The Unity Torch for the 2026 Akwa Ibom State Sports Festival has reached nine Local Government Areas, with 22 more expected to receive the symbolic torch as the statewide tour continues.

The four-day relay began on Wednesday, September 16, following the lighting of the Torch of Unity by Governor Umo Bassey Eno last Thursday ahead of the sports festival.

The tour is being organised by the Interministerial Committee in collaboration with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the festival and is scheduled to cover all 31 Local Government Areas by Saturday, September 19.

The nine LGAs visited so far are Uruan, Nsit Atai, Ibesikpo Asutan, Nsit Ibom, Essien Udim, Obot Akara, Ikot Ekpene, Ikono and Ini.

The Commissioner for Sports, Elder Paul Bassey, is represented on the tour by two teams of athletes and officials led by directors from the Ministry of Sports.

Speaking on behalf of the Commissioner, Director of Administration in the Ministry of Sports, Mrs Ntimkpo Udoaka, and Director of ICT, Mr Daniel Elijah Usip, said the Torch Handover was part of the state government’s plan to promote grassroots sports and youth empowerment.

They also thanked the Local Government chairmen for supporting the exercise and receiving the delegation in their respective areas.

The visits have been marked by receptions from council officials, with several chairmen confirming their readiness to take part in the second edition of the state sports festival.

At Ibesikpo Asutan, council chairman Rt. Hon. Evangelist Edidiong Inyang said the festival would provide another opportunity to identify young sporting talents.

He recalled that talents were discovered during the first edition and expressed hope that more athletes would emerge from the 2026 festival.

In Uruan, council chairman Rt. Hon. Surv. Iniobong Ekpenyong received the delegation and pledged the council’s support for sports development, unity and healthy competition among young people.

The Torch also received warm receptions in Nsit Ibom, Essien Udim, Ikot Ekpene, Obot Akara, Ikono and Ini, where council officials confirmed their participation in the festival.

In Ini, council chairman Hon. Inibehe Umah said the Local Government would participate in the games and expressed the ambition to compete for victory.

The relay now moves to more LGAs as the state counts down to the opening of the festival on Tuesday, September 22.

On Thursday, September 17, the Torch is scheduled to visit Nsit Ubium, Etinan, Eket, Esit Eket, Ibeno, Abak, Etim Ekpo, Oruk Anam, Ukanafun and Ika.

The remaining LGAs will be covered before the Unity Torch tour ends on Saturday, September 19.

With nine of 31 LGAs already covered, the exercise has entered its next phase as Akwa Ibom prepares for the 2026 State Sports Festival.

The Los Angeles Rams‘ trip to Australia in Week 1 was such a nightmare that Sean McVay never wants to go back. 

The Rams created a bold travel plan for the game, and it totally backfired. McVay’s team arrived in Melbourne just one day before the game, which didn’t give the players enough time to adjust to the 17-hour time difference and it showed. The Rams got run off the field in a 27-7 loss to the 49ers. 

During a press conference on Thursday, McVay was asked how his team has processed the Week 1 loss. He would prefer forget the Australia game ever happened. 

“I want to see us be present right now and move forward,” McVay said. “That game is so far. … It’s almost like you try to do the ‘Men in Black’ thing where you say, ‘Hey, I don’t remember what happened. That was so long ago.’”

The “Men in Black” thing McVay is referring to is the Neuralyzer that the agents use to wipe your mind. Not only does McVay want his mind wiped of all memories of the game, but he also doesn’t want to make any new memories in Australia because he never wants to play there again. 

“We’re not playing in Australia ever again, I hope,” McVay said. “Not because it wasn’t a great atmosphere, that’ll get taken out of context.”

To be fair, there’s not much to take out of context here: McVay simply doesn’t want to play in Australia ever again, and by publicly stating that fact, he’s probably hoping the NFL will take that into account when creating future schedules. 

Why the league might not be happy with McVay’s comments

The problem with McVay’s wish is that the Rams hold the international marketing rights in Australia, so the NFL could certainly send them Down Under again in the future. 

The good news for the Rams is that there are three other teams that hold marketing rights in Australia — the Eagles, Seahawks and Raiders — so the NFL might look to send one of those teams for the next game that’s sent Down Under (and there will definitely be another game).

It’s not clear yet if the Australia game will be an annual thing, but the NFL has already said there will be future games. The NFL commissioner made that clear during an interview back in April. 

