Giant of Africa graduate, Nigeria’s James Nnaji, is among 12 international players from eight countries in the 2023 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft released by State Farm on Thursday.

Nnaji was selected 31st overall by the Detroit Pistons, becoming the fifth player from Nigeria to be selected in the last five years. He started playing basketball in 2016 and has two seasons of experience playing for FC Barcelona in the ACB and EuroLeague.

In 2018, Nnaji participated in a Giants of Africa camp, an organisation founded by Toronto Raptors Vice-Chairman and President, Masai Ujiri, who is also from Nigeria.

Opening-night rosters for the 2022-23 NBA season featured a record-tying five players from Nigeria, 16 players from Africa, and more than 50 players with at least one parent from Africa.

In total, there have been more than 125 NBA players either born in Africa or with at least one parent from Africa.

The other players in the 2023 draft are Senegal’s Mouhamed Gueye of Washington State University, who was selected 39th overall by the Charlotte Hornets; Morocco’s Rayan Rupert from New Zealand Breakers, selected 43rd overall by the Portland Trail Blazers; Sidy Cissoko, a Franco-Senegalese player drafted from NBA G League Ignite as 44th overall by the San Antonio Spurs, and Mali’s Toumani Camara, drafted from University of Dayton as the 52nd overall pick by the Phoenix Suns.

The NBA Draft 2023 was held at Barclays Centre, Brooklyn, New York and reached fans in 214 countries and territories in 32 languages.

Of the 12 international players from eight countries selected, three were in the first round and nine in the second round. Seven players, either born in Africa or with direct ties to the continent, were among Thursday night’s international draftees.

Speaking on the draft, Nnaji said: “For me, it’s a very special moment. For me coming from Africa, never having this dream to play in the NBA, and all of a sudden things started to change, started coming my way. It’s one of the most exciting moments of my life. I’m really excited to have this opportunity.”

Super Eagles defender Kenneth Omuruo seems to have made his last appearance for Spanish side Leganes after the player was reported to have bid his teammates goodbye.

Omeruo secured a permanent move to Leganes in 2019 from Premier League side Chelsea after an impressive season with the club while on loan.

Despite an injury-laden season, the Nigeria international was a mainstay for the Cucumber Growers, featuring in 22 league games and scoring a goal.

After spending five years with Leganes with just one year left on his contract, Spanish daily sports newspaper Diario AS on Saturday reported that the club are considering selling the experienced central defender.

His sale will allow Leganes to make some cash while also reducing their wage bill as the Nigerian is among some of the club’s top earners.

“Omeruo has one year left on his contract and he is, of the 18 players that the Blue and Whites’ first team currently has, one that the Butarque offices can get some economic return,” Diario AS wrote.

“Also, his salary is one of the highest in the group. With a reduced salary limit and the need to find formulas to expand it or improve his margins, the chances that he will be sold are high.

“The player, for his part, assumes that his goodbye is a possibility, even more so after having already accumulated three seasons in the Second Division. A regular in his country’s squads and captain of the ‘Super Eagles’, Omeruo believes that he can look for options in a bigger competition. At the end of last year, the footballer himself told some of his teammates that he would surely be the last time he wore the blue and white.”

In his five seasons with Leganes, Omeruo made 123 appearances, scoring five goals and registering two assists.

Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain are prepared to offer as much as €150m (N134.9bn) to sign Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen from Napoli this summer.

The Nigeria international is one of the hottest properties on the transfer market this summer after leading Napoli to the 2022/23 Serie A title with a league-high 26 goals last season.

Osimhen also provided five assists and netted five times in the Champions League to take his total for Napoli to 59 goals and 14 assists from 101 matches since joining from Lille in 2020.

The 24-year-old now only has two years left on his contract, but president Aurelio de Laurentiis previously insisted that the Italian champions had no reason to sell him this summer.

However, the Napoli chief has now confessed that Osimhen could depart if an interested party makes an offer that they cannot refuse, and their asking price is thought to be north of £100m.

Manchester United and Chelsea have been persistently linked with moves for Osimhen this summer, but the Blues have already signed Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig and are also finalising a deal for Villarreal’s Nicolas Jackson.

Meanwhile, Man United fear being priced out of a swoop for Osimhen, and the Red Devils’ slow takeover process is also harming their chances of getting deals done early in the transfer window.

With the Premier League duo seemingly out of the picture for the time being, journalist Alfredo Pedulla claims that PSG are now preparing to make a formal approach for the former Lille man.

Pedulla reports that PSG are set to offer as much as €120m (N107.9bn) to €125m (N112.4bn) up front, which could rise to as much as €140m (N125.9bn) to €150m (N134.9bn) with performance-related add-ons.

The French champions are waiting patiently to hear the outcome of a meeting between De Laurentiis and the Nigerian’s agent, where Napoli could still offer Osimhen a new deal.

PSG have freed up a large chunk of their wage bill through Lionel Messi’s exit on a free transfer to Inter Miami, and the Parisiens could raise significant funds through the sale of Kylian Mbappe.

The 24-year-old has informed PSG that he will not be activating the extension option in his contract, meaning that he could leave the club for nothing at the end of next season, a scenario which Les Parisiens are desperate to avoid.

PSG are supposedly trying to offload Mbappe this summer following his bombshell letter, but the France international has insisted that he wants to stay at the Parc des Princes and will make a decision on his future next year.

Thousands of football fans marched over the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday to mark 25 days before the Women’s World Cup starts in Australia and New Zealand.

Football’s governing body FIFA estimated around 4,000 braved chilly temperatures to take part in the early morning event on the famed bridge, which was temporarily closed to traffic.

Co-hosts Australia and New Zealand kick off the 32-team tournament on July 20 when the Matildas play Ireland in Sydney and the Football Ferns face Norway in Auckland.

FIFA says more than one million tickets have been sold for the 64 games in nine host cities, surpassing total sales for the 2019 World Cup in France.

FIFA official Rhiannon Martin says she expected this year’s tournament would be a “milestone” for women’s football in Australia.

“We’ve seen how women’s football has developed here over the last years,” added Martin, who is head of FIFA Women’s World Cup.

FIFA has said each player at the World Cup will earn at least $30,000, with the winners taking home $270,000 apiece.

Martin said the boost to the prize money pot showed that “women’s football is really being valued”.

James Johnson, chief executive of Football Australia, told AFP it “starts to bridge the gap” between prize money for the men’s and women’s World Cup.

“We still have a bit of work to do over the next four years, but being the World Cup where the lift occurred makes us very proud,” he added.

Nigerian legend, Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha rolled back the years with his signature skills during his former PSG teammate, Ronaldinho’s celebrity-studded charity football match, The Beautiful Game, in Florida, United States.

The former Super Eagles star featuring for Team R10 scored the game’s first goal after tricking the defence with some of his signature movement and slipping the ball past Rene Higuita of Colombia.

The goal showed that Okocha, a legend of the Super Eagles of Nigeria, still possesses incredible football skills, years after retiring.

Okocha took to his official social media platforms to celebrate his skills in the charity game; the post has since gone viral.

Along with a video of the skills needed to score was a message on his official Instagram account that said, “Just a little cameo in Orlando.”

Team R10 went on to win 4-3 with captain Ronaldinho and Vini Jr. all on the score sheet.

The winners in both categories went home with a trophy and N500,000; the first runners-up pocketed N300,000, while the second runners-up went home with N200,000

Oyo and Delta states’ men and women teams have emerged champions of 2023 BetKing 3×3 Wheelchair Basketball National Championship which was held at the outdoor Sports Hall of Alake Sports Centre in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Oyo State defeated Lagos State 10-1 to lift the trophy in the men’s category, while Delta State defeated Oyo State 3-2 to win the women’s category.

Osun State came down from three points to beat Abuja 7-5 to seal third position in the men’s category, while Imo State pummeled Kwara State 5-1 to settle for third position in the women’s category.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, the President of the Wheelchair Basketball Federation of Nigeria, Seyi Johnson, said the championship was an opportunity for the players to get the opportunity to represent Nigeria at the African Para Games in Ghana next September.

He said the current board is working round the clock to ensure Nigeria returns to its rightful position in Africa.

Mr Johnson said, “The current board plans to leave a legacy in Wheelchair Basketball; the journey has been tedious, but we are optimistic about making a mark. We are ready to organise various championships across the country. Wheelchair Basketball will make Nigeria proud and will be a thing of joy and pride to sports in this country.

“Impossibility is not in my dictionary, and I got the philosophy from my boss, Hon. Bukola Olopade. He told me when people say there is no way, I should create a path, and I think I am creating a way in Wheelchair Basketball.”

He continued, “Ahead of the African Para Games in Ghana, the national coaches are on the ground to monitor the players and sports talents. After two weeks of rest, the players will resume camp because we dream of attending the Para Games and qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics. We have identified and want to work on our weak links before the African Para Games.

Meanwhile, winners in both categories went home with a trophy and N500,000; the first runners-up pocketed N300,000, while the second runners-up went home with N200,000.

Nigeria coach Jose Peseiro’s job is in the hands of the fans after football federation (NFF) president Ibrahim Gusau said he will let them decide if the Portuguese should stay on.

Peseiro, who has coached Porto and Sporting in his home country and took over Nigeria in May last year, has led his side to the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Ivory Coast starting in January but his contract ends on June 30.

There is now a national debate over whether the 63-year-old should be retained and Gusau said the people can decide.

“We have the plan to push the votes to Nigerians to hear their views and thoughts,” Gusau said on the LovingFootball radio show.

“We’ve tried the foreign coaches and also the local coaches.

“Maybe we didn’t get it right in the area of getting the right person. We are going to push it to the public, whether we should continue with Peseiro or he should go.”

Despite Nigeria’s continental qualification, results have been mixed under Peseiro even as he has been able to select from an array of players plying their trade in Europe’s top leagues.

Since failing to qualify for last year’s World Cup in Qatar, Nigeria have won four and lost five of their games