Basketball
No deal yet with U.S. on Griner swap for arms dealer Bout, Russia says
Russia said on Thursday there was no deal yet with the United States on swapping detained U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner and a former Marine for an imprisoned Russian called by American prosecutors one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday the United States has made a “substantial offer” to Russia to release American citizens held in Russia. A source said that Washington was willing to exchange convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed surprise at the public remarks from Blinken. Russia has cautioned the United States that such discussions are best conducted in private.
“So far, there are no agreements in this area,” Peskov told reporters in Moscow. “When discussing such topics, you don’t conduct information attacks.”
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova indicated that talks on prisoner exchanges had been going on for some time but without a result.
U.S. President Joe Biden has come under growing pressure in recent months from the families of American hostages and detainees who have urged him to intervene personally to bring home their loved ones. This might explain the U.S. decision to make the negotiations public. The U.S. offer was made weeks ago.
“The fact that now, several weeks later, we are where we are, I think you can read into that as being a reflection of the fact that this has not moved to the extent we would like,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told a daily briefing.
Price added that Russia has acknowledged a U.S. request to have a phone call between Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and that the United States still is expecting the call to take place in the coming days.
The Interfax news agency cited Zakharova as saying Lavrov has a busy schedule and will address the request when he has time.
For the two former Cold War foes, now grappling with the worst relations in a generation due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the exchange would mark one of the more extraordinary prisoner swaps in their history.
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star, was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Feb. 17 with vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.
Griner has pleaded guilty to the charges against her but has denied that she intended to break Russian law.
“I do plead guilty because of the actions that have happened but again, I did not intend to smuggle or bring any substance into Russia,” Griner told a Russian court on Wednesday.
Griner said she still did not understand how the vape cartridges containing hashish oil could have ended up in her luggage. The next hearing is set for Aug. 2. Griner is unlikely to be swapped until there is a verdict, which could happen by mid-August, her lawyers said.
“From a legal point of view, an exchange is only possible after a court verdict,” Griner’s lawyer in Russia, Maria Blagovolina, said in a statement.
WHELAN’S DETENTION
The other American, former Marine Paul Whelan, who holds American, British, Canadian and Irish passports, was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in jail after being convicted of spying.
Russia said Whelan was caught with classified information in a Moscow hotel room where agents from the Federal Security Service detained him on Dec. 28, 2018. He denies that he committed espionage.
Bout, a former Soviet military translator who the United States has said became one of the world’s preeminent arms dealers, is serving a 25-year prison sentence. He has proclaimed his innocence.
The subject of the book “Merchant of Death” and the inspiration for actor Nicolas Cage’s character in the 2005 movie “Lord of War,” Bout supplied military-grade weaponry to conflict zones around the world, according to U.S. prosecutors.
Bout was arrested in Bangkok in 2008 in a sting operation in which U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration informants posed as representatives of the Colombian rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Russia has said that the case against him was fabricated by U.S. special services.
A jury in 2011 found Bout guilty on charges including conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and officers and conspiring to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles. He was sentenced in 2012 to 25 years in prison.
-Reuters
The fifth edition of the Dr & Dr (Mrs.) D.K. Olukoya Women’s Basketball Competition is set to take place in Lagos on July 14 and 15, 2025, with eight of Nigeria’s top women’s basketball teams battling for honours in the two-day tournament.
The competition, held annually in celebration of the joint birthday of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) General Overseer, Dr. Daniel Olukoya, and his wife, Dr. (Mrs.) Folashade Olukoya, continues to grow in prestige and importance on the Nigerian basketball calendar.
Speaking ahead of the event, Chairman of the Main Organising Committee, Godwin Enakhena, acknowledged the logistical challenges encountered in planning this year’s edition due to scheduling conflicts at the National Stadium’s indoor sports hall in Lagos—the tournament’s usual venue.
“Putting together the 2025 edition has been a bit challenging because of the congested calendar at the stadium, but we are determined not to disappoint the teams that have been looking forward to it,” Enakhena said. “We’ve secured two days, and we’ll make the most of the opportunity.”
Enakhena, who is also the Director of Sports at MFM, said the timing of the tournament is ideal for teams preparing for the new Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) Women’s Premier League season.
“Several teams participating in the league reached out and pleaded for the competition to hold, as it offers a valuable platform to fine-tune preparations ahead of the first phase of the NBBF Women’s League, which begins at the end of July,” he added.
The Dr & Dr (Mrs.) D.K. Olukoya Women’s Basketball Tournament has become a key fixture in supporting and promoting women’s basketball in Nigeria, while also serving as a birthday tribute to two of MFM’s most influential figures.
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Musa Kida, the president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), has been appointed as a non-executive chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the country’s apex oil company. His appointment is part of the sweeping overhaul that the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu made in the first working day after the Sallah break.
The sacking of the board of the NNPC sees the appointment of Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), replacing Mele Kolo Kyari. Prior to his current appointment, Kida was the Deputy Managing Director, Deep Water Services, of Total Nigeria.
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Basketball
NSC DG Bukola Olopade Congratulates NBBF Boss Musa Kida for new appointment as NNPC Chairman
The Director General of the National Sports Commission NSC, Bukola Olopade, has congratulated the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, Musa Kida, for his appointment as the new Board Chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Olopade said Musa Kida has been one of Nigeria’s most efficient and Productive Sports administrators who has sacrificed a lot for the growth of Nigerian Basketball.
The DG maintained that his latest appointment is a testament to his years of passion, hard work, dedication and a very successful track record in the oil sector for more than two decades.
” Musa Kida is an accomplished administrator whose achievements cut across both the oil sector and Nigerian basketball. I have no doubt that the NNPC Limited will attain better efficiency and attract more investment under his watch”.
” Under his leadership as the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, we have seen the steady growth of the country’s basketball and how the National teams have continued to achieve new heights.
” At the last Olympic Games in France, the Nigeria Women’s Basketball team, D’Tigress was one of the shining stories for Team Nigeria, where they set a new record by making it to the knockout phase before losing to the United States”.
” I personally know the efforts behind the scenes that kida put in for Nigeria to achieve that feat with the girls in France and the Nigerian girls have been an unrivalled team on the continent for some time now”.
The DG added that he does not doubt that Musa Kida will use his new position to further earnest the development of Nigerian Sports especially basketball especially now that there is a new focus on growing a sustainable Sports Economy.
” Whilst the Oil sector will benefit immensely from the Expertise of Musa Kida as the new Board Chairman of the NNPC Limited, Mr President, has further helped to place Nigerian Sports in a better pedestal by putting one of us in a very strategic place like the NNPC”, he concluded.
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