told them to be patient, create the chances and get the goal but they were desperate and anxiety set in. They needed to be calm but they were not. During training the Eagles decided that they will end the game in ...

As the World Cup kicks off in Brazil on Thursday, David Beckham is trying not to miss his glory days of playing for the England team and now enjoys just being a soccer fan. "The thing I miss most is playing for England," Beckham told Reuters ahead of Friday's premiere of a Showtime documentary, "David Beckham Into the Unknown," that follows the footballer on a journey of self-discovery in the Brazilian rainforest. "Playing for England, representing England, for me was obviously was my dream," he said. Retiring from professional football in 2013 after 22 years on the field, the 39-year-old British celebrity athlete decided to travel with three friends on motorcycles across Brazil , traversing the Amazon to meet an indigenous Brazilian tribe and mulling over his life post-retirement. "I think people will expect if I was making a documentary, that it would be solely about football," he said. "What we wanted to do is do ...

Colombia made the perfect start to its World Cup campaign with comfortable win over Greece on Saturday. Colombia marked its long-awaited return to FIFA World Cup action with an entertaining 3-0 win over Greece on Saturday. Jose Pekerman's men, making a first appearance at the finals of the World Cup since 1998, produced a strong showing to enhance the team's hopes of qualifying for the last 16. Star striker Radamel Falcao's omission from the squad had dominated the build-up to the tournament for Colombia. However, backed by a vast and vociferous travelling support at the Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte, Colombia showed that it could perform without the Monaco forward. Defender Pablo Armero opened the scoring early on, before Teofilo Gutierrez - the man tasked with leading the line in the absence of Falcao - doubled his side's advantage just before the hour mark. James Rodriguez added a third in injury time to put the seal on victory for Colombia in...

The referee who awarded Brazil a controversial penalty should not be officiating at the World Cup, says Croatia defender Dejan Lovren. The hosts won 3-1, but, with 20 minutes left and the score 1-1, Japan's Yuichi Nishimura ruled that Lovren had pulled down striker Fred. Neymar scored from the spot before Oscar added a late third. "This referee should not be at this World Cup," said Lovren. "It wasn't a mistake, it was a scandal." The Southampton player added: "It's really disappointing for us because we were playing a good game against a big team. "Two billion people I think saw that it was not a penalty. I didn't touch him. "We're really disappointed but what can you do against 12 players? You can't do anything." Fellow Croatia defender Vedran Corluka thought that the decision was "embarrassing". "...

Wayne Rooney hopes to strike up a partnership with Daniel Sturridge that emulates his England colleague's club success with Luis Suarez. Rooney believes Suarez and Sturridge were the best front pair in the Premier League last season   as they fired Liverpool into title contention. Now he wants to play the Uruguayan's role with Sturridge for England. "It's easier at a club but we have had time to work on stuff. Hopefully we'll see the benefits of that," said Rooney. "Suarez and Sturridge have certainly been the best two front men in the Premier League this season. "You try to talk. Even in training you try and communicate and get that way of playing." Between them, the Liverpool duo scored 48 times last season. Sturridge found the net on 24 occasions in all competitions, by far the 24-year-old's most prolific ca...

A kid with the world at his feet. Neymar is the new face of Brazil and, despite his tender years, could be the brightest star of all at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Why he's so special He’s the full package — young, quick and strong with dazzling skills. Scores goals for fun — sometimes from seemingly impossible angles. Can play as a wide attacker as well as a target man to keep the opposition guessing. Famous moment  Scoring against Spain in the 2013 Confederations Cup Final. His fourth goal of the tournament led to him being awarded the Golden Ball.   Neymar Team: Brazil Born: Feb. 5, 1992 (Age 22) Club: Barcelona He said it  "[Lionel] Messi is above everyone, there is no use comparing me with him." What they're saying about him  “Neymar is a great talent who will show the world that he will be number one.” — Ronaldo, Brazil’s World Cup record goal scorer. Strengths  Deadly in front of goal and...

ELVINA IBRU is unarguably one woman out of many, a rare gem that commands desire and attraction. what else would you want in a woman of substance? She is the breath of a production company popularly known as 2WICE AS NICE LIMITED . Producers of one of the biggest TV shows to be screened in Nigeria West African Idols. An Ex-Beauty Queen, Miss Big and Beautiful UK 1997, she has a strong passion for theartre/stage arts. In Her own words, “I prefer theatre to film”. She studied dramatic arts in London and is one that believes so much in fresh ideas and particularly down to earth, never using Her name or societal status above anyone. News has it that she is now also an on air personality on Classic FM 97.3 . She claims that she was lured into it by a good friend of Hers who is in the radio business. He kept insisting that she would do well as an OAP . Eventually she agreed with HIM and went for an audition at Classic FM, when she heard that there was an opening. No...

The reigning African champions will be making their fifth appearance at world football's major showpiece and have been drawn in the same group with Argentina, Iran and Bosnia. Experienced names such as Vincent Enyeama, Austin Ejide, Joseph Yobo and Elderson Echiejile who were part of the squad to South Africa 2010 made the final list and will look to make amends for their group stage exit in their last outing. Top scorer of the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, Emmanuel Emenike, Godfrey Oboabona, John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses will be expected to make their World Cup debut when the championship kicks off. There are three goalkeepers, eight defenders, five midfielders and seven strikers. Full Squad Goalkeepers : Vincent Enyeama, Austin Ejide, Chigozie Agbim Defenders : Joseph Yobo, Elderson Echiejile, Juwon Oshaniwa, Godfrey Oboabona, Azubuike Egwuekwe, Kenneth Omeruo, Efe Ambrose, Kunle Odunlami Midfielders : John Mikel Obi, Ogenyi Onazi, Ramon Azeez, Michael Uche...