Nigeria’s first female gold medallist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Chioma Ajunwa-Opara, has called on athletes to stop cutting corners, but rather face the reality of intense competition for world titles.

Ajunwa-Opara gave this advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

She was speaking on the heels of the recent 10-year ban of Nigeria’s queen of the track, Blessing Okagbare, by World Athletics.

NAN reports that the Athletics Integrity Unit handed a 10-year ban for doping violations by Nigeria’s 2008 long jump silver medallist, Blessing Okagbare.

Okagbare was initially expelled from the women’s 100m semi-finals after testing positive for human growth hormone at an out-of-competition test in Slovakia on July 19, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Ajunwa-Opara, the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal in a field event, who had suffered a similar fate, urged for more sensitisation and support from the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).

“The ban will definitely affect her career, maybe her career in athletics is over. I believe AFN can give her the support she needs.

“For Okagbare, who lives in the U.S., she should not be caught in this web, because it is believed that she has all the information she needed, and is more exposed.

“Okagbare should have a better knowledge than those living in Nigeria; besides this, we have something to do here at home and not pass the whole blame,” she said.

Ajunwa-Opara said since her own experience on doping, she had established a foundation that gives advice and sensitisation on doping.

“Personally, I have set up a foundation campaigning against doping. The foundation is to educate the people and to believe in themselves. Our athletes should take their minds away from doping and cutting corners.

“I also believe that World Athletics is part of this problem by dumping the earlier arrangements on paying the athletes, during the Grand Prix where all the athletes are paid.

“The arrangement now is that World Athletics only pays the top three runners, instead of paying the athletes in all their categories, which are category A, B, and C.

“The competition is now keen to emerge as top three in the whole world. This is an area of concern. World Athletics should revert to the old system of paying all the participants to encourage all athletes,” she said.

Remo Stars suffered a third consecutive defeat after going down 1-0 in Makurdi to Lobi Stars on Monday in the Nigeria Professional Football League.

Gabriel Wassa grabbed the only goal of the game in the 20th minute off a cross from Ifeanyi Ogba, the fifth assist for the forward, who is playing in his first season.

It was also the Pride of Benue’s second successive home win at the Aper Aku Stadium since February 2, when they were held 1-1 by Niger Tornadoes.

The Sky Blue Stars have now lost all the matches since the end of their unbeaten start to the season on February 13 in Gombe and have slumped to fourth spot with 23 points, but Lobi Stars jumped two places up to 12th with 19 points.

In Lafia, Nasarawa United recorded their first victory in three games, edging Niger Tornadoes 1-0. Ex-FC IfeanyiUbah striker Chijioke Alaekwe nodded home from close range off a crisp cross from Michael Tochukwu in the 23rd minute.

It’s a rebirth of sorts for Heartland under new manager, Erasmus Onuh, after they drew 1-1 against Katsina United at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium, Katsina.

They have now played four games under the new coach and have remained unbeaten. Katsina United struck first through Nasiru Sani in the 25th minute but their lead only lasted five minutes as Jonas Emmanuel was at the right place to stab home a cross from Jacob Chukwujike. It was only the second time the Owerri side would be scoring in an away fixture this season.

The morale boosting away draw meant the Owerri side moved a place up to the 18th spot with 13 points but Katsina United are in 17th with 14 points.

At the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna, Kano Pillars eventually ended their four-game winless streak with a 2-1 defeat of Abia Warriors. The visitors stunned their hosts with the curtain raiser in the 16th minute through Kalu Nweke from Godwin Obaje’s assist, but Sai Masu Gida leveled up through Saidu Salisu in the 27th minute. Abdullahi Musa completed the comeback with a deft finish six minutes into the second half.

Kano Pillars, who last won a league game on January 30th, 2022 in Owerri against Heartland are 14th on the table with 17 points but Abia Warriors continued to flirt with the drop zone as they are 16th with 14 points.

The Confederation of African Football has selected Nigerien official Zouwaira Souley as the centre referee for Wednesday’s match between Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria in Abidjan.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the match is the second leg tie of their 2022 Women Africa Cup of Nations final qualifying round fixture.

Souley will work with compatriot Hawa Moussa (assistant referee 1), Lamouni Latiifah Pare from Burkina Faso (assistant referee 2) and another Nigerien, Nafissa Sani (fourth official).

Ademola Olajire, Director of Communications at the Nigeria Football Federation, said in a statement on Monday that Ayawa Mawoufemo Dzodope from Togo will serve as the game’s match commissioner.

Another Togolese, Latré-Kayi Lawson-Hogban, is the match’s referee assessor.

