The 2026 Akwa Ibom State Sports Festival has officially begun, with Governor Umo Eno calling on athletes from the 31 Local Government Areas to compete fairly and make the most of the opportunity.

Governor Eno, represented by his Deputy, Senator Akon Eyakenyi, declared the second edition of the festival open on Tuesday, September 22, at the Uyo Township Stadium.

The Governor said the festival was important to his administration because of its role in discovering young talents, developing athletes and giving youths the opportunity to compete at a higher level.

He said the success of the first edition had already produced positive results, with several Akwa Ibom athletes going on to win medals at national, African and international competitions.

Among those mentioned were Edidiong Umoafia and Ruth Nyong, who excelled in weightlifting, Enku Ekuta in judo, Jacinta Lawrence in athletics and Samuel Cosmos at the NDDC Games.

Governor Eno also announced plans to revive inter-house sports in schools and colleges across the state.

He said construction work would soon begin fully at the State Sports Academy in Eket, describing the project as a legacy that would help develop athletes discovered through competitions such as the state sports festival.

The Governor also praised Local Government Chairmen and Supervisors of Sports for supporting the festival, particularly during the Unity Torch relay across the 31 LGAs.

He urged all participants to uphold the spirit of unity and sportsmanship throughout the competition.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Sports and Chairman of the Interministerial Organising Committee, Elder Paul Bassey, thanked Governor Eno for his investment in sports development.

He highlighted the creation of a standalone Ministry of Sports, provision of sporting equipment, rewards and allowances for medal-winning athletes, as well as the employment of three outstanding athletes: Edidiong Umoafia, Ruth Nyong and Enku Ekuta.

Bassey expressed confidence that the 2026 festival would help discover more talents and further improve sports in Akwa Ibom State.

The opening ceremony also featured the Oath of Allegiance by athletes and officials, goodwill messages from ALGON and Supervisors of Sports, and a colourful march past by contingents from all 31 Local Government Areas.

The festival will bring together athletes competing across various sporting disciplines as Akwa Ibom continues its search for the next generation of sporting talents.

Casemiro, who left Manchester United in the summer, is in the red with his business venture

Former Manchester United ace Casemiro has suffered a financial blow through his esports enterprise.

Over the past two financial years, Casemiro’s company has racked up nearly £1million in deficits. According to the latest financial statements, the Brazilian midfielder’s video game organisation, Casemiro Sports Brasil SLU, closed the 2025 financial year with a loss of €202,374 (£173,903).

This shortfall follows a heavy deficit of €842,900 (£724,317) recorded in 2024, bringing the venture’s total combined losses over the last two financial periods to roughly €1.05m (£902,280).

The financial slump comes despite the organisation, known commercially as Case Esports, scaling back its Spanish footprint. The business ceased its operational activity in Spain in 2024 to pivot its core focus toward the Brazilian market.

As a direct result of winding down its Spanish branch, Case Esports recorded zero core operational revenue in 2025, down from €90,345 (£77,634) generated the previous year.

The company did, however, book €52,800 (£45,371) under “other operating income” – more than triple the figure from 2024 – though the annual accounts provided no further details regarding the source of this revenue stream.

Expenditures for the outfit remained high relative to income, driven largely by ongoing staffing obligations. Personnel costs for 2025 stood at €187,517 (£161,136) to maintain a team of two employees still retained by the company in Spain.

While this represents a significant reduction from the €460,172 (£395,432) spent on staff in 2024, it continues to drag on the company’s bottom line. Conversely, the “other operating expenses” line item saw a sharp decrease, dropping from €413,223 (£355,088) to €10,656 (£9,157).

The latest accounts highlight a challenging trajectory for the venture since its inception. Casemiro established the company in 2020 with the initial ambition of breaking even within a year. However, the business ended its operational run in Spain with cumulative losses of more than €7m (£6m), which have had to be continually covered through financial contributions from its members.

On the balance sheet as of December 31, 2025, total assets for Casemiro Sports Brasil SLU stood at €1.5m (£1.29m), a 3.5 per cent increase year-on-year. This included tangible fixed assets of roughly €750,000 (£645,000) and trade receivables of €475,831 (£408,888).

Total equity was reported at €121,540 (£104,441), comprising registered capital of €3,000 (£2,578) accumulated prior-year losses of €6.75m (£5.80m), and capital contributions from shareholders exceeding €7m (£6m). Current liabilities remained high at just under €1.4m (£1.2m), with short-term debts exceeding €1.5m (£1.29m) and trade payables accounting for €164,664 (£141,498).

