A major United States law enforcement agency is pursuing the anti-doping case involving provisionally suspended Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare, Saturday PUNCH reports.

The investigations according to RJRGLEANER Group fall under the controversial Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act, passed by the United State Government in December 2020.

This development comes just over a month after Okagbare was barred from contesting the 100m semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics having been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit on July 31.

She was suspended for using the banned drug Human Growth Hormone.

Under the World Anti-Doping Agency rules, the use of HGH, an anabolic steroid, carries a maximum four-year ban for first time offenders.

It grants extraterritorial jurisdiction under major international doping fraud conspiracies.

While the Act provides the legal framework for the prosecution of individuals involved in doping schemes at international sports competitions involving American athletes, broadcasters and sponsors, under the law, criminal prosecution cannot be brought against athletes, who test positive for performance-enhancing substances, such as in this case, Okagbare.

When contacted by messenger application WhatsApp for a comment on the criminal investigation by the law enforcement agency,  Okagbare declined.

“I don’t have anything to say to you nor anyone,” the 2013 World Championship Long Jump silver medallist told the RJRGLEANER Group.

“With due respect, I don’t know how you got my number or who asked you to call me,” she added.

The US law enforcement agency, told the RJRGLEANER Group “no comment”, when queries were made about their involvement in the Okagbare anti-doping matter.

It should be noted that the agency’s policy is to not confirm or deny involvement in cases.

The Athletics Integrity Unit would not be drawn into providing any update on the case of the 32-year-old sprinter.

“As the case is ongoing, there aren’t further updates we can share at this stage,” AIU official Julie Burley said in an emailed response on September 28.

She said any announcements or news will be posted on the AIU website and social channels when relevant.

It should be noted that to date, there has been no update on the status of Okagbare’s ‘B’ sample.

Meanwhile, Okagbare’s coach at the Jacksonville, Florida-based Tumbleweed Track Club, Rana Reider, has denied any knowledge or involvement in the anti-doping matter.

“The situation with Blessing Okagbare has nothing to do with Tumbleweed Track Club, I know nothing about any investigation, and I have had no communication whatsoever with Blessing since news of her positive test came out,” Reider  said.

At least one source with close connections to Tumbleweed, informed that multiple athletes from the club were questioned during the Olympics following the AIU’s announcement of Okagbare’s doping violation.

When contacted, agent Paul Doyle declined comment on the matter.

It is also understood that since the doping violation, Doyle has not been representing Okagbare.

Second seed Garbine Muguruza claimed her second title of the year after recovering from a set down to win the inaugural Chicago Fall Classic.

The Spanish former world number one came through 3-6 6-3 6-0 against Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, the sixth seed.

Muguruza was outplayed in the first set and then lost her serve twice early in the second to be in real trouble.

But she managed to regroup and as she got stronger, Jabeur, the world number 16, started to struggle.

Muguruza reached the final after a walkover in her semi-final when Czech Marketa Vondrousova, the Tokyo Olympic runner-up, pulled out with an injury.

Jabeur’s semi-final on Saturday ended early when Kazakhstan’s fifth-seeded Elena Rybakina retired with the Tunisian leading 6-4 3-2.

Earlier on Sunday, Italy’s Jannik Sinner swept past French veteran Gael Monfils to successfully defend his Sofia Open crown and boost his chances of reaching next month’s ATP Finals.

The 20-year-old top seed won 6-3 6-4 for his fourth career title.

The win will see him move into 10th place in the race for the eight-man season finale which will be held in Turin, Italy from 14 November.

Leaders Real Madrid lost their first game in La Liga this season as they were beaten at Espanyol.

Raul de Tomas gave the hosts a 17th-minute lead when he met Adrian Embarba’s low cross into the box.

Aleix Vidal added an excellent second, beating Nacho before firing past Thibaut Courtois on the hour mark.

Karim Benzema responded for Real with a fine finish into the bottom corner with 19 minutes left, but Carlo Ancelotti’s side could not find a late equaliser

It is a second loss in a week for Real, who suffered a shock champions league defeat by competition debutants Sheriff Tiraspol on Tuesday.