“There’s no question that we’re going to be playing here again,” Roger Goodell said of playing Australia. “Our view is that we’re coming here for the long term. We don’t come as a one-off. This isn’t a circus. This is something that’s an investment in this market, and we believe that this is long-term and will be great for the NFL long-term.”

The NFL originally agreed to a multi-year partnership with Melbourne, so that’s likely where any future games would be played. However, the league did consider both Sydney and Perth for hosting before settling on Melbourne, so it’s possible the NFL could switch locations at some point, but it would still be in Australia. 

With the league planning future games in Australia, the NFL likely wasn’t thrilled to hear McVay say that he never wants to play there again. Maybe the NFL should give the Rams another crack at a game Down Under just so they can try a different travel plan. 

Either way, McVay and the Rams will officially be looking to put Australia behind them this week. Los Angeles will look to rebound from its Week 1 loss with a home win over the New York Giants on Monday night.  

According to the German Football Association (DFB), investment in women’s football by professional clubs has risen by 135% over the past six years. In addition, the number of girls in Germany who play the game has increased by about 30% since 2022.

Celia Sasic, the former Germany striker who has been in charge of diversity and inclusion at the DFB since 2022, has helped bring women’s football more into the spotlight in the boardroom.

“We’ve focused on the issue and established new structures, so that there is now a separate department with its own sports director,” the 38-year-old told DW.

“In my view, it’s important that there are very clear responsibilities for the development and professionalization of this sport.”

“I believe it’s important that [women’s football] is recognized within the licensed clubs. And it’s becoming increasingly recognized, so the framework conditions need to be adjusted,” continued Sasic.

“And we’re seeing that if we provide the right framework for the game, there’s huge growth potential there.”

Numbers support growth of women’s game

The most-watched football match featuring a German team in 2025 was the Women’s European Championship semifinal between Germany and Spain. The match drew around 14.26 million viewers—and a market share of about 57.6%. By comparison, the men’s game against Portugal in the Nations League semifinals drew around 10 million viewers.

Sasic, who was part of the German team that won the 2009 and 2013 European championships, regards this as a foundation to build on.

“This is incredibly significant for us as a society and in terms of our influence abroad,” she said.

“There are women who play football, who play for us on the national team, and who inspire us so much that millions of us watch their games.”

‘My biggest role model was Zinedine Zidane’

Sasic is clearly proud of the recent progress. For a long time, women’s football in Germany was not taken seriously.

“I had no choice; I had to look to men for role models,” Sasic recalled.

“My biggest role model was Zinedine Zidane. I had posters of [Luis] Figo, [David] Beckham, and Michael Ballack hanging in my room.”

Posters of women wouldn’t have existed back then, but it’s different now. These days, Germany captain Giulia Gwinn and players like Jule Brand and Lea Schüller smile down from the walls of children’s bedrooms, inspiring girls to dream of a great career in women’s football.

Further investment required to push women’s game forward

Despite the boom, the financial gap between women’s and men’s football remains enormous, as figures from the DFB and the German Soccer League (DFL) show. While the 18 Bundesliga clubs spent €1.72 billion ($1.9 billion) on players and coaching staff alone in the 2024–25 season, the personnel expenses of the 12 Women’s Bundesliga clubs most recently totaled just under €30 million — about 60 times lower.

Salaries also highlight how the professionalization of women’s football is still very much in its infancy. In the 2023-24 season, a women’s Bundesliga player earned an average base salary of around €48,000 per year. Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane is estimated to have earned €25 million during the same season.

This disparity is expected to narrow in the future.

“Football reflects our society — and thus also the gender inequality and the gender pay gap that we see in our society,” former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told DW earlier this year.

“Unfortunately, this gap in football is even wider in many countries than in other professions. But that is by no means set in stone,” added Baerbock, who also served as the president of the United Nations General Assembly from September 2025 to September 2026. 

“We know from the USA, the United Kingdom, Norway and Spain that if you really want to invest in women’s football, equal pay is an important part of that — especially when it comes to tournament bonuses.”

Young women need professional support

Celia Sasic currently sees significant progress when it comes to women’s football, although it’s still early days in the development process.

“Clubs must provide all the necessary resources to enable this development. Football pitches, medical care, a fitness facility and a coaching staff must be available,” said Sasic. “Investing in this ultimately makes the game much better, too.”

Opportunities for young girls in terms of training also need to improve.

“It’s a crucial step to have youth development centers where players are trained — not only athletically, but also professionally. These are essential factors for the success of the women’s game.”

