Sports
Nigeria’s Olympic cyclist hails German team over bike loan
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Nigeria’s first ever Olympic cyclist has praised the German team for giving her a bike to compete with in the Paris 2024 Olympics after she was unable to source one of her own.
Ese Ukpeseraye had initially only been registered for the women’s road race but competed in two track events – which require a different kind of bike – at “short notice”, she said on social media platform X.
The 25-year-old wrote that with no bicycle to race with and in the spirit of sportsmanship the German team had come to her rescue.
Her post prompted several Nigerians online to question the competency of their national sports authorities, but Nigeria’s sports minister insisted the situation was unavoidable.
John Owan Enoh said the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world’s foremost cycling authority, offered Nigeria last minute slots in two women’s track events “due to the disqualification of a country”.
The offer was made after Ukpeseraye and the rest of Team Nigeria had arrived in Paris for the games, Mr Enoh said.
“For this track race reallocated to Team Nigeria, a very special equipment (approved specifically for the Olympic track game) is used,” he posted on X.
“It’ll take months to have it delivered after ordering and making payment.”
Online commenters remained sceptical, however. Some linked Ukpeseraye’s case to incident earlier on in the games, where Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili discovered last minute that she could not race in the women’s 100m as she had been left off the entry list.
“I would have asked what happened to Favour Ofili who missed her 100m race because whoever was supposed to fill in her name for the competition failed to do so. Does that also take months to import?” one X user wrote.
Others asked why Nigeria was yet to win any medals at this year’s games. It is an outcome even Nigeria’s government seems frustrated by – the information ministry touched on “the disappointing performances of Nigerian athletes” in a recent press release.
In this year’s games, Ukpeseraye became the first Nigerian – man or woman – to compete in a cycling event.
Her first event was the women’s road race, but she was among a number of athletes who failed to complete the 154km (96-mile) route.
“It was an honour to represent Nigeria at this level. Although I couldn’t finish the race, being here is a victory in itself,” she is quoted by the Nigerian media as saying.
Ukpeseraye also missed out on the finals of the two track events she competed in – she finished sixth in her keirin heat and 28th in the sprint qualifiers.
However, she remains proud of her achievements, writing on X that she has “set the ball rolling for cycling in Nigeria”.
Galatasaray have identified two strikers to sign to partner and support Victor Osimhen in the attack.
This was revealed by Galatasaray reporter Burhan Can Terzi while sharing information about the yellow-red team’s transfer agenda this summer.
According to Can Terzi, the two strikers are Fernabahce’s Jhon Duran and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kolo Muani
“The two names that Galatasaray are most keenly considering as strikers to partner and support Osimhen are Jhon Duran and Kolo Muani,” Can Terzi said (via habersarikirmizi).
“Galatasaray management is favourably inclined towards Jhon Duran due to his affordable cost,” he said.
Meanwhile, Osimhen has been linked with a move away from Galatasaray this summer, but the Nigerian international had ruled out any possibility of him leaving the Turkish Super Lig champions.
With a few days remaining to commence the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament, Spain winger, Lamine Yamal is the world’s most valuable footballer.
According to the CIES Football Observatory’s latest ranking, the Barcelona star has an estimated transfer value of €358 million ($416m).
The 18-year-old tops the list ahead of Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe.
Haaland is valued at €227 million ($256m), while Mbappe’s value is €166 million ($192m).
The three players are at the top of the list in first, second and third positions, respectively.
In fourth position is Bayern Munich winger Michael Oliseh, who is valued at €140.5 million, followed by Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers (€136.8 million) in fifth place.
Completing the top ten are Paris Saint-Germain’s Desire Doue ( €133.2 million), Juventus’ Kenan Yildiz (€133.0 million), Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly (€125.0 million), Real Madrid’s Arda Güler (€124.8 million) and Barcelona’s Pau Cubarsí (€124.6 million).
Iran’s football squad have been granted visas to play in the World Cup, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack confirmed in a message on X on Friday.
“Proud of our outstanding team at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara for their work processing visas for Iran’s national football team on their road to the @FIFAWorldCup in the United States,” he said, commenting on a news report that Iran’s World Cup players have been granted the visas to enter the United States.
“Sports transcends borders, and we look forward to welcoming competitors and fans from around the world,” the ambassador said.
The Iranian team is due to fly from Turkey to Spain on Saturday before travelling on to their base camp in Mexico, which has issued visas to the squad.
The team will be based in Mexico during the tournament in North America, but all three of their group stage matches are due to be held in the United States.
They were originally due to be based in the US but switched their camp to Mexico due to the tensions between them and the United States over the war in the Middle East.
The two countries have been at war since the US and Israel began bombing Iran at the end of February, although currently a fragile ceasefire is being observed.
Iran begin their World Cup campaign against New Zealand on June 16 in Los Angeles.
They will play further group matches against Belgium, also in LA, and Egypt in Seattle.
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