Ancelotti’s side are now winless in three games after being held to a goalless draw against Villarreal in their previous league outing.

Champions Athletico Madrid beat Barcelona 2-0 on Saturday to join Real at the top of La Liga on 17 points.

Benzema had three shots on target but all were comfortable for Espanyol goalkeeper Diego Lopez as Real trailed at half time, while Eder Militao glanced a header wide from a corner as Real initially dominated following the interval.

Benzema duly got his ninth goal in eight league games this season but Vidal’s strike proved decisive for an inspired Espanyol side.

Napoli will stay top of Serie A after maintaining their 100 percent start to the season with a gritty 2-1 win at Fiorentina, while Roma bounced back from derby defeat with a 2-0 win over Empoli.

Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli have a perfect 21 points from their first seven league matches thanks to their come-from-behind victory at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence, which came thanks to strikes from Hirving Lozano and Amir Rrahmani either side of half-time.

It was a tough defeat for Fiorentina, who lost in a similar fashion to how they fell at home to Inter a few weeks back after deservedly taking the lead through Lucas Martinez Quarta.

Vincenzo Italiano’s side stay fifth on 12 points, nine behind Napoli and three away Roma in fourth.

“We suffered a bit after we went ahead, but we also had situations where we could have put ourselves 3-1 ahead which we didn’t manage to exploit,” said Spalletti to DAZN.

“We need to work on that because we will need to win some matches in which we’re truly up against it.”

Martinez Quarta opened the scoring just before the half hour mark with a superb volleyed finish from Dusan Vlahovic’s first-time lay-off at a corner.

However Lozano levelled six minutes before the break after Bartlomiej Dragowski saved Lorenzo Insigne’s penalty and then denied the Italy forward on the rebound, the Mexican roofing home Napoli’s third bite of the cherry.

And Rrahmani scored what turned out to be the winning goal four minutes after the break when he met Piotr Zielinski’s beautifully flighted free-kick with a guided header.

Pellegrini guides Roma

Jose Mourinho’s Roma took a while to get going but were good value for their win at the Stadio Olimpico, with promoted Empoli folding once Lorenzo Pellegrini opened the scoring three minutes before half-time.

Pellegrini, who on Thursday was named in Roberto Mancini’s Italy squad for the upcoming Nations League Final Four, collected Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s pass on the edge of the area before bumping home a low shot from the edge of the area.

It was the Roma captain’s sixth goal in all competitions this season and came the day after the 25-year-old extended his contract with the club until 2026.

Mkhitaryan then made sure of the points two minutes after the restart with his second of the campaign.

The Armenia captain was on hand to guide the ball home after Guiglielmo Vicario had just managed to tip Tammy Abraham’s fierce drive onto the bar, and afterwards Roma coasted to a simple win which boosted morale after losing ot Lazio last weekend.

“We played well, we were solid and compact,” Mourinho told DAZN.

“I think we deserved to win, it’s always good to win after a defeat. Eith 15 points from seven matches we’re doing all right.”

Pressure eased on

Bologna gave coach Sinisa Mihajlovic room to breath with a comfortable 3-0 Serie A win over Lazio which ended a worrying run of results.

Mihajlovic’s position on the Bologna bench had been under discussion ahead of the visit of their Roman opponents after three matches without a win which included shipping six goals at Inter Milan and last weekend’s miserable defeat to Empoli.

Goals from Musa Barrow, Arthur Theate and Aaron Hickey gave the hosts a straightforward win over Lazio, who were without injured Ciro Immobile and finished with 10 mean after Francesco Acerbi’s sending off.

Bologna moved up to ninth on 11 points, level with Atalanta, Lazio and Juventus.

“I knew we would put in a good performance today, because if we go out there with the right attitude, we can win games,”

Julian Nagelsmann suffered his first defeat as Bayern Munich coach on Sunday as Eintracht Frankfurt snatched a dramatic, smash-and-grab 2-1 away win with a late winner from Filip Kostic.

Kostic struck on the counter-attack seven minutes from time to hand Frankfurt their first win in Munich for more than two decades and condemn Bayern to their first defeat of the season.