Education, apprenticeship options must be available

A new DFB rule shows that even basic professional structures still need to be established. Only since the 2025–26 season have teams in the Women’s Bundesliga been required to employ assistant coaches, goalkeeper coaches and athletic coaches on a full-time, professional basis.

Sasic and women’s football still have a long way to go, but the former player is determined to continue fighting for greater equality. The 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil is a great place to start, and Sasic is hoping for a successful showing for Germany at the tournament as this would likely give women’s football another major boost — and bring broadcasters new record viewership ratings.

This article was originally written in German.

Correction, September 18, 2026: An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of Jule Brand. DW apologizes for the error.

When Jürgen Klopp named his oversized squad for Germany for the upcoming international break, a number of other national team coaches will have taken notice.

Among them was Mohamed Ouahbi of Morocco, who lamented that he had already had Eintracht Frankfurt striker Younes on his radar since last season.

“He had a profile that interested us. I spoke to him on the phone and explained the Morocco project to him—without making any promises,” Ouahbi said.

If the 23-year-old Ebnoutalib sees any action in the UEFA Nations League over the next couple of weeks, as expected, he will be cap-tied to Germany – and ineligible to play for Morocco in the future.

Several players with multiple options

This is by no means a unique situation, as a growing number of Germany players in recent years hold other citizenships through their parents and thus have other options for their international careers.

This applies to several other members of Klopp’s 44-man squad. Vitaly Janelt, whose father moved to Germany to play professional ice hockey, is also eligible to represent Czechia. Bambasé Conté’s father is from Guinea, and Josha Vagnoman has an Ivorian father. Finn Dahmen has an English mother, while fellow goalkeeper Noah Atubolu has Nigerian roots. Said El Mala’s father hails from Lebanon, and Brajan Gruda’s father was an Albania international.

All of them were all born and raised in Germany and have represented the country a tyouth levels. Vagnoman has even made two senior international appearances for Germany, though he has yet to play a competitive match.

High number of dual nationals

There are also numerous established Germany players who could have chosen another nation. These include Felix Nmecha (England), Kevin Schade (Nigeria), Jamal Musiala (Nigeria, England), Karim Adeyemi (Nigeria, Romania), Jonathan Tah and Serge Gnabry (Ivory Coast), Malick Thiaw (Senegal, Finland), Nathaniel Brown (USA), Nadiem Amiri (Afghanistan), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Serbia), Waldemar Anton (Russia), Yann Aurel Bisseck (Cameroon), and Ridle Baku (DR Congo).

The men’s national team reflects German society as a whole; according to the Federal Statistical Office, 21.8 million of Germany’s approximately 83 million inhabitants have an immigrant background.

“More than 40% of children in Germany under the age of five have a migration background. This means they will later have the option to play for one country or the other,” Andreas Rettig, the German FA’s (DFB) outgoing managing director for sport told DW prior to last summer’s World Cup.

This forces the DFB to compete with other countries for talent for its national teams, and it hasn’t always been successful.

A prime example is Ibrahim Maza of Bayer Leverkusen. Born and raised in Berlin to an Algerian father and a Vietnamese mother, he holds not just German but also Algerian and Vietnamese citizenship.

The midfielder possesses many qualities that could help Germany, yet two years ago he opted to play for Algeria and represented the “Desert Foxes” at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2026 World Cup.

Germany also missed out on Paul Wanner and Can Uzun. Wanner, a top prospect developed at Bayern Munich, chose Austria—his mother’s home country. Can Uzun of Eintracht Frankfurt has been playing for Turkey since September 2024. Both took part in last summer’s World Cup. 

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International break a cap-tying opportunity

Had Maza, Wanner, and Uzun chosen Germany instead, each of them would have stood a good chance of being named to Klopp’s first squad as national team coach.

With this international break featuring four instead of the previous customary two matches – and to see as many players as possible, Klopp named two squads for this break – meaning every player selected has a strong chance of getting playing time.

The upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures—away against the Netherlands, home and away against Greece, and at home against Serbia, are all competitive matches. This means that even if it wasn’t the primary factor in his selection process, over the next couple of weeks, Klopp could wind up cap-tying a few more players for Germany.

This article was adapted from German.

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The Cleveland Browns‘ quarterback situation with Deshaun Watson is the textbook example of living out the sunk-cost fallacy. 

The Browns put a lot of effort and money into landing the three-time Pro Bowler, and they certainly have 230 million reasons to keep him as QB1. However, there comes a time when you can’t ignore what your eyes tell you: Watson is not the answer in Cleveland.