Despite his business’ financial trouble, the losses are unlikely to cause Casemiro too many sleepless nights given the fortune he has amassed during his playing career. The midfielder was reportedly earning around £350,000 a week during his time at United, meaning the latest £174,000 annual loss represents roughly half of a single week’s wages.

Casemiro spent four seasons at Old Trafford. He joined from Real Madrid in 2022 and went on to make 160 appearances for the club, scoring 26 goals. He left at the end of the 2025/26 campaign following the expiration of his contract and subsequently joined Inter Miami.

Despite the fact his playing career appears far from over, the Brazilian continues to manage his portfolio outside of football. In addition to his esports team, the 34-year-old acquired a stake in Spanish club Marbella FC in June 2024, joining the Andalusian side as a shareholder.

The New York Giants‘ fears have been realized. Quarterback Jaxson Dart is expected to undergo knee surgery that will end his 2026 season, according to NFL Network. The report adds that Dart’s ACL is intact, but ESPN also reported that the second-year signal-caller suffered damage to his MCL, PCL, and meniscus. The meniscus is reported to be the main issue. 

Dart suffered the injury on the first drive of the night in New York’s Monday night matchup against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 2. The former first-round pick was hit by multiple defenders while in the air, and his knee bent awkwardly. Initially, it was thought Dart’s injury was not as severe, with reports suggesting he sprained his MCL. 

Upon further review of the injury, however, it was worse than initially diagnosed. 

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Starting 12 games as a rookie after being the No. 25 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Dart entered this season as the full-time starter, and New York was eyed as a potential breakout team with John Harbaugh as head coach. The club furthered that offseason hype when it defeated the Dallas Cowboys in the season opener. In that game, Dart completed 79.3% of his passes for 230 yards and three passing touchdowns. Now, the 2026 season is viewed through a much different lens. 

With him on the shelf, the Giants will likely turn to Jameis Winston as their starter going forward. While coming in under duress on Monday night against the Rams, Winston completed 11-of-27 passes for 111 yards and an interception. 

That sharpens the stark contrast in what the play under center has looked like for New York over the last two seasons, with and without Dart. 

Over the next month-plus, the Giants will host the Tennessee Titans in Week 3, and then the Arizona Cardinals in Week 4 before heading to Washington to face the Commanders (who lost their starter in Jayden Daniels) in Week 5. They’ll return to MetLife Stadium for a Week 6 matchup against the Saints, then travel to Houston to face the Texans in Week 6 before their Week 7 bye. 

There has rarely been a better chance of British glory at cycling’s Road World Championships than will be the case with this year’s rider line-up.

For the men, that can be partly attributed to the absence of Slovenian superstar Tadej Pogacar, after he suffered crash injuries during the Vuelta a Espana in August.

But at the same time a new generation of British cycling talent is rising, and GB riders could take the coveted winner’s rainbow jersey in the men’s and women’s road races in Montreal this weekend.

While Pogacar crashed out of the Vuelta, the race showcased the continued emergence of 21-year-old British rider Matthew Brennan, who won five stages of the three-week race for Visma Lease a Bike – a record for a Grand Tour debutant.

There are a record 49 British riders competing across the men’s and women’s world tours currently, some of whom will compete in this World Championship weekend.

The road race itself is much like a stage of the Tour de France, but in which riders compete in national squads, looking to out-think and out-muscle each other.

A lot of the British potential is thanks to the inspiration of British cycling’s golden period, which featured great success from the likes of Team Sky, Mark Cavendish and Lizzie Deignan across the past 15 years.

Deignan won the road race in 2015, while Cavendish triumphed in 2011.

In total, British riders have won the elite road races seven times, including Tom Simpson (1965), Beryl Burton (1960 & 1967), Mandy Jones (1982) and Nicole Cooke (2008).

Amid an unpredictable performance landscape for the women, Britain’s best young female riders have a chance to infiltrate the once-dominant Dutch contingent.

Tour de France Femmes winner Demi Vollering remains the sport’s best overall, but Briton Zoe Backstedt’s brilliant second place in Sunday’s Worlds time trial was her first shot at the elite level.

She will be involved in Saturday’s women’s road race, and Olympic mountain bike gold medallist and Tour de France stage winner Tom Pidcock will race for the men on Sunday.

“You need a lot of faith in your team to be present at the front,” Backstedt told BBC Sport. “You need to talk, hear, see and feel each other to know they are there, especially as there’s no team radio.

“Obviously it’s about knowing the big names to follow. If Demi or Kasia [Niewiadoma] go off the front, you know it’s a dangerous move and you need to be there.

