Former Super Eagles coach Finidi George has reacted to Victor Osimhen’s recent, widely shared remarks on social media.

Osimhen went live on Instagram to deny claims made by some that he had staged an injury to be excluded from the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

The Napoli forward has not been involved in Super Eagles games since the AFCON final and has missed all the qualifying games.

The situation has caused a lot of stir on social media, which has led to several comments from fans and legends.

Osimhen’s rant has led Nigerian journalist Colins Udoh to look into the matter and ask for more clarification from Finidi.

Udoh contacted high-ranking officials of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), who denied rumours that Finidi had charged Osimhen with staging an injury.

He also revealed his chat with Finidi, who said that after the public commotion, he had been in touch with Osimhen.

Udoh said on Instagram, “So I called a couple of people who were at that meeting between Finidi, the NFF, and the minister to find out if what is alleged to have been said was actually said, and so these people are usually very, very senior and reliable people and I was told categorically that Finidi did not say the things he’s alleged to have said.

“He did not say he wasn’t going to beg Osimhen. He did not say that Osimhem was not committed. in fact, he did confirm when he was asked about Osimhen’s absence that he called him from Germany, and that’s why he was excused.

“It was when the issue of player’s commitment was raised; that’s why he said he would not beg anybody to play for the Super Eagles, but he did not mention any player by name, specifically

“And so, I also called Finidi himself to ask him if that was the case and he also confirmed to me that he never said any of those things.

“In fact, he corroborated what the other gentleman had told me and that he would have no reason to call out any player, whether in public or in private, and that he would address issues with the players themselves if there were any issues.

“And then, as soon as the video was brought to his attention, he said he reached out to Osimhen and let him know that one, he never said those things, and two, even if he had, Osimhen should have reached out to him first to find out if he did say, what he was alleged to have said, rather than going, public with such disrespect.

Finidi declared that he would have dealt with any problems in private and that he had never made such claims.

Tobi Amusan has claimed her fourth consecutive national title in the women’s 100 metres hurdles event.

The 27-year-old dipped at 12.78 seconds and was way ahead of her competitors in a one-sided final of the event on Monday at the national Olympic trials in Benin, Edo state.

The victory was Amusan’s fourth national title in a row, having swept to victory at the Olympic trials in Lagos in 2021 before winning twice in Benin in the last two years.

In the women’s 100 meters, Favour Ofili clinched the national title and booked an automatic qualification for the Paris Olympics.

The 21-year-old clocked a season-best of 11.06 seconds to finish ahead of Olayinka Olajide, who came second in 11.37 seconds, and Justina Eyakpobeyan in third.

Kanyinsola Ajayi won the men’s 100-meter crown with a blistering 10.14 seconds.

He defeated Alaba Akintola, who clocked 10.16 seconds, and Usheoritse Itsekiri, who finished second and third.

Chukwuebuka Enekwechi won his fourth consecutive men’s shot put national title. He only needed three attempts to his 21.37 meters mark which was insurmountable by his opponents.

Israel Adesanya has announced that he will face Drisus du Plessis of South Africa for the UFC middleweight title.

The Stylebender confirmed the upcoming bout in a post on his X account on Monday.

The fight is billed to take place at UFC 305 on August 17 in Australia.

Du Plessis is the current middleweight champion after defeating Sean Strickland in January.

He became the first South African to become a champion in the promotion.

Adesanya lost the belt to Strickland in September 2023 at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia.

The Nigerian-born fighter lost via unanimous decision, which was the third defeat of his 27-fight UFC career.

Adesanya and du Plessis’ rivalry started in 2023 when the latter claimed he wanted to be “the first real African champion” in the UFC.

The comment offended Adesanya, who found it disrespectful to other UFC African champions like himself, Kamaru Usman and Francis Ngannou.

However, Du Plessis clarified that he aimed to become the first UFC champion to be born in Africa and live and train there.

None of Adesanya, Usman, and Ngannou lived or trained on the continent when they were UFC champions.