But with a 0-1 start in the 2026 season, a poor showing at the Jacksonville Jaguars, and ex-quarterback Baker Mayfield on deck in Week 2, it begs the question: What are the Browns getting at here? With their quarterback situation so clearly in disarray, what is their plan moving forward? 

Let’s take a look.

How did we get here?

Cleveland paved the way for Watson in 2022 by trading away the 2018 first-overall pick, quarterback Baker Mayfield, to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for a 2024 conditional fifth-round pick. They then sent the Houston Texans a trade package highlighted by three first-round picks for the then-three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Watson. Despite his lengthy off-field legal issues, Cleveland also made Watson the recipient of the most guaranteed money on a single contract in NFL history: a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million extension. 

Fast forward to Week 2 of the 2026 season, and the Browns are rolling with Watson as their starting quarterback despite his performance as one of the league’s two worst quarterbacks (by multiple efficiency metrics) during his Cleveland career. In Week 1 road defeat against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Watson absorbed five sacks, threw an easy interception and had the Browns trailing 31-0 at one point. Watson’s teammates have clearly had it with him. When asked if he likes the continuity at the Browns quarterback position, safety Ronnie Hickman simply told reporters, “That’s above my pay grade.”

First-year head coach Todd Monken firmly backs the decision to keep Watson starting despite all the on-field and off-field evidence that he shouldn’t.

“Really, to be honest, [the players in the locker room] don’t have a choice,” Monken said on Monday. “This isn’t a debate. … Our job is to put the best player on the field that we think gives us the best chance to win.” 

* Only Zach Wilson ranks worse 
** Only Cam Ward ranks worse
*** Only Justin Fields ranks worse

Now, they’re set to face Mayfield, who has led the Buccaneers to two NFC South division titles in three full seasons in Tampa Bay and just re-signed with the franchise on a three-year, $165 million contract with $120 million guaranteed. In his Browns career, he produced the most wins (29), passing yards (14,125) and passing touchdowns (92) by a Cleveland quarterback since Bernie Kosar (1985-1993). Mayfield is also one of three Cleveland quarterbacks with a playoff win since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger, along with Kosar and Vinny Testaverde. Since departing Cleveland in 2022, he’s thrown for the seventh-most passing yards (14,616) and the fifth-most passing touchdowns (105) in the entire NFL. The Browns have started 10 different quarterbacks in that time, tied for the most in the NFL with the Las Vegas Raiders and the New York Jets. 

The most damning part of the whole situation is everyone with eyes can see Watson isn’t the answer, but since the franchise has to pay Watson whether or not he’s on the team, they’re letting him start instead of cutting him. What’s tough about keeping him under center is that he’s stunting the growth of Cleveland’s young playmakers.

First-round rookie wideout KC Concpetion had an average separation score of 0.182, the eighth-best among wide receivers on Sunday of Week 1, per Fantasy Points Data. Second-round rookie Denzel Boston’s separation score was 0.111, the 15th-best in the league among wide receivers. Second-year tight end Harold Fannin’s separation score was 0.095, the seventh-best in the league among tight ends. Yet, this trio combined for just 123 yards on eight catches with only 12 total targets between them.

So what’s their plan? 

It seems obvious the Browns intend to use Watson as their tank commander, with quarterbacks like Texas’ Arch Manning and Oregon’s Dante Moore likely to be available in the 2027 NFL Draft, in which Cleveland has two first-round picks. Monken told reporters “there were some really good things on film” when talking about Watson’s performance in the team’s 24-point Week 1 defeat. According to Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano, the plan is to keep Watson as the starter for at least the first half of the season. Not only does Watson seem determined to wreck the Browns’ on the field with subpar performance, but he intends to kill the vibes off the field by taking zero accountability for his lack of production.

“I think the media has this expectation that I’m supposed to throw 400 yards and five touchdowns every week,” Watson told reporters on Wednesday. 

Across his 20 starts in his four seasons with Cleveland, Watson has never thrown for 300 yards in a game.

Shedeur Sanders, a 2025 fifth-round pick who is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, injected much more life into the team across seven starts last season. Perhaps he can get some run in the second half of 2026 as he did in 2025. Until then, it will be a slog to the finish line of the 2026 season, with Browns fans praying for Manning or Moore in April next year. 

The flag-hoisting ceremony at the Asian Games, involving India and five other contingents, was delayed for more than an hour before eventually taking place on Friday with “trouble” related to “miscommunication” between the Olympic Council of Asia and the local organising committee (ANAGOC) cited as the reason for the disruption.

The ceremony, which was scheduled to commence at 1:30pm Japan time at Garden Pier, close to the container-style lodging for the athletes, initially began with a 20-minute delay. The ceremonial band took the stage, while performers dressed like Ninja warriors also waited to showcase their skills.

India’s chef-de-mission Sahdev Yadav and four deputy chef-de-missions — A Sharath Kamal, Lijo David Thottan, Alaknanda Ashok and Anjali Bhagwat — were present at the venue.

But before the six contingents — Yemen, North Korea, Palestine, India, Chinese-Taipei and Timor-Leste — could step onto the stage, they were asked to stay put. After waiting for more than 15 minutes, the contingents were eventually asked to return to the resting area.

“We are sorry for the delay. There is some trouble with a team. We will try to restore (the ceremony) in another 15 minutes,” a senior ANAGOC official briefed the media through an interpreter, saying that it was the official statement.

The “trouble”, however, remained unexplained for some time, while the disruption stretched beyond an hour. With international media repeatedly questioning whether a political issue was behind the delay, the organisers later offered a different explanation, saying it was a case of miscommunication.

“The communication between the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Executive Board and Organising Committee was not well, that’s why this happened,” stated another ANAGOC official after the ceremony.

The official stuck to that explanation despite persistent questioning over whether any political issue had caused the disruption.

“It’s not like that somebody (team) delayed the ceremony. The trouble mentioned in the earlier statement was that there was a miscommunication between the OCA and the ANAGOC,” the official said, while asserting that the delay nothing to do with Taiwan (Chinese-Taipei).

“It’s just lack of communication between OCA and ANAGOC.” The explanation came after another ANAGOC official had said the “delay had been due to the chief guest’s arrival getting delayed.” As the contingents waited, they were told to remain in the resting area until the organisers were ready to proceed.

When the much-delayed ceremony finally resumed and the flags were hoisted, only deputy chef-de-missions Anjali Bhagwat, a former rifle ace, and Lijo David Thottan, a former 4x400m relay athlete, went on stage as representatives of the Indian contingent.

India’s Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Indian Olympic Association President PT Usha also came in briefly, as the IOA office for the Games is located nearby. They too eventually left.

“I have not seen such a scene before,” Sahdev Yadav told PTI.

Flag-hoisting ceremonies are the official welcome events for travelling contingents at multi-sport events and are generally held a day before the official Games opening.

Friday’s disruption adds to the organisational challenges surrounding the mega-event, where athletes have also complained about delayed and cramped lodging facilities.

The organisers have made accommodation arrangements at container-style huts, a docked cruise ship and hotels instead of building a traditional Games village to cut costs.

The traditional venue for Flemington’s Derby and Oaks preview races has undergone a change this year.

This year, the two classic previews have been amalgamated into a single event, scheduled to be run at Caulfield on Saturday, maintaining the established 1800-meter journey.

The training partnership of Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, based in Cranbourne, will have a dual presence in the HKJC World Pool Classics Preview (1800m) on Saturday, with Arashi Flash and Icy You prepared to compete.

Both horses are coming off recent wins and are on a trajectory towards the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington next month.

Arashi Flash improved with the increased distance, winning over 1547m at Geelong on August 28. Icy You, after debuting with a second place on the synthetic track at Pakenham, scored over 1600m at Echuca on August 30.

“This race is a nice lead-up,” Young said.

“Arashi Flash, he won really nicely at Geelong, and he’s ticked over nicely through it.

“If you are heading towards a Derby trip, and he is a horse that is out of a Zabeel mare, it is a nice progression.

“Icy You, he ran second on the synthetic at his first start and then won well at Echuca.

“He may not have beaten great competition, but he did it easy and Froggy (Craig Newitt) was looking back over his shoulder.

“He’s worked up super and he has to get around Caulfield, but he’s bred to get out to that sort of trip.

“It’s nice to have those sorts of horses at this time of year heading down that Derby path.”

Young stated that the stable would use the results from Saturday’s race to gauge whether it would be advantageous to pursue other Derby lead-up races in the coming weeks with the pair.

“There is the Super Impose Stakes coming up, there is the Caulfield Classic, there’s the Geelong Classic,” Young said.

“They are all nice races, and this is progression to those, but they have to put their hands up to show they are up to city grade.

“You can’t win it, if you’re not in it.”

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