By Emmanuel Atokolo

The Honourable Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, has refuted allegations made by Heavyweight boxer, Bash Alli over ‘frantic efforts to twist the arm of the Federal Government to sponsor his long life’s long ambition of staging his boxing fight in Nigeria.’ The Honourable Minister indicated that the boxer is looking to cajole the government to release over $50million for the fight.

The Honourable Minister expressed discontent with the manner in which the boxer threw caution and decency to the wind after he uploaded a video and wrote a petition to the Presidency accusing the Senator John Enoh of demanding for ‘another’ $1 Million.

The Minister in his statement stated that he has never collected any money from Bash Alli, noting that the only meeting he ever had with him was when he was newly sworn in as Minister. At the time, he said, he only agreed to the meeting against the advice of the staff of the ministry who were familiar with his antics, out of respect for his age and also the open door policy which is a foundation through which he is leading the Ministry.

In the Honourable Minister’s remark, he stated that if the boxer really had $1 million, he would have used it to stage the fight instead of giving it to him. He insisted that he normally wouldn’t have responded to the false claims made by the Former HeavyWeight Champion, but ignoring him would encourage him to create more propaganda that paints individuals holding  public office in bad light.

Senator Enor said the scheme plotted by Bash Alli to tarnish his image follows a pattern of behaviour on the part of the heavyweight boxer, as he severally tried to impugn the reputation of his predecessors.

The Nigeria Football Federation has announced the appointment of Finidi George as new Super Eagles head coach.

The former international beat Emmanuel Amuneke to the job.

George, who spent 20 months as an assistant to José Santos Peseiro before the Portuguese voluntarily left the post following the accomplishment of Africa Cup of Nations runner-up position at Cote d’Ivoire 2023, took charge of the squad in an interim capacity during two friendly matches in Morocco last month.

George’s immediate task will be to guide the Super Eagles to victory in two 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against South Africa and Benin Republic in Uyo and Abidjan, respectively, in a little over five weeks.

The matches are must-win encounters, with the Super Eagles lagging behind in third place in Group C of the African campaign behind Rwanda and South Africa.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta cautioned against overconfidence despite the thrilling 3-2 win over local rivals Tottenham Hotspur in a hard-fought London derby on Sunday.

The Gunners surged ahead with a three-goal lead by halftime, but Spurs staged a spirited comeback, narrowing the gap to just one goal in the second half.

“Don’t get carried away with yourself. Just understand we have to be better, we want to be better. There’s room for improvement, and we go again against Bournemouth,” Arteta emphasized.

League leaders Arsenal will face Bournemouth next Saturday, followed by crucial matches against Manchester United and Everton, as they aim to maintain their position at the top of the table and fend off competition from Manchester City.

“We are right on it. The motivation and what lies ahead are exhilarating,” Arteta told reporters after a nerve-wracking finish against Tottenham, who nearly salvaged a draw in the closing moments.

Despite setbacks like the recent home loss to Aston Villa and Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich, Arsenal has demonstrated resilience. They secured wins against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea, followed by a crucial victory over Spurs, a feat Arteta acknowledged as challenging.

Nevertheless, Arteta expressed confidence in his team’s readiness for the title race, highlighting their courage and determination.

“They’ve played a lot of minutes, a lot of games. It’s an emotionally demanding month, but yesterday I had to stop them in training because they wanted more. That’s a promising sign,” Arteta remarked.

“This team has a lot of courage and determination to make it happen. I have faith in the players.”

Arteta couldn’t help but smile as he admitted to moments of doubt in the final minutes of the match.