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Before, the saying that ‘what a man can do, a woman can do better’ is usually met with resistance. In sports, that saying has been validated over and over again with the performances of female athletes in comparison to their male counterparts, especially when it comes to quantifying their contributions to their country’s success at multi-sports events like the Olympic, Commonwealth and African Games. For Nigeria, the women have once again proven to be the most consistent and reliable by winning the most medals for the country at the just-concluded 13th African Games in Ghana. Nigeria finished second behind Egypt in the overall medals table with a total of 121 medals comprising 47 gold, 34 silver and 40 bronze.

The Africa Cup of Nations, also known as AFCON, is one of the most prestigious football tournaments on the African continent. With its inception in 1957, the tournament has captured the hearts and minds of football enthusiasts worldwide, showcasing the immense talent and passion for the sport in Africa. Every two years, this tournament attracts national teams from across the continent, competing for the coveted title of African champions. The 2023 African Cup Of Nations which started on the 13th January will be ending on the 11th of February. There have been moments of joy and celebrations for winning countries as well as moments of tears and sadness for losing countries, but in all, this tournament has been beneficial to Africans as a whole. Are you wondering how?🤔 I suggest you keep reading!📖 AFCON is not only a football tournament but also a powerful platform that can be harnessed to promote unity and diversity across the African continent. Leveraging sports and technology can go a long way in unifying Africa. Technology has made it easier for people who are unable to pay flight tickets or pay fares to physically watch these matches from anywhere in the world. This serves as a symbol of unity. People are coming together, irrespective of their countries, backgrounds, and socioeconomic status, to watch, support, and encourage their members to bring home the final cup. Sports have the power to transcend boundaries and bring people together in a way that few other things can. When we play sports, we become part of a team, we learn to trust each other, communicate, and work towards a common goal. By doing this, we create bonds that go beyond race, ethnicity, or nationality. we learn to appreciate the beauty in diversity and recognize that our differences are what makes us stronger. Through this, we can achieve our goals of unity, peace, and progress. Let us come together as a global community, hand in hand, and create a world that is characterized by love, compassion, and understanding.

We are well into the second quarter of 2024, and we still do not have the dates for this year's Africa Football League (#AFL), African Nations Championships (#CHAN) and the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (#WAFCON). The football calendar is becoming increasingly congested, but is this the only issue? In this follow-up article to one written in July last year, Marco Ferri reflects on the inaugural Africa Football League and some challenges the newly formed competition poses to the African football ecosystem. Read. https://lnkd.in/dTMrHU45 #Africa #football #footballbusiness #TransformingOurGame

The recent surge in the popularity of women's football is reflected in the increasing size of the prize money awarded to winners. Prize money was introduced in China for the first time in 2007 with a total of USD 5.8 million for the competing teams. Since then, FIFA has instituted new funding initiatives (the Club Benefits Programme and the Preparation Money) to assist both national teams and clubs. A total of USD 110 million will be awarded to the teams at the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ , with $10.5 million going to the victorious team and $6.2 million guaranteed to the players. This represents a substantial, 200% increase in distribution compared to the 2019 edition, largely because of the larger number of competing teams. It's also the first time that everyone who enters the event would get at least $30,000 (USD). #sportsbiz #sportsbusiness #womensworldcup #sportsindustry #linkedinsports #fifa #prizemoney

🎉 Congratulations to Spain for their victory at the record-breaking FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ 💸 + 570M revenues generated 📣 75,784 attended the final between Spain and England, following the sold-out opening match to watch the Matildas' victory over the Republic of Ireland 🏟 + 30,000 average attendance throughout the tournament 🎫 + 1.8 million tickets sold These are some of the numbers of the most attended standalone sporting event in women’s sports history, highlighting its increasing relevance in the global sports landscape. 💡 Spain's triumph does not come out of the blue. It represents the result of long-term planning and a strategic approach towards the professionalisation of football. ⚽The top two women’s soccer divisions in Spain have gained professional status from 2021-2022. 🏆 In 2022, Spain won both the Under-17 and Under-20 Women’s World Cup and FC Barcelona Femení won two out of the last 3 editions of the UEFA Women's Champions League. 🤝 The Liga F entered into a media rights deal with sports broadcaster DAZN worth around €35mn over five years. Italy is on its way to carry out a similar path. Together with Federico Venturi Ferriolo we talked about this in our last article on Football Legal. 👉 Have a read at: https://lnkd.in/dGTW582A LCA Studio Legale #lcasport #sportslaw #FIFAWWC #BeyondGreatness

The MLS is back & we’re not just excited for Leo Messi but for the African talents evolving in this league ⚽️🌍. We’ve had a look at the rosters and there’s some 60+ players born in Africa or from the diaspora evolving in the MLS for the 2024-25 season. Here are a few facts for you : ⚽️ At least 14 countries are represented in this year’s rosters. 🇬🇭 Ghana has the largest amount of players in the MLS, something certainly to do with the Right to Dream which is recognized as the top academy for football talent in Africa. 🏟️ Right to Dream’s fourth hub is currently being built in San Diego (estimated project cost : USD 150 million). The academy will join the MLS’ player development program as the academy affiliated to San Diego FC (which was bought as an expansion team by RTD owner Mohamed Mansour). 🇨🇲 Cameroun is the other country with a significant amount of players and Rainbow Sports Global certainly played a huge role in helping scout African talents from the country (but not only). 🌍 Close to 50% of the players presented in the rosters are coming from the diaspora (France, UK, Canada). 🏆 At the last #AFCON, four MLS players represented their national teams. #AfricaScores

The Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon are set to host Nigeria today at the Reunification Stadium for the third round of the 2024 Paris Olympic qualifiers. This crucial match promises to be a classic showdown between two football powerhouses. In a pre-match press conference, I spoke with one of the most experienced players in the Indomitable Lionesses squad, Claudine Falonne Meffometou. I asked her if missing out on the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations is enough motivation to strive for the Olympics. She responded: "We have to always be motivated when we want to play a game. Besides, it’s an important match, and we’ll be playing at home. Years have gone by, and tomorrow will be another game. I always feel disturbed talking about the same thing concerning the team. We are ready, and tomorrow (today) we will give our best.” Meffometou's response The Indomitable Lionesses face a determined Nigerian side that aims to end their 16-year Olympic drought. Historically, Nigeria has won nine out of the 11 encounters with Cameroon. However, today’s match promises to be fiercely contested. Cameroon’s home advantage may play a crucial role, but Nigeria has won three of their last six meetings with the Lionesses, keeping five clean sheets in the process. I still believe in Cameroons potential and can't wait to see them roar at the reunification stadium. Catch the story on STV and my YouTube channel #womensfootball #2024parisolympics https://lnkd.in/ej2hXVpf

AFRICAN AND IVORIAN LEGEND DIDIER DROGBA BLASTS SOUTH AFRICAN LEAGUE 🇿🇦 Didier Drogba: South African football League is the best in terms of Infrastructure and sponsors but there is no Talent in their league. Drogba had mentioned South African league is the best league in Africa because they have good infrastructure, like good stadiums and Financial muscles from their PSL. South Africa might be the best league in Africa than Ivory Coast ,Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia , Mali, Cameroon or Ghana but those leagues from those countries produce far more better players than South Africa. It is painful to see the country that have everything not being able to produce such great players that can play in la Liga, EPL, Serie A and French Ligue 1. If other countries had the same resources or infrastructure South Africa has, their league would have been so advanced to even attract more European Clubs to scout their talents. But that's life people who have resources don't know how to use them, and people who have talents dont have opportunities to have those resources to go far in life. Is Drogba right? Credit: worldscorenews

The 34. African Cup of Nations just to start today. Expectations are very high with a tournament of great players, 207 are playing in European top 5 leagues. -Morocco is the big favorite to many who made the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup. But in my opinion, they may not be able to replicate the defensive discipline they showed at the World Cup, it was the reason for their success. I don't think Morocco will play the final. -Cameroon has a good team with players have been playing together for many years and have a target-oriented identity. -Senegal stands out in terms of player quality. -Côte d'Ivoire is one of the biggest favorites because of its quality squad depth and the fact that they are the host. Personally İ don't expect any surprises. -Nigeria shines with the quality of its players but as a coach for me, lacks collective play. -Mali and Burkina Faso have shown promise in previous tournaments. But they do not have the squad depth to succeed in this tournament. Many asked me about the Players to watch, obviously there so many quality top players, the players I will be watching with interest are Serhou Guirassy of Guinea, Fares Chaibi of Algeria, Mohamed Kudus of Ghana, Victor Osimhen of Nigeria and Patson Daka of Zambia. Often the biggest handicap in African football has been the lack of long-term work and the inability to combine the individual talents of the players with a collective understanding of the game. There are teams at this tournament, have overcome these problems. Therefore, I think we will watch a good tournament with a high level of competition. #Caf #football #africanfootball

🚨PETITION: OLYMPICS AND FIFA BAN ISRAEL FROM INTERNATIONAL SPORTS NOW🚨 Israel’s military is gearing up to invade Rafah where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are sheltering. Despite the ongoing genocide, Israel’s sports teams continue to compete internationally. Russia was threatened with bans from international sports immediately after invading Ukraine, and eventually banned from the 2024 Olympics. Israel's football team is set to compete in major European matches in weeks and with the Olympics coming up in July, now is the time for sporting federations to join international committees and add the needed pressure to stop Israel’s violence. Yet, the Olympics, and all other sporting federations, continue to allow a country which has undermined this principle – Israel has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October, including 1,000 athletes. This includes Abu al-Abed, Palestine’s Olympic Football coach. This is why over 300 sports teams in Palestine have joined in this call. Let's stand with them and show overwhelming global support to ban Israel from these games. Call on the International Olympic Committee, FIFA, and UEFA to ban Israel from competition until it stops the genocide of Palestinians. The Olympics spirit is meant "to build a peaceful and better world..." Click the Linktree here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dyJ22U8p and sign the petition now! Make sure to share the link with your contacts too! 🔔 Don't forget to follow us for notifications so you don’t miss out on any call to action!✊🏼🍉 #banisraelfromolympics #banisraelfromfifa #banisraelfromsports #freepalestine #israelisaterrorstate #C2ANOW🇵🇸