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
By Ugo Okeiyi, Enugu
The end-of-year Ozobz Elite Basketball Invitational Tournament, tagged “Championing the Youth Through Sports, Education and Opportunity,” has taken off and will be concluded on Friday. The three-day event is taking place at the Indoor Sports Multipurpose Gymnasium, Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu.
The grassroots basketball competition is designed to serve as a platform for discovering and nurturing the next generation of Nigerian basketball talent.
A total of 14 teams — eight male and six female sides drawn from across the country — are competing for honours in what promises to be an exciting three-day basketball spectacle.
The tournament is powered by the Anthony Ozubuekwe Foundation, in collaboration with the Enugu State Ministry for Youth and Sports Development and the Enugu State Basketball Association.
Organisers say fans should expect high-quality action, with displays of skill, athleticism and tactical awareness from some of the most promising young players in the country.
According to the organisers, the initiative is structured to positively engage young people, steering them away from social vices and criminal tendencies, while using sports as a tool for education, personal development and opportunity creation.
They added that the tournament will also give coaches and team officials a valuable opportunity to assess the mental readiness, discipline and competitive mindset of the players, while providing a conducive environment for athletes to interact, bond and learn from one another.
The competition will be played in a round-robin format, with attractive prize money on offer. In the men’s category, the champions will receive ₦2 million and a giant trophy, while the runners-up will earn ₦1.5 million.
In the women’s category, the winning team will go home with ₦1.5 million, while the second-placed team will receive ₦750,000.
With its blend of competition, youth empowerment and community development, the Ozobz Elite Basketball Invitational is expected to be one of the standout grassroots sports events of the year in Enugu State.
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Former head coach of Nigeria’s men’s basketball team, Alex Nwora, will join family, friends and well-wishers on December 28, 2025, to celebrate the 90th birthday of his father, Chief Charles Okwudi Nworah, in Onitsha, Anambra State.
The milestone celebration, according to Evelyn Childs, Public Relations Officer of the US-based Imo Women Elite Club (IWEC), will take place at the expansive Onitsha compound of the nonagenarian, who is highly regarded in his community.
Born on April 17, 1936, to Akudo and Agnes Nwora of the Okakwu family in Ogbedogwu Village, Onitsha, Chief Nworah’s early years reflected strong family values rooted in education and public service. He attended St. Mary’s Catholic School before moving on to Prince Commercial College, and later completed his secondary education at Baptist High School, Osogbo, in Osun State.
Chief Nworah began his career in the civil service at a young age with the Post and Telecommunications Service (P&T), where his father also served and retired as a senior manager. His professional journey continued seamlessly into Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) following the merger of P&T with the Nigerian External Telecommunications.
Alex Nwora, who led D’Tigers through notable periods of growth and international competition, is expected to play a central role in the celebration, which will bring together members of the extended Nwora family and the Onitsha community to honour the life and legacy of the elder statesman.
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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has conferred national honours on all members of Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, in recognition of their historic victory at the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket Championship in Côte d’Ivoire.
Each member of the team was decorated with the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) title at a special reception held on Monday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Representing the president at the event was Vice President Kashim Shettima, who announced a series of generous rewards for the champions.
In addition to the national honours, each player will receive $100,000, while each member of the technical crew will be given $50,000. The government also pledged a flat in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to every player and official on the squad.
The rewards follow D’Tigress’s emphatic 78-64 win over Mali in Sunday’s AfroBasket final, played at the Palais des Sports de Treichville in Abidjan. The victory marked Nigeria’s fifth consecutive AfroBasket title, a feat unmatched in the tournament’s history. With the triumph, D’Tigress also secured an automatic berth to the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany.
President Tinubu, in his remarks delivered by Vice President Shettima, hailed the team’s resilience, determination, and consistency, describing their dominance on the continental stage as a symbol of national pride and inspiration to the youth.
Present at the reception were First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President, Garba Maidoki, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Youths and Sports Development, and Kabiru Amadou, Chairman of the House Committee on Sports.
The honours and incentives underscore the government’s renewed commitment to recognising excellence in sports and motivating future champions.
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