Despite dominating Frankfurt for much of the game, Bayern succumbed to their first league home defeat since 2019, and now sit just one point clear of Borussia Dortmund in the table.

Leon Goretzka gave Bayern a deserved lead after a dominant first half-hour, slotting in a low finish after a smart lay-off from Robert Lewandowski.

Bayern were left reeling a few minutes later, though, as Martin Hinteregger sent a thundering header past Manuel Neuer at a corner to level the scores.

Lewandowski almost restored the lead shortly before the hour-mark, but Frankfurt keeper Kevin Trapp denied the Polish star at point-blank range with a brilliant reflex save.

It was the first of a string of second-half stops from Trapp, whose heroics kept Frankfurt in the game before Kostic’s winner sealed Bayern’s fate.

Elsewhere, Nigerian striker Taiwo Awoniyi netted two goals against his old club as Union Berlin fought from a goal down to beat Mainz 2-1 and continue their fine start to the Bundesliga season.

Awoniyi struck twice in four minutes in the second half to give high-flying Union their first away win of the season and fire them up to seventh in the table.

Union loanee Marcus Ingvartsen also scored against his former team mates to give Mainz the lead just before half-time, but it was former Mainz striker Awoniyi who had the last laugh as Union bounced back after the break.

Having missed a handful of chances throughout the game, the Nigerian levelled the scores with a cool finish on the counter-attack 20 minutes from time.

A few minutes later, the 24-year-old scored an almost carbon copy of his equaliser to put Union ahead, once again latching onto a long ball and holding off the Mainz back line before slotting the ball into the bottom corner.

The often recalled continental match involving Shooting Stars of Ibadan is their 1984 encounter with Zamalek of Egypt. Well, the match etched its self into history.

But before then, there was even a more memorable encounter of both teams. It is 45 years today since that match.

As most football followers will agree, matches do not necessarily have to be cliff-hangers to be ranked as memorable.

Neither do encounters have to offer high individual skills or spectacular teamwork.

Matches are remembered for various reasons. Some matches became spectacular as teams put up courageous performances against heavy odds or sprang back from the brink of glaring defeats

The 2 October 1976 IICC Shooting Stars – Zamalek match fall in this category.  Zamalek had won the first leg  2-0, which the then IICC could not cancel until six minutes to the end of the return leg match.

That was the match that converted me to a Shooting Stars supporter. As a teenager growing up in the sprawling ancient city of Ibadan, I was not particularly a keen follower of IICC.

Perhaps it was because some of the players , especially those of Ghanaian descent were living in the same neighbourhood with me.

I saw them daily and were therefore just too common for me to attach any element of importance, let alone greatness to them.

I found stars in the players of Mighty Jets, a flamboyant club at the time and I got attracted to them. But they soon faded out. The rampaging Enugu Rangers caught my fancy with their performances at the 1975 African Cup of Champion Clubs.

So in the 1975 Challenge Cup semi finals that paired Mighty Jets with the IICC, my favoured club was the former. After all, they paraded my favourite players like Sam Garba, Olayiwola Olagbenro, Ismaila Mabo, the Atuegbu brothers, Baba Otu Mohammed, Gabriel Babalola, Sule Kekere among others. I never gave the ‘local’ boys in my neighbourhood any chance of survival.

I considered it a major upset when IICC scaled the hurdle into the final to face Enugu Rangers, my team of the moment.  

I expected a complete annihilation. Rangers have had continental experience and, almost with religious devotion, I was following their exploits. To my surprise, Shooting Stars put up a spectacular performance and almost won the Challenge Cup.

So by virtue of being runners-up to Rangers who had also picked the ticket for the more prestigious  Cup of Champion Clubs, IICC were registered in the second-tier African Winners Cup which was in its second edition in 1976.

I saw them as mere participants even after achieving a double against Kenya Breweries in the opening round.

There was a sort of justification of my views when they barely beat Zambia’s Rokana United 3-2 in Lagos in the first leg of the next round. But against all odds, they survived the return leg with a 1-1 draw in Ndola.

