Sports

Man Utd Co-owner, Ratcliffe, Warns He’ll Quit If Fan Abuse Becomes Unbearable

Published

3 months ago

March 15, 2025

Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said he will walk away from the club should the abuse he has received reach the same level endured by the Glazer family.

Ratcliffe bought a minority stake in United a year ago but has drawn the ire of fans as fortunes have continued to fade on the field, while he has raised ticket prices and made swingeing cuts to the club’s staffing.

The British billionaire has not yet received the same level of backlash as the Glazer family, who have owned the club since a controversial leveraged takeover in 2005.

Protests against the Americans are commonplace at Old Trafford and Ratcliffe said he had barely seen the Glazers since buying a 29 percent stake in United for a reported £1.3 billion ($1.7 billion).

“I can put up with it for a while,” Ratcliffe told the Sunday Times.

“I don’t mind being unpopular because I get that nobody likes seeing Manchester United down where they are, and nobody likes the decisions we’re having to make at the moment.

“If I draw a bit of the ire, I can put up with that. But I’m no different to the average person. It’s not nice, particularly for friends and family.

“So, eventually, if it reached the extent that the Glazer family has been abused, then I’d have to say, look, enough’s enough guys, let somebody else do this.”

Hopes that Ratcliffe’s arrival could herald a new era of success for United have so far been unfulfilled.

The decision to hand former manager Erik ten Hag a new contract at the end of the last season before sacking the Dutchman in October and the swift departure of sporting director Dan Ashworth have proved expensive mistakes.

Ruben Amorim has struggled to make any tangible improvements since replacing Ten Hag, with United languishing in the lower reaches of the Premier League table.

Ratcliffe also riled United players this week with comments that some of them are “overpaid” and “not good enough”.

The club unveiled plans for a new 100,000-capacity stadium earlier this week at a reported cost of £2 billion.

An ambitious project hopes to complete the stadium build within five years, but Ratcliffe said he would not hang around if the abuse coming his way got worse over a prolonged period.

“They can’t really come to a match, the Glazers. They’ve retreated into the shadows a bit now, so I’m getting all the stick,” he added.

“We bought in and I haven’t seen them since. It’s, ‘thank you, Jim, you’re doing a really good job’.

“At the moment, I don’t have security, I don’t have to walk around like that. But it would defeat the object, wouldn’t it? You couldn’t tolerate it at that level, it just wouldn’t be fun.”

Sports

Tobi Amusan Hits Season’s Best At Paris Diamond League

Published

1 day ago

June 21, 2025

Editor

Nigeria sprint icon, Tobi Amusan has emerged as the winner of the Diamond League trophy for a third consecutive time.

World record holder Tobi Amusan delivered a powerful performance at the 2025 Paris Diamond League on Friday, recording a season-best 12.24 seconds in the women’s 100m hurdles to secure a strong second-place finish.

This marks the Nigerian star’s second-fastest time ever, trailing only her world record of 12.12s set in 2022.

Amusan surged in the final stretch, narrowing the gap on the USA’s Grace Stark, who had an explosive start and clinched victory with a lifetime best and meet record of 12.21s—making her the fifth-fastest woman in history over the distance. Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent followed closely in third, clocking 12.30s.

The race in Paris was a thrilling continuation of Amusan’s resurgent 2025 campaign. After beginning the season with a pair of fourth-place finishes in Xiamen (12.74s) and Shaoxing (12.66s), she rebounded in style, winning the Rabat leg of the Diamond League in 12.45s—a season-best at the time and a meet record.

Paris marked Amusan’s fourth Diamond League appearance this season, and the consistency she’s building suggests she is rounding into peak form just as major international competitions approach.

She faced a stacked field that included the likes of former world silver medallist Keni Harrison, Jamaican rising talent Ackera Nugent, Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska, Dutch national champion Nadine Visser, Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas, and the in-form Diamond League leader, Grace Stark.

Despite the fierce competition, Amusan showcased her experience and rising form, finishing strong and scoring valuable points in the race toward the Diamond League Finals in Zurich.

She now sits fourth on the Diamond League leaderboard with 10 points, trailing Stark (23), Danielle Williams (15), and Marione Fourie (12).
(VANGUARD)

Sports

Enabulele Hails Edo-born Athletes’ International Feats

Published

3 days ago

June 19, 2025

Editor

The Executive Chairman of the Edo State Sports Commission, Hon. Amadin Desmond Enabulele, has expressed delight over the outstanding performance of Edo athletes representing Nigeria on the international stage.

Enabulele, while describing the athletes as worthy ambassadors of the state and the country in general, singled out the impressive participation of seven Edo kickboxing athletes in Team Nigeria at the African Union Kickboxing Championship in Cameroon.

In a congratulatory message signed by his media aide, Edoko Wilson Edoko, Enabulele lauded the accomplishments of Flora Ugwunwa and Christopher Michael, who clinched gold medals at the 2025 World Para Athletics (WPA) Grand Prix in Tunis, Tunisia.

INFO DAILY reports that Ugwunwa bagged gold in the F54 women’s shot put and discus events, while Michael emerged victorious in the T11 men’s 100m event.

He said: “The remarkable performance of the country’s para-athletes in Tunisia, where Nigeria finished second overall out of 42 participating nations with 10 gold, 6 silver, and 3 bronze medals, is highly commendable.”

The Edo sports boss, while recalling the impressive performance of Team Edo during the recently concluded National Sports Festival (Ogun 2024), where Edo kickboxers secured 20 gold medals, said the feat which earned many of them national call-ups.

Enabulele reaffirmed the Commission’s unwavering commitment to grassroots sports development and consistent support for para-athletes and other promising talents who continue to bring pride to Edo State and Nigeria.

“I’m proud of our athletes. Flora, Christopher, and our kickboxing team have done exceptionally well. This is what we want to see—Edo athletes in large numbers representing Nigeria at global events,” he emphasized.

Enabulele added that the achievements of Edo athletes reflect the deliberate investments in sports development by the current administration.

Sports

Full List: Maresca No Longer Needs Nine Players At Chelsea

Published

3 days ago

June 19, 2025

Editor

Chelsea are preparing for another major squad overhaul this summer, with as many as nine players set to leave Stamford Bridge.

New manager Enzo Maresca is keen to trim the squad further, targeting players who no longer fit into his long-term plans.

According to BBC Sport, the Italian tactician has identified nine players who are now available for transfer.

The players reportedly on the exit list include Raheem Sterling, Axel Disasi, Djordje Petrovic, Armando Broja, João Félix, Renato Veiga, Ben Chilwell, Carney Chukwuemeka and Lesley Ugochukwu.

Sterling and Félix were both omitted from Chelsea’s squad for the ongoing FIFA Club World Cup in the United States. Sterling, who spent last season on loan at Arsenal, struggled to make an impression at the Emirates and failed to secure a permanent move.

Félix, meanwhile, was on loan at AC Milan from January until the end of the campaign, but the Serie A club have reportedly decided against making the deal permanent.