Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric are among 66 footballers who have made more than 1,000 career appearances, highlighting the remarkable longevity required to remain competitive at the highest level. While many players enjoy brief periods of success, reaching the 1,000-game milestone requires years of consistency, fitness and dedication. As reported by Planet Football on Saturday, the list features legendary goalkeepers, midfielders, defenders and forwards who have enjoyed lengthy careers across club and international football. Brazilian goalkeeper Fabio tops the ranking with 1,449 appearances. Having made his professional debut in 1997, he has spent his career in Brazilian football, including 955 appearances for Cruzeiro alone. Former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton ranks second with 1,387 appearances between 1966 and 1997. He represented several English clubs, including Leicester City, Nottingham Forest, Southampton and Derby County. Cristiano Ronaldo is third with 1,343 appearances, making him the highest-ranked outfield player on the list....

Rayo Vallecano’s La Liga match against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday was abandoned because home fans at Vallecas stadium threw objects onto the pitch in a protest against their president, Raul Martin Presa. Playing at their stadium for the first time in La Liga this season, in the 13th minute Rayo fans threw paper aeroplanes, rubber balls and other objects onto the pitch, leading the referee to pause the game and send the players to the dressing rooms. After the teams came back out to resume play, the fans continued to throw objects onto the field and the match was eventