J orge Messi, the father of Argentina captain Lionel Messi, has died at 68.  Reuters reported that the family said he passed away on Friday night at a hospital in Rosario after a long illness. In the last few months, Jorge split his time between the hospital in Rosario and his home. He was with his wife Celia and their children Rodrigo, Matías and María Sol during that period. Beyond being a father, Jorge played a key role in Lionel’s career. He was his first guide and closest adviser. From Lionel’s early days at Newell’s Old Boys in Rosario to his years at Barcelona and now with Inter Miami, Jorge was there at every stage. For many years he handled his son’s deals, protected him from outside pressure, and helped shape the decisions that turned a young talent into one of football’s biggest names. Lionel has often talked about how close they were. “I always needed my dad’s approval, ever since I was a kid. After every match, I would ask him what he thought of how I played,” the Int...

N orway’s football association has called on Fifa President Gianni Infantino to resign immediately, saying it no longer has confidence in his leadership, according to a report by The Guardian . The demand came late Thursday after the Norwegian Football Federation board held an emergency meeting. For NFF President Lise Klaveness, the relationship with Infantino has reached a breaking point. “There is no trust left in Infantino,” she said. “For us, there is no turning back.” With this move, Norway becomes the first national body to publicly ask the Fifa president to step down. The decision follows weeks of backlash over the Fifa Forward Enterprise plan a proposal to sell parts of the World Cup to private investors. Fifa shelved the plan after facing strong opposition from member associations. Klaveness described the current state of football governance as divided and unstable. She said Norway will follow up with a formal letter to Infantino next week asking him to quit. But the concerns ...

   A Kano Magistrate Court has ordered the detention of a 25-year-old woman accused of attacking her boyfriend and inflicting a serious injury on him. The accused, Maimuna Idris from Maigatari Local Government Area in Jigawa State, was arraigned on Friday on two counts: attempted culpable homicide and causing grievous harm. Citing a report from the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, the Prosecutor, H.A. Sani-Buhari, told the court that the incident took place on July 27 in Badawa area of Kano metropolis. Sani-Buhari said staff of Durbar Hotel in Badawa called the police at about 12:50 p.m. after Idris allegedly attacked her boyfriend, Ashiru Sani, with a knife. The court also heard that around 11:00 a.m. that same day, the woman cut off Sani’s manhood after finding out he planned to marry another woman.  “The victim was immediately taken to Abubakar Imam Urology Hospital in Kano for treatment,” the prosecutor told Magistrate Sadiya Usman. Idris pleaded guilty to both charges. ...

M any Nigerian students woke up to double credit alerts this week as the Nigerian Education Loan Fund began clearing backlog payments, but the joy came with confusion. The National Association of Nigerian Students confirmed that a system error on the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System platform caused some beneficiaries to receive both June and July upkeep allowances twice. NANS President, Akinteye Babatunde, disclosed this on X on Friday while responding to complaints and screenshots posted by students. He said the duplicate payment was not deliberate and advised affected students not to spend the extra money. “To those of you who got NELFUND June and July twice, it was a glitch caused by the NIP payment platform,” Babatunde wrote. “NELFUND is not Father Christmas, so keep the money safe. That may likely be your upkeep for the next two months.” In effect, NANS is telling beneficiaries to treat the excess as an advance. Future payments may be skipped to cover it. NELFUND has not issue...