Commonwealth Games – Athletics – Women’s 4 x 100m Relay – Final – Alexander Stadium, Birmingham, Britain – August 7, 2022 Nigeria’s Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha celebrates after winning gold

Nigerian sprinter Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha, who won gold in the 4x100m relay at this year’s Commonwealth Games, has been provisionally suspended for the use of banned substances, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Saturday.

Nwokocha, 21, ran the anchor leg in Birmingham last month as Nigeria beat England and Jamaica to take gold.

“The AIU has provisionally suspended Nigerian runner, Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha, for the Presence/Use of Prohibited Substances (Ostarine & Ligandrol) (Article 2.1 and Article 2.2),” the body said in a statement on Twitter.

Ostarine and Ligandrol are both anabolic agents prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)

A provisional suspension means an athlete is temporarily banned from competition before a final decision is taken at a hearing conducted under WADA rules.

Nwokocha qualified for last year’s Tokyo Olympics and also entered the 100m and 200m at the world championships in Eugene this year, reaching the semi-finals in both events.

Mamady Doumbouya’s armed forces took over Guinea last year in a coup d’état ©Getty Images

Guinea has been removed as host of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), which says the country is not ready to hold the tournament.

It is the latest in a long line of editions of the competition to have had a disrupted build-up, with the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations the last not to have been moved either geographically or on the calendar

A military junta has run Guinea since September 2021, when colonel Mamady Doumbouya appointed himself Interim President of the country.

“The Executive Committee was unanimous that Guinea will not be ready to host the competition,” the CAF said in a statement.

“The Executive Committee took a unanimous decision based on the report as submitted that the tournament be withdrawn from Guinea.

“The President suggested that a delegation be sent to Guinea to inform them of the decision taken by the Executive Committee.

“The Executive Committee resolved to send a delegation to Guinea to inform them of CAF’s decision to withdraw the Africa Cup of Nations, Guinea 2025 from Guinea.”

The CAF now needs a new host for 2025 and reports from Nigeria indicate the Nigeria Football Federation is plotting a joint bid with Benin.

The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations was held in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, as planned.

The 2013 version was held in South Africa, after it swapped 2017 hosting rights with Libya which was the scene of a civil war.

Due to the threat of Ebola, Morocco withdrew as host in 2015 and was replaced by Equatorial Guinea.

With conflict continuing in Libya, the CAF moved the 2017 tournament to Gabon.

Egypt then took over in 2019 from Cameroon over concerns that Cameroon could not deal with the move to a 24-team tournament.

The COVID-19 crisis and weather delayed a 2021 tournament supposed to be in Cameroon, which was scheduled for June and July in 2021 but moved to the start of the year due to heat concerns.

It was ultimately pushed back to 2022 because of the global health crisis.

As part of the domino effect caused by Cameroon’s withdrawal as 2019 host and later reinstatement for 2021, an Ivorian Africa Cup of Nations was delayed from 2021 to 2023 and Guinea’s right to hold the tournament moved to 2025.

Because of weather concerns, the next Africa Cup of Nations has already been moved to January 2024.

After Super Eagles B’ loss to Ghana at Abuja in the qualification for the African Nations Championship, a further misery was inflicted on Nigerian football as the Super Falcons lost 4-0 to the US in a friendly match.

Sophia Smith opened scoring in the 14^th minute after which Lindsey Horan doubled the lead in the 25^th minute.

Just a minute into added time of the first half, Smith was again on song to give the US a 3-0 half time lead. Smith has now scored 10 international goals, reaching the mark in her 22nd cap — the sixth fastest a USWNT player has achieved the feat.

A 52^nd minute penalty kick gave Alex Morgan her 119^th career goal and put the scoreline at 4-0 against Nigeria.

The two teams will face off again on Tuesday at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.

Bayelsa Queens

Bayelsa Queens of Nigeria clinched the WAFU B title of the zonal qualifiers for CAF Women’s Champions League after defeating Ghana’s Ampem Darkoa Ladies 3-0 in the final on Saturday.

The Nigerian league champion won the trophy thanks to three first-half goals at the Yamoussoukro Stadium in Cote d’Ivoire to secure the rights to represent Wafu B at the top-flight women’s continental club competition to be played later this year

Goals by Miracle Joseph, Flourish Sabatine Choma and Chinyere Igbomalu before the break sealed the emphatic victory and secure their place at the tournament in Morocco.

 Bayelsa Queens took charge of the midfield at the start of the game allowing them to penetrate the Ghanaian half easily which resulted in the first goal with Joseph scoring from a penalty kick after her team-mate was brought down in the box.

They extended their lead nine minutes through Choma, a standout player in the tournament, who had no trouble in easily beating the Ghanaian goalkeeper Safiatu Salifu from close range with a beautiful solo effort.

The Nigerians continued their dominance and four minutes before the break Igbomalu easily tapped in to give Bayelsa the commanding 3-0 advantage at half-time.

Ampem Darkoa Ladies coach Nana Joe Adarkwa tweaked his tactics after the recess which gave the Ghanaian hope of a revival.

The Ghanaians were much more organized after the break as they took control of the game by becoming more aggressive and very fast but could not find the opening in the Nigerian defence who became more resolute.

Ampem Darkoa Ladies had lot of chances to win the match but Bayelsa defence worked overtime to ensure that the Ghanaians were kept at bay until the end of the match.

Bayelsa Queens were thus crowned champion of Wafu B who succeeded Ghanaian side Hasaacas Ladies who won the title last year by defeating Rivers Angels of Nigeria 3 -1 in the final of the zonal competition.

The Nigerian side will be seeking to improve on the performance of their predecessors Hasaacas Ladies who reached the final of the previous edition of CAF Women’s Champions League but lost 2-0 in final against Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa.

Meanwhile Africa Sports of Cote d’Ivoire clinched third place after defeating Espoir on Benin 4-0 in the third place playoff match on Saturday.

The U.S. Women’s National Team thrashed Nigeria’s Super Falcons 4-0 in front of a boisterous crowd of 14,502 at Children’s Mercy Park.

The USA, which outshot Nigeria 14-8, put their opponents under pressure from the opening whistle and by the time the first water break arrived midway through the opening half, the Americans had a 2-0 lead thanks to forward Sophia Smith scoring on a breakaway and midfielder Lindsey Horan converting off a Smith feed in the right side of the penalty area.

Smith would tack on a second strike in first half stoppage time, giving the USA a commanding 3-0 advantage going into the break.

Soon after the teams began the second half, forward Mallory Pugh raced into the Super Falcons’ penalty box on the left side where she was fouled by Nicole Payne.

Forward Alex Morgan dispatched the resulting penalty with aplomb in the 52nd minute to provide what would be the final margin of victory.

It was a dream debut for Nigerian striker Sadiq Umar as he scored a goal in their 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in a Spanish La Liga game.

The 2016 Rio Olympics highest goal scorer and bronze medalist joined Real Sociedad from Almeria on a four-year deal on transfer deadline day.

He wasted no time in winning over fans of his new employers with a scintillating goal.

The match ended 1-1 but Sadiq has now scored 3 consecutive goals in the La Liga this season.