Tunde Popoola, President, Nigeria Basketball Referees Council, has said that the lingering crisis in the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) has stalled the annual clinic for referees in the country.

Popoola said in an interview on Thursday that referees were expected to undergo annual training to keep abreast of developments in officiating.

“To ensure that referees are up to date with the latest officiating techniques, we are expected to have annual clinics for training and retraining, in line with recent rule changes.

“We are supposed to hold national clinics every year, but we have not organised any for some time now.

“We rely mainly on competitions and regional clinics to update our officials.

He added that Nigeria currently has six active certified referees under the FIBA.

“The six comprise five males and one female. From my assessment of their technical abilities, their performance is clearly above average.”

“I have observed that some referees struggle with game management, including game flow, understanding the feel of the game and controlling the team bench.

“Engaging game assessors during competitions should help to minimise issues related to game management and other challenges in our matches,” he said.

Floyd Mayweather will fight veteran Greek kickboxer Mike Zambidis in an exhibition bout in June before his rematch with Manny Pacquiao.

Pacquiao, 47, and Mayweather, 49, will fight at Sphere in Las Vegas on Saturday, 19 September, live on Netflix, in a rematch of their 2015 ‘Fight of the Century’ – the richest bout in boxing history.

And former five-weight champion Mayweather – who announced he would come out of retirement for a fourth time two weeks ago has decided to take on Zambidis in Athens to prepare for his first professional boxing match in nine years.

“2026 is already shaping up to be an exciting year for me,” American Mayweather said on Instagram.

“I’m on the way to entertain!! Athens, Greece, get ready. This summer will be a legendary battle.”

Zambidis, 45, boasts a 157-24 kickboxing record with 87 KOs. His last official fight was in June 2015.

Mayweather has not had a pro bout since beating mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor with a 10th-round technical knockout in 2017.

A marathon training block is tough enough. Fasting while preparing to take on the world’s best over 26.2 miles is harder still.

Mahamed Mahamed is among a talented generation of British male distance runners closing in on Mohamed Farah’s national record over the marathon distance.

But, as he builds towards this year’s London Marathon, the 28-year-old is currently finishing his sessions as late as 1am as he attempts to balance the demands of training at altitude with observing Ramadan.

Mahamed, fourth on the UK all-time list, has ignored advice to postpone his fasting while training to improve his personal best of two hours seven minutes and five seconds.

“Some people think I shouldn’t [fast while training],” Mahamed told the Press Association.

“Especially now, because I’ve got a competition coming up, they think I should focus on training for now and then maybe fast.

“But I’m used to it. It became my routine. I am grateful for that advice but I just get on with everything.”

Mahamed has based himself in the town of Ifrane in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains as he builds towards April’s race.

The location allows him to train safely under the floodlights of the track at night, alongside other Muslims currently observing the Islamic holy month of Ramadan by not eating or drinking during daylight hours.

At their longest, Mahamed’s days extend into the early hours of the morning. He will head out for his first session at around 4pm, then break his fast and attend mosque before completing a second session.

Once he is adequately refuelled, Mahamed will sleep for an hour or two and then wake for more food at about 4am, before returning to bed to top up on sleep.

“It’s a little bit hard,” Mahamed admitted.

“I take my job seriously, but Ramadan is the most important for me. It makes me focus as well. It makes me understand who I am and what I could do.”

Mahamed is among four active British marathon runners to have clocked under 2:08, alongside triathlete Alex Yee, Emile Cairess and Philip Sesemann, in what he describes as a “new era” cohort.

Fourth at the 2024 London Marathon, he will target a personal best in London before chasing a European Championship medal in Birmingham this summer.