“But we’ve got a super strong team, and if any one of us was with them, we all could stand have a chance.”

The women’s road race is 180.4km long, which includes eight laps of Montreal, and the men’s 273.2km race incorporates 12 circuits.

Manu Bhaker remembers late coach Jaspal Rana (Image credit: Agencies)

NAGOYA: Manu Bhaker wore a disappointed look after finishing fifth (181.1) in the women’s 10m air pistol event. The position was unchanged from the previous edition of the Asian Games, but almost everything else had.In Hangzhou, she had been part of the gold-winning trio in the team event. More importantly, she had reunited with her coach Jaspal Rana in the run-up to the Games.This time, she had neither the medal nor the man who had been such a significant part of her shooting journey.As Manu walked into the mixed zone after the final, it was evident she was struggling to hold back her emotions. She managed to do so until the conversation turned to Rana, who passed away in June.Rana, one of the most decorated shooters in Asian Games history with eight medals, including four gold across three editions, had missed the Hangzhou Games as he was not part of the Indian contingent.Manu and Rana had been looking forward to this Games. It was not to be.“We were really looking forward to Japan,” said the 24-year-old, before tears began rolling down her cheeks.She stepped away for a few minutes to compose herself before returning.“I remember what he said, not once or twice, but all the time. It just stays with you. When a person has been a big part of your life, it just stays. It’s very natural,” she said.“Of all the things he said, what I remember the most is about the process. He was just so adamant about the process — that at any given point in your life, you have to be able to give your best performance and follow your process.”Then came a thought that seemed to go beyond shooting.“Life is just very unpredictable. So, live your life to the fullest, be kind to everyone,” she said.The past few months have been particularly difficult for Manu. Along with losing Rana, she also lost her grandmother.There had been a popular expectation of a medal in Nagoya, and Manu felt the weight of that expectation. “I genuinely tried my best. I am really sorry that I was not able to make it to the podium. I hope that I will be able to do better,” she said.The final itself mirrored the turmoil of the preceding months.Manu made a steady start and was third after the opening set, only for an 8.9 to send her tumbling to seventh. She fought back with a 10.1 and a 10.4, before an 10.8 lifted her from the brink of elimination. The rollercoaster continued. Another 10.8 took her back to third, but a 9.6 in the next series ended her medal hopes and left her fifth.Her coach Jelena Arunovic was not surprised by the performance. “During our training in Bhopal, finals-like practice sessions were organised. Compare the performance from there to here, it’s slightly better. This is what my coach told me as well,” said Manu.As she walked away, the panda pimple patch on her left cheek was perhaps the only thing that looked cheerful.

The third Asian Games gold medal looked as convincing as the first two, even if Yu Zidi insisted that: “It didn’t feel easy at all. It was quite challenging.”

On Wednesday, the 13-year-old Chinese swimmer broke the Games record for the third time to add the women’s 400 meter individual medley title to her golds in the 200 meter medley and 200 meter butterfly. The three medals add to a bronze she won last year at the World Championships.

Even two years out from the Los Angeles Olympics, talk is turning to a potential rivalry with Canada’s Summer McIntosh, 20, who herself finished fourth in the 2020 Olympics at 14 and won a world title at 15. As well as their remarkable talent, the pair’s youth has raised some questions.

“The first reaction you have when you see something like this is you think, wow, there’s a big career ahead,” three-time open water swimming world champion Leonie Beck, of Germany, told DW.

“But I think maybe this is the problem. People around [the athlete], or maybe the media can create this pressure on a young talent. But just because you’re really good and fast at this age, doesn’t mean that your whole career will continue like this.”

Early success is not always sustained

Beck has already retired from elite competition at 29 and swimming is a sport where athletes often peak early. Katie Ledecky, of the US, and Japan’s Kyoko Iwasaki both won Olympic gold at 15 and Japan’s Yumeki Kojima, 17, has been a home favorite at the Asian Games, winning a gold and silver in the pool.

While the temptation is to think of Yu as a prodigy, Beck said that to reach the level she has also requires extraordinary dedication and sacrifice.

“My first international competition was in 2011 [at age 14]. At that stage already, I was training eight times a week. You wake up at 5 a.m., by 6 you’re in the pool, out at 7:30 so you’re in school at 8:00, school until 1, going home, eating, maybe doing some homework, going back in the water training at 3. Then one hour of dry land [training], then in the water again and coming back home at 7 (p.m.). I had this when I was young too.”

Yu, who was discovered by chance by a swimming coach at a water park aged 6, admitted in an interview with state media Xinhua at an event in China in January that the workload takes its toll.