Significantly, it was from Zambia that emerging football legend, Segun Odegbami was drafted into the Olympic Games-bound national team. The NFA had to crop his passport photograph from newspaper cuttings to fill his accreditation form.

Jide Dina was dropped for the new discovery, Odegbami. Yet, IICC had no place in my heart. Being at home in September 1976, awaiting my WASC result, I had ample time to begin to get informed about the club.

At the time, they had lost 0-2 to Zamalek in Cairo. In the first leg match on Friday 24 September 1976, Shooting Stars with their array of young talents like Muda Lawal, Segun Odegbami, Kunle Awesu, Philip Boamah, Best Ogedegbe among others were more than intimidated by the large and cheering crowd at the Cairo Stadium.

After holding on grimly for 75 minutes, a tightly knit defence suddenly crashed under a 10-minute blitz and conceded two goals by Zamalek’s Wahid Kamel which gave the home team a 2-0.

Perhaps the tally could have been more but for the agility of Goalkeeper Best Ogedegbe who had been thrown into the international assignment, owing to the injury sustained by first choice goalkeeper, Zion Ogunfehinmi.

The eventual scoreline was enough to paint a picture of gloom for the Shooting Stars despite their putting up brilliant performance. They fell to the antics of the capacity Cairo crowd who continuously whistled, causing confusion to the Shooting Stars players

In Ibadan, the atmosphere during the week preceding the return leg was very electrifying. On daily basis, radio and TV jingles on the ‘big match’ filled the airwaves.

Every one seemed to believe that Shooting Stars were going to turn the table. “How can?”, I silently asked myself. Anyway, seeing is believing.

I was part of the enthusiastic crowd that besieged the then Liberty Stadium on 2 October 1976.   

The tension was very palpable. Before noon, the stadium had already been filled up.

Months, before then, the old Western State of which Ibadan was the capital had been divided into three – Oyo, Ogun and Ondo.

The three state governors – Colonel David Jemibewon of Oyo State, Lt. Colonel Saidu Ayodele Balogun and Wing Commander Ita David Ikpeme of Ondo State – were among the capacity crowd at the match venue.

The match was fixed to kick off at 3pm in the afternoon so that the weather would have effect on the Egyptians.

Alas! An early morning rain ensured that the weather was cool. All the same, the atmosphere was frenzied. Amid rhythmic sensation of talking drums and other musical instruments, the game kicked off.

The dream of early goal did not materialise despite Shooting Stars opening the game with ferocious attack.  

Zamalek were forced to concede a corner kick within two minutes of kick off. In the first 15 minutes, the visitors had conceded five corner kicks as Kunle Awesu on the left flank and Philip Boamah from the right, created a lot of opportunities for Segun Odegbami and Moses Otolorin in the central position to connect.  

They piled pressure upon pressure, but the Egyptians were able to absorb all. Goalkeeper Adel El-Maamour was particularly very outstanding, making saves after saves.

At a point, it appeared the ball would never get past him. Hassan Shahetan also fell back to help the defence as the anxious crowd was kept on the edge.

Otolorin and Odegbami’s sizzlers either hit the post or got blocked by the defenders. The agony increased as the minutes ticked away.

The pressure was intense and the misses were many and also very painful. After the half time, with goals refusing to come, it appeared the Shooting Stars were on a ‘mission impossible’.

The crowd at the stadium was getting frustrated. So also it appeared the Shooting Stars’ players too.

At half time, Skipper Samuel Ojebode reportedly broke down in tears in the dressing room and had to be psyched up by Governor David Jemibewon.

In the second half, the crowd cheers had given way to deafening silence. The match seemed to be heading for a scoreless draw and an elimination of Shooting Stars.

There was even a terrible fright mid way into the second half when a Zamalek striker almost scored.

But barely 15 minutes to the end, just as it happened for the Egyptians in the first leg, Skipper Ojebode, overlapping from the left steered the ball past two defenders, floated the ball into the Egyptian penalty box.

Odegbami took a great leap to nod the ball past Goalkeeper Adel El-Maamour. Even Mahmoud El-Gohary’s last ditch effort to retrieve the ball failed. Shooting Stars were a goal up!