The Nigerian team, the Super Falcons, are nine-time winners of AWCON and won the first leg match at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja 2-0 on Friday.

Both goals were scored by U.S-based forward Ifeoma Onumonu.

The winners on aggregate will join hosts Morocco and Uganda who have already qualified for the 12-team finals holding in Morocco from July 2 to July 23.

Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Burundi and Tunisia, who scooped huge first-leg wins, as well as Botswana, who won away from home, look good for spots in Morocco

Burundi have qualified for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations for the first ever time after beating Djibouti 5-0 in the second leg of their play-off tie.

Leading 2-0 at half-time in Ngozi through goals from Rukiya Bizimana and Uwimana Aniella, Bizimana netted again after the restart and Aniella completed her hat-trick to seal Burundi’s place at the tournament with an impressive 11-1 aggregate score.

The Swallows had beaten Gjibouti 6-1 in the first leg last Wednesday a game which was also played in Ngozi in northern Burundi.

It means Burundi are the third side to book their spot at the Women’s Nations Cup after hosts Morocco and Uganda, who qualified after Kenya withdrew before their clash.

Twelve nations will compete for the continental crown from 2-23 July, with the four semi-finalists automatically securing berths to represent Africa at the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next year.

Defending Women’s Afcon champions Nigeria will travel to Ivory Coast with a 2-0 advantage, but will be without four time African women’s footballer of the year Asisat Oshoala who sustained athigh injury in trraining.

Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal and Tunisia are among the sides hoping to follow in Burundi’s footsteps and qualify for the tournament this week.

Women’s Afcon second-round play-off second leg results and fixtures

Monday, 21 February

• Burundi 5-0 Djibouti (11-1 agg)

Tuesday, 22 February

• Namibia v Zambia (0-0 agg) (Johannesburg, 14:00 GMT)
• Mali v Senegal (0-1 agg) (Bamako, 17:00 GMT)

Wednesday, 23 February

• Gabon v Togo (1-2 agg) (Libreville, 14:30 GMT)
• Equatorial Guinea v Tunisia (0-5 agg) (Malabo, 15:00 GMT)
• The Gambia v Cameroon (0-8 agg) (Bakau, 15:00 GMT)
• Ivory Coast v Nigeria (0-2 agg) (Abidjan, 15:00 GMT)
• Burkina Faso v Guinea-Bissau (6-0 agg) (Porto-Novo, 16:00 GMT)
• Botswana v Zimbabwe (3-1 agg) (Francistown, 17:00 GMT)
• Algeria v South Africa (0-2 agg) (Algiers, 17:00 GMT)

World number three Alexander Zverev defeated Jenson Brooksby in three sets at the Mexican Open in a first-round contest which set a new record for the latest finish to a tennis match.

Defending champion Zverev won 3-6 7-6 (12-10) 6-2 with the match ending at 4:55am local time in Acapulco.

A marathon second set was clinched by the German in one hour and 51 minutes.

The previous latest finish was 4:34am when Lleyton Hewitt beat Marcos Baghdatis at the 2008 Australian Open.

Play in Acaplulco does not begin until 6pm local time because of the heat and humidity, and all three of Monday’s Centre Court matches lasted more than three hours.

The three hour 20-minute match between Zverev, 24, and 21-year-old American Brooksby – which did not get under way until 1:35am – fell one minute short of the longest match in Mexican Open history.

That record had been set earlier on Monday, when Stefan Kozlov defeated 2014 champion Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (10-8) 5-7 6-3.

John Isner and Fernando Verdasco also came close to rivalling that time, as Isner prevailed 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-3) after three hours and 14 minutes.

Zverev will face compatriot Peter Gojowczyk next, on Wednesday.

‘The latest entry in tennis scheduling’s hall of shame’

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

There is always a ghoulish fascination when a sporting event finishes late into the night.

An impressively sized crowd stayed to the end, supplemented no doubt by a few extra viewers in Europe, where the match could almost said to be taking place in prime time.

But this is not clever. Or unusual. It the latest entry in tennis scheduling’s hall of shame.

Yes, it is hot and humid in Acaplulco. But trying to schedule three matches from 6pm invites trouble and almost guarantees play will sometimes extend into the early hours.

Usually, these matches will be played in virtually empty stadia, and it is just not fair on the players.

As Johanna Konta said after a 3am finish at the 2019 Australian Open: “I don’t agree with athletes having to physically exert themselves in the wee hours of the morning – I think it is quite dangerous.”

Uefa is almost certain to switch this season’s Champions League final away from St Petersburg amid the Ukraine-Russia crisis.

Russia has sent troops into two rebel-held regions of eastern Ukraine and there are fears an invasion is planned.

Several countries, including the UK have introduced sanctions against Russia in response to the move.

And against that backdrop, Uefa is viewed as being highly unlikely to attempt to host the game in Russia.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, said there was “no chance of holding football tournaments in a Russia that invades sovereign countries”.

that she had “serious concerns about the sporting events due to be held in Russia, such as the Champions League final, and will discuss with the relevant governing bodies”.

She added: “We won’t allow [Russia] President [Vladimir] Putin to exploit events on the world stage to legitimise his illegal invasion of Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, former UK sports minister Tracey Crouch has told BBC Sport that Uefa should move the final “immediately”.

European football’s governing body is assessing the situation before making a decision but it is set to be looking for a new venue at short notice for the third year running. The past two Champions League finals were played in Portugal because of Covid-19 related issues.

BBC Sport understands the game will still be played on Saturday, 28 May, which is likely to rule Wembley out as a host as the League Two and Championship play-off finals are set to be played at the stadium over that weekend.

Uefa is in talks with Dynamo Kyiv and Sporting Lisbon over their Youth League last-16 tie which is scheduled to be played in the Ukraine capital on 2 March.

Other Uefa competition fixtures may yet need to be moved. There are no teams from Ukraine left in any other European competition this season but Russian club Zenit St Petersburg are still in the Europa League and are set to play the second leg of their play-off round tie with Real Betis in Spain on Thursday. Zenit lost the home leg 3-2.

At international level, Russia are scheduled to host Poland in a World Cup play-off on 24 March and – if they win – would face Sweden or Czech Republic on 29 March.

Ukraine are also in the World Cup play-offs, and visit Scotland and then either Wales or Austria in their bid to qualify for the tournament in Qatar.

Tensions in the region have escalated further this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering troops into two rebel-held regions in eastern Ukraine, after recognising them as independent states.

Fears over an invasion have been rising in recent months, as Russia has massed around 150,000 troops along Ukraine’s borders, according to US estimates.

“Given the British and European condemnation of Russian action in Ukraine, Uefa should immediately move the Champions League final from the Gazprom stadium,” added Crouch.

“The ban on politicians and officials travelling to the Russian-hosted 2018 World Cup was a soft message to President Putin which made no significant difference – so Uefa need to take a much stronger stance not least to ensure the safety of travelling fans.”

St Petersburg was used as a venue for a number of matches at last summer’s delayed Euro 2020 tournament.

Dillian Whyte has signed a contract to fight WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury just hours before the deadline.

The fight is expected to take place on 23 April, potentially at Wembley Stadium.

Whyte, 33, had until 06:00 GMT on Tuesday to sign but had spent the weekend and Monday negotiating details of the deal.

“Dillian Whyte signed his contract for $8m, what a surprise,” Fury said on social media.

Fury added: “An absolute idiot. Should this even be a talking point? The man’s signed for the biggest payday he’s going to get in his life.”

Fury v Whyte: How did we get here?

Whyte is the mandatory challenger to Fury’s WBC belt and has been waiting years for a shot at the world title as the WBC’s number-one-ranked contender.

After lengthy discussions between both teams came to nothing, Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions won the purse bids in January with a $41m (£30m) bid, beating Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn who was the only other bidder.

Fury, 33, is now set to receive 80%, around £20m, of the purse and Whyte the remaining 20%.

Whyte has been pushing for a bigger split of the purse bid but the £5.6m he is guaranteed to receive will be the biggest payday of his career to date. There is also a further £3.1m on offer for the winner.

Fury has not fought in the UK since August 2018 when he beat Francesco Pianeta having fought exclusively in the US since signing a promotional deal with Bob Arum’s Top Rank.

Whyte has built a formidable reputation in UK with just two defeats on his record. There was a suggestion his decision to delay signing his contract was an attempt to unsettle Fury, but the ‘Gypsy King’ poked fun at the idea.

He joked: “My head hurts from all the mind games Dillian Whyte has been playing on me. Oh my god. I’m so sore I don’t know whether I’m coming or going, my training’s camp a mess.”

Fury, who is unbeaten in his pro career with 31 wins and one draw, will now need to seek a boxing licence from the British Boxing Board of Control.

A news conference officially announcing the fight could happen as early as Wednesday. Cardiff’s Principality Stadium is still an option to host the bout although the 90,000-seater Wembley Stadium, a venue neither fighter has headlined, is a clear favourite.

There is still one final outstanding issue between Fury and Whyte to be resolved before an official announcement is made.