Team Nigeria will compete in six sports with 19 athletes at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games as preparations enter their final stage ahead of the historic event, which begins in Senegal on 31 October.

The Nigerian contingent comprises 12 women and seven men who will compete in athletics, boxing, road cycling, swimming, table tennis and beach volleyball at the fourth edition of the Summer Youth Olympic Games.

The Games, which run until 13 November, will mark the first time an Olympic sporting event is hosted on African soil, with competitions taking place across three locations: Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly.

Athletics will provide Nigeria’s largest representation, with nine athletes, comprising five women and four men.

Swimming will feature four Nigerian competitors, split equally between men and women, while table tennis will have two representatives, one male and one female.

Nigeria will also field one female boxer, one female road cyclist and a two-athlete women’s beach volleyball team.

The contingent is undergoing final preparations following a 21-day camping programme that began on 9 October and is scheduled to end on 29 October.

•Kylian Mbappé

Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé has won the Onze d’Or award for the best player of the 2025/26 season, following a vote by readers of French magazine Onze Mondial.

The Spanish club announced the award on Monday, October 19, saying Mbappé received 48.2 per cent of the votes to claim the honour for the first time in his career.

Paris Saint-Germain players João Neves and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia finished second and third, with 11.9 per cent and 10.8 per cent of the votes, respectively, according to Real Madrid.

In a statement published on its official website, the club said the French forward was the leading scorer in both the UEFA Champions League and La Liga during the 2025/26 season.

•Cristiano Ronaldo /AFP

Federação Portuguesa de Futebol (FPF), the official governing body of football in Portugal on Monday handed Cristiano Ronaldo a 30-day suspension for leaving the Portuguese national team camp during the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) nations league.

The 41-year-old left the Portugal camp on September 30, before accusing coach Jorge Jesus of breaking his word about giving him game time.

Ronaldo apologised to supporters earlier in October, adding he would accept any punishment that was imposed.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star, who will also have to pay a fine of 255 euros ($286), has received the minimum penalty provided for in the federation’s regulations, which stipulate suspensions of between one and six months for leaving the national team.

Ronaldo left Portugal’s squad after first being made to warm up as a substitute against Norway on September 27 and not brought on, and then finding out he would not start against Denmark in the match on October 1.

Ronaldo’s suspension takes effect from the day of the Denmark match, meaning he has already served 19 days of his ban and will complete it by the end of October.