There was renewed vigour in the attack. The stars were all over the field looking for the important second goal. Then six minutes to end the match, Otolorin volleyed in from a goal mouth scramble for the second goal.

The crowd went wild with joy. The game then went into penalty shoot-out, the very first in an international match in Nigeria.

Ojebode, Otolorin, Odegbami, Idowu Otubusin and Ogedegbe all took the kicks successfully for Shooting Stars.

After three kicks, the pendulum was already swinging in Shooting Stars’ favour as they converted all, while Zamalek had lost one.

Otubusin took the fourth kick which Adel El-Maamour made spirited efforts to stop, but it slipped off his hands into the net.

He was in agony. Goalkeeper Best Ogedegbe took the decisive kick to give the Shooting Stars a 5-3 win by penalties!

Lionel Messi endured his first defeat as a Paris Saint-Germain player on Sunday (Oct 3) as their perfect start to the French Ligue 1 season ended with a 2-0 loss at Rennes.

The Argentina star smacked the crossbar with a free kick in the first half at Roazhon Park, before Gaetan Laborde volleyed the hosts ahead just before the break with his league-leading sixth goal.

Flavien Tait struck less than 20 seconds after half-time to double the lead for Rennes, with Kylian Mbappe seeing a goal ruled out for offside as PSG’s eight-match winning run in the league this term ended.

“We didn’t start the match well but then we played the best 25-30 minutes of the season. It’s a shame we didn’t score. We conceded two goals that were hard to take,” said PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino.

PSG lost in the league for the first time since April, when they were beaten 1-0 at home by last season’s eventual champions Lille.

“In general, I’m satisfied, we created a lot of chances. Rennes scored with their first and the goal had a big emotional impact,” said Pochettino.

“I don’t like to lose, there’s a bit of anger. To go 2-0 down after a good period… We’re disappointed not to have finished off what we had. It leaves us a bit bitter and disappointed.”

Messi lined up alongside Neymar, Mbappe and Angel di Maria for just the second match, making only his second league start for PSG after missing the past two Ligue 1 games with a knee injury.

Gianluigi Donnarumma again got the nod ahead of Keylor Navas in goal, having kept a clean sheet midweek in PSG’s Champions League win over Manchester City.

Looking to keep pace with the team who won their opening 14 games under Thomas Tuchel in 2018, PSG created a series of chances midway through the first half – all of which went to waste.

Woodwork denies Messi

Neymar skied horribly after the ball broke kindly to the Brazilian inside the Rennes area and Mbappe was guilty of another glaring miss when he scooped over after getting in behind the home defence.

Messi, who bagged a spectacular first goal PSG against City on Tuesday, nearly got off the mark in Ligue 1 but watched his curling free-kick from 25 yards clatter the bar on the half-hour.

Rennes goalkeeper Alfred Gomis crucially stuck out a hand to deny Neymar a tap-in as di Maria squared across the six-yard box, and PSG paid the price for their missed opportunities on the stroke of half-time.

Kamaldeen Sulemana whipped in a cross from the left which was thumped beyond Donnarumma by Laborde, a deadline day signing from Montpellier.

Rennes, who spent €80 million (S$126 million) on new signings in the summer – more than any team in France including PSG – caught the visitors cold right at the start of the second half to make it 2-0.

Laborde, released down the right, pulled back for Tait to sweep in first time – the goal upheld after a Video Assistant Referee check for offside, and greeted by a deafening roar from a full house of close to 30,000 once it was confirmed.

Sulemana fired a ferocious drive narrowly over but PSG appeared to have pulled one back when Mbappe squeezed beyond Gomis, only for it to be chalked off upon review.

It could have been worse for Pochettino’s side had a penalty awarded to Rennes not been overturned in the closing stages, after replays exonerated Achraf Hakimi from a foul on Laborde.

Instead PSG, who stay six points clear of second-placed Lens, must now reset after the international break that will see Messi and Neymar jet off to South America for a gruelling series of three World Cup qualifiers.

Rennes are ninth with 12 points from nine games ahead of the later matches.