Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali has been charged with misconduct by the Football Association for alleged breaches of betting rules. The 23-year-old is currently serving a 10-month ban issued by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) in October for breaking betting rules in Italy. Tonali joined Newcastle from AC Milan in July for £55m. The FA alleges Tonali broke its rules by placing 50 bets on matches between 12 August and 12 October 2023. Tonali was banned by the FIGC for betting on matches involving his teams Brescia and Milan, and Fifa later granted the Italian federation's request to have the ban extended worldwide. The FA charges relate to separate allegations during Tonali's time as a Newcastle player. "Newcastle United acknowledges a misconduct charge received by Sandro Tonali in respect of alleged breaches of FA Betting Rules," the club said on Thursday. "Sandro continues to fully comply with relevant investigations and he retains the club's

German fourth seed Alexander Zverev moved into the Miami Open semi-finals with a dominant win which ended the run of Hungary's Fabian Marozsan. Zverev, 26, won 6-3 7-5 to reach the last four at the event for the first time since 2018. The Olympic champion used his serve to great effect, while taking four of the seven break points he created against 57th-ranked Marozsan. Zverev will play Spain's Carlos Alcaraz or Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov next. Top seed Alcaraz and Dimitrov, seeded 11th, play their quarter-final match in Thursday's night session at the Florida event. "I'm happy to be back in these late stages of these tournaments, playing the best players in the world, I think there are only those left," Zverev said. "I'm looking forward to the challenge." Italian second seed Jannik Sinner and Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev booked their places in the last four on Wednesday, setting up a rematch of their recent Australian Open final. Zvere

African soccer governing body has announced the date for the final of the 2024 Confederation Cup. Rivers United is the only Nigerian club in the continent and they are drawn to play a quarter-final game against the defending champions USM Algiers of Algeria. The first leg will take place in Nigeria while Algiers the capital of Algeria will stage the second leg. "The first leg of the Confederation Cup final will be played on Sunday, May 12. The second leg will be the following weekend, on Sunday, May 19." CAF also confirmed the date for the final of the Champions League. 2023-24 CAF Champions League final First Leg: Saturday, May 18 Second Leg: Saturday, May 25 2023-24 Caf Confederation Cup final First Leg: Sunday May 12 Second Leg: Sunday, May 19

Ahead of the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup, the head coach of the defending champions USM Algier Garrido is already thinking of getting a win in Nigeria. The Algerian champions will confront Nigeria's representative Rivers United in the quarter-final of the Confederation Cup. The first leg is slated to take place at the Goodwill Akpabio stadium in Uyo and Garrido is already envisaging a win in Nigeria. "We will do everything to come back with a win from Nigeria", he said. USM Algiers is presently the African champion after winning the Confederation Cup trophy and also the Super Cup beating Al Ahly of Egypt.   

Ben Akwuegbu FC proved doubters wrong with slim 1-0 loss to Plateau United in the 2023/2024 Plateau State Federation Cup Semifinal with impressive performances in the competition. Akwuegbu FC were the better and stronger team during the encounter but were unlucky to concede in the 45th minute.     Akwuegbu FC had beaten Propel SA 2-1 in the quarter-finals with young and hottest striker, Dayo Habib on the scoresheet. Akwuegbu FC team ensured they created a lasting positive impression on the minds of football fans who turned out in large numbers to watch the encounter.  They did this by ensuring Plateau United did not score more than once as Olawale Doyeni's 45th minute goal for the Peace Boys made the difference between the two sides. Coach Joshua Zira's Ben Akwuegbu FC team are now looking forward to a brighter futurel owing to the experience they gathered in the course of their journey in the FA Cup.

Rivers Angel Head Coach, Whyte Ogbonda, has commended his players for their resilient performance against a formidable opponent in the 1-0 win over Delta Queens. In a tightly contested Matchday 11 fixture of the Nigeria Women Football League Premiership, Rivers Angels emerged victorious with a narrow 1-0 win over defending champions Delta Queens at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium on Wednesday. The decisive moment came in the 75th minute when Chiamaka Okwuchukwu calmly converted a penalty, handing the Jewels of Rivers a hard-fought victory. Reflecting on the match, Ogbonda said, "The girls did well right from the onset. Playing against a team like Delta Queens, who are the defending champions, is never easy. Securing a 1-0 win against them shows the determination and character of my players." Despite the expectations for a more commanding victory, Ogbonda acknowledged the pressure on his team to secure the crucial three points. "We knew that anything less than a win would

Technical Adviser of Bayelsa Queens, Domo Okara said the team showed that they are determined to match their ambition of winning the 2023/24 Nigeria Women Football League Premiership (NWFL) with a hard-fought win over Remo Stars Ladies.  The Prosperity Girls defeated visiting hard-fighting Remo Stars Ladies of Ikenne at the Samson Siasia Stadium in Ovom, Yenagoa, 3-1 to maintain the top spot in group B with 22 points. Coach Wemimo Mathew of Remo Stars Ladies said “They did their best, you know in the game of football you win some, draw some and lose some. But I give kudos to my girls as they fought till the end and again when Bayelsa Queens scored the second goal that shocked my girls, but in all, they played a good game." Next for Bayelsa Queens is a Match dDay12 encounter against Delta Queens in Asaba on the 3rd of April, 2024.  

Following their outstanding performance as the host of the 2023 African Games, the Confederation of African Athletics( CAA) has approached Ghana to bid for the hosting right of the 2026 athletics championship. Ghana hosted a successful African Games with 53 countries and over 5000 athletes on parade. “We have already started getting requests from the Confederation of African Athletics to bid for the 2026 African Athletics Championships. “When they came and saw what we have put in place and the level of organisation, they told me that for the last 20 years, they’ve never seen any organisation like this before. We did three official courses. And the last one, we had 110, all of them passed. We had a lot of officials and equipment", GOC official said. The last time Ghana hosted the competition was in 1979. Cameroon is scheduled to host the 2025 edition of the championship.  

Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner reached the Miami semi-finals by ending Tomas Machac's stunning run at the ATP Masters event. Second seed Sinner used his explosive power and precision to win 6-4 6-2 against his 60th-ranked Czech opponent. Machac beat Andy Murray and Andrey Rublev to play a first Masters quarter-final but Sinner's level was too good. The 22-year-old Italian will face third seed Daniil Medvedev in a rematch of January's Australian Open final. Sinner beat the Russian to win the first Grand Slam title of his career at Melbourne Park and he has continued his fine form since. The world number three won another title in Rotterdam before reaching the semi-finals in Indian Wells, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz for his only defeat of the 2024 season. Sinner and Alcaraz are forming a burgeoning rivalry and, with the 20-year-old Spaniard playing Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov in the last eight on Thursday, they remain on course to meet again in the Miami final.

World number one Novak Djokovic has split with coach Goran Ivanisevic. Former Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic became Djokovic's main coach in March 2022, having worked with him alongside  long-time mentor Marian Vajda  since 2018. Serb Djokovic has won a joint-record 24 Grand Slam singles titles but has made a disappointing start to 2024. "Goran and I decided to stop working together a few days ago," Djokovic said on Instagram. "Our on-court chemistry had its ups and downs, but our friendship was always rock solid." Djokovic lost in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January, suffered a  third-round defeat  by world number 123 Luka Nardi at Indian Wells this month, then withdrew from the ongoing Miami Open, citing a need to balance his "private and professional schedule". "I remember clearly the moment I invited Goran to be part of my team. It was back in 2018, and Marian and I were looking to innovate and bring some serve magic to our duo,&q

The Super Eagles contingent to the friendly matches against Ghana and Mali in the Moroccan city of Marrakech has departed the ‘Red City’, with most of the players flying back to their bases in Europe. Officials, including interim Head Coach Finidi George and other technical and administrative staff, arerived Nigeria from Casablanca aboard a Royal Air Maroc flight to Lagos on Wednesday night. After grieving over the unexpected loss to the AFCON semi-finalists, defender and on-field captain Kenneth Omeruo assured that the players are determined to give their all for maximum points when the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers resume in June. “We went into the match against Mali determined to win, just as we did against Ghana. In the end, they took their chances and we failed to take ours. That’s football. You just have to take the chances that come your way. “June is only a few weeks away. We are focused on the matches against South Africa and the Benin Republic. Many players in the group have

The Minister of Sports, Senator John Owan Enoh has said that the he is not sure the Presidency will host athletes who made Nigeria proud at the just-concluded 2023 All African Games hosted by Ghana. Nigeria, against all odds came a distance second behind Egypt with a total of 121 medals consisting of 47 gold, 33 silver and 41 bronze medals. Out of 52 countries that participated, Team Nigeria won overall best in Athletics with 11 gold, 6 silver and 4 bronze medals. Nigeria's Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi set a new world record in Javelin event at the games, with a throw of 82.80 meters, defeating the previous world champion in the process. Team Nigeria also emerged overall best in Boxing on the continent with a total of 8 gold and two silver medals. Nigeria's Omolara Ogunmakinju put up an impressive performance in the 4×4 mixed relay. Despite the recording breaking performances, the Presidency who hosted the Super Eagles after coming second behind the host, Cote D'Ivoire at the

Côte d’Ivoire has been confirmed as host of the African Women’s Basketball Championship, AfroBasket, scheduled to take place in July 2025 in Abidjan. This was announced during FIBA Africa's first Central Board meeting for the 2023-2027 cycle held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The West African country will organise a FIBA Continental Cup for the first time since 2013 when it hosted the men’s FIBA AfroBasket. Delegates were, during the meeting, informed that the qualifiers for the 2025 FIBA Women's AfroBasket will take place over three qualifying windows from July 2024 to February 2025. Holders Nigeria, runners-up Senegal as well as Mali, and then hosts Rwanda bagged automatic tickets to the next edition of the biennial continental championship after successfully reaching the semifinals of the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket 2023 held in Kigali in July.  

Kenya risks losing the rights to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations alongside neighbours Tanzania and Uganda, BSNSports.com.ng has sourced from The Star of Kenya.  The country could also be barred from hosting the 2024 Africa Nations Championship (Chan). This comes after the world football governing body, FIFA threatened the East African nation with a second ban due to third-party interference. FIFA took issue with a March 16 verdict by the Mombasa High Court, which ordered the suspension of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Annual General Meeting. In a letter written by chief member association officer, Kenny Jeane-Marie and sent to FKF secretary general Barry Otieno on Tuesday, the Zurich-based organisation instructed FKF to call the AGM immediately. The letter noted that the order of the Mombasa High Court dated March 15 which stopped the AGM appeared to amount to undue influence by third parties. The High Court verdict was regarding a suit filed by sports journalist Milton Ny

FIBA has released the official fixtures for women's basketball events for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Nigeria's D'Tigress reached the Olympics despite winning a game in the qualifying tournament in Antwerp, Belgium. The Nigerian side was handed a tough draw in group B alongside Canada, Australia, and host France. According to the fixtures released, D'Tigress will play their opening game against Australia on the 29th of July. They will face the host France on the 1st of August by 4:15 pm before facing Canada 3 days later by 12:30 pm. All the games will take place at Lille Pierre-Mauroy Stadium.