“Being in class all day and still having to train was really tiring,” she said. “Sometimes I was so tired I could fall asleep even while eating.”

While, for Beck, the sporting success made such struggles worthwhile, not all athletes who dedicate their childhoods to their sport reach the pinnacle. The German swimmer added that putting educational, physical and mental support structures in place is critical for sports that allow under-18s to compete.

“Sport psychology should start at a really young age because it should be normal, the same as physiotherapists,” she said. “Especially at a young age, where sport should be also fun.”

World Aquatics rules state that the minimum age for international championships is 14 but exceptions can be made for those fast enough, like Yu. While swimmers peak earlier than athletes in other sports, teenagers at the top level are not so unusual.

In football, Lamine Yamal won the Euros with Spain at 16, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, of India, made his debut in cricket’s Indian Premier League at 13 and Nadia Comaneci, of Romania, became the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect 10 in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal aged 14.

Neither are young athletes a modern phenomenon. Dimitrios Loundras remains the youngest ever Olympic medallist, winning a bronze with the Greek gymnastics team in 1896.

While support structures in sport are improving, challenges remain, according to Rosemary Purcell, who played a part in the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) review into youth development ahead of the Paris Olympics in 2024.

“There are pretty stark differences between what we see in the community and in these elite youth athletes,” Purcell told DW during those Games.

 “Some sports do have a higher rate of eating disorders and body image disturbance in young athletes, but conversely, they may have lower rates of depression and anxiety than we would see in the community.”

If you’re good enough, you’re old enough?

In general, sporting bodies tend to take the approach that if an athlete is good enough, they are old enough. Beck said, allied with the right support, this approach is correct.

“Every athlete has completely different development. Why should you take away the success of a young athlete just because she’s young and successful in that age? In my opinion, you should give her the possibility to be successful at that age because maybe, who knows, in a later stage of her career, she will be not that successful. It’s not just a solution to say: ‘look, you’re that age, you’re not able to compete.’”

But she also cautioned that because success won’t always last, young elite sportspeople should be helped to find a plan away from the pitch, pool or mat, something she struggled somewhat with post Paris 2024.

“You have this idea that, ok, I want to reach the Olympic Games, win this medal. So you have a structure of where to go, what to do. And at one point it’s gone and you’re like, ‘ok, but now what am I doing with my life? What do I want to reach? What are my goals?’

“It’s really, really important that people are starting to think that, ‘hey, we are also human beings and you should do something to have a life after the sport because the sport is not endless.’”

Edited by: Chuck Penfold

Mirabai Chanu won silver; India’s men’s and women’s skeet teams bag bronzes (Image credit: Agencies)

NEW DELHI: Mirabai Chanu finally ended her long wait for an Asian Games medal, winning silver in the women’s 49kg category on Wednesday.The 32-year-old lifted a total of 198kg (88kg+111kg) to finish second. The medal was India’s first Asian Games weightlifting medal since Karnam Malleswari won silver in 1998.Mirabai had been chasing an Asian Games medal since 2014. The Tokyo Olympic silver medallist once again showed her class on the big stage and added another major medal to her career.With a familiar grin on her face, she made light work of the heavy lifts before declaring that her “life is now complete.”

Skeet shooters save the day for India

It was a mixed day for India at the shooting range.The much-anticipated women’s 10m air pistol team of double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, Suruchi Singh and Esha Singh could not win a medal in either the team or individual events.Bhaker was the only Indian from the trio to qualify for the individual final, but she finished fifth.The 24-year-old Paris Olympics bronze medallist later broke down while speaking about the emotional impact of the death of her childhood coach Jaspal Rana in June.The skeet shooters, however, ensured India did not leave the shooting range empty-handed.The men’s and women’s teams both won bronze medals.Raiza Dhillon, Maheshwari Chauhan and Parinaaz Dhaliwal combined for a score of 331 to finish third in the women’s team event. China won gold with 357 points, while Kazakhstan took silver with 336.Raiza and Parinaaz also reached the individual finals but could not finish on the podium.In the men’s event, Anantjeet Singh Naruka, veteran Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill secured bronze with a combined score of 346.Anantjeet was the only Indian from the trio to reach the individual final and finished fourth.

Wushu: Roshibina enters gold medal clash

Roshibina Devi Naorem moved into the gold medal match in the women’s 60kg category after defeating Indonesia’s Thania Kusumaningtyas 2-0 at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall.She will face China’s Xiaoyu Zhang in the final.Roshibina, 25, has already won a silver and a bronze medal in the previous two editions of the Asian Games.

Badminton stars humbled by China

India’s men’s badminton team ended its campaign with a bronze medal after losing 1-3 to China in the semifinals.Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty could not get past their higher-ranked opponents, while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were the only Indians to win a match.India had won silver at the previous edition in Hangzhou in 2023, where China had also beaten them in the final.World No. 14 Lakshya, who had played a key role in India’s run to the semifinals, lost 16-21, 18-21 to world No. 6 Shi Yu Qi in the opening singles match.India fell 0-1 behind, but Satwik and Chirag brought the team back into the contest.The Indian pair produced a strong performance to beat Paris Olympics silver medallists and reigning world champions Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang 21-11, 22-20.However, Ayush Shetty and the second doubles pair of Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun could not win their matches as China sealed the tie.

Table tennis, squash players move ahead

Indian pairs Harmeet Desai-Yashaswini Ghorpade and Diya Chitale-Manush Shah advanced to the table tennis mixed doubles quarterfinals.The seventh-seeded Chitale and Shah made easy progress with a 3-0 win over the Sri Lanka-Maldives combination.In the round of 16, Shah and Chitale defeated Moosa Ahmed and Aishath Nazeem 11-0, 11-7, 11-6.They will face Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi Kim and Wong Chun Ting in the quarterfinals on Thursday. A win will assure them of a medal.In squash, Abhay Singh, Veer Chotrani and Tanvi Khanna entered the round of 16 with comfortable victories.Second seed Abhay dropped only three points in his opening men’s singles match against Thailand’s Arkaradet Arkarahirunya, winning 11-1, 11-0, 11-2.Chotrani beat Sri Lanka’s Shamil Wakeel 11-8, 11-3, 11-3 in the round of 32.In the women’s singles, Tanvi defeated South Korea’s Dami Kim 11-5, 11-7, 11-5.

Women’s hockey team continues winning run

India’s women’s hockey team registered its third straight win in Pool B, thrashing Thailand 20-1.Drag-flicker Deepika Sehrawat was the star of the show, scoring a record nine goals in one match.Deepika scored in the 2nd, 8th, 9th, 24th, 33rd, 36th, 39th, 51st and 57th minutes. She converted all nine of her penalty-corner attempts.Navneet Kaur also scored four goals in the 4th, 29th, 35th and 51st minutes.India also continued its strong run in kabaddi, with both the men’s and women’s teams registering comprehensive wins over Bangladesh and Iran respectively in their group-stage matches.

Benjamin Sesko has been mocked by a former Manchester United duo in a brutal swipe, but his Slovenia team-mate has jumped to his defence

Benjamin Sesko has received support from Slovenia team-mate Jaka Bijol after Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt cast doubt on the seriousness of the Manchester United striker’s injury. The forward was left out of the squad for Saturday’s clash with Fulham after reporting discomfort in his shin.

After the match, Reds boss Michael Carrick confirmed Sesko was dealing with the issue and would undergo further assessment. On Monday evening, United announced that Sesko had withdrawn from Slovenia’s squad for the upcoming international break.

A club statement confirmed: “Benjamin will undergo tests this week before defining his individual recovery plan.”

Despite that update, Scholes and Butt questioned the severity of the injury. The former United midfielders also criticised Carrick’s use of Matheus Cunha, arguing the Brazilian is less effective when deployed as a false nine, the position he played in against Fulham.

Speaking on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, Scholes said: “If it isn’t broken, just wear your shin pads,” before Butt added: “You’re a player – you either break your shin or you play!”

However, Bijol was unimpressed by those remarks and responded: “I hope and believe that Beni knows how to distance himself from this kind of pressure. When things aren’t going your best on the pitch and you have certain doubts, reading things like this can make your confidence even worse.

“He shouldn’t pay too much attention to it, since we all know what quality he has. He himself knows what kind of footballer he is, and I think he always shows it with incredible things on the pitch.”

On Tuesday morning, Sesko released a statement on Instagram in Slovenian. Translated, the message read: “I am very sorry that I will have to miss the national team’s upcoming matches. I have always played for Slovenia – and always will – with heart and pride.

“Right now, the most important thing is to focus fully on my recovery. I am already working on getting back on the pitch as soon as possible to help both the national team and my club once again. I believe in our guys, and I am certain that this time, too, they will display the team spirit that has always defined us.

“I can’t wait to wear the national team jersey again; until then, I will be Slovenia’s biggest supporter. Go Slovenia.”

Sesko will have several weeks to recover ahead of the Premier League clash against Tottenham on October 10 (5:30pm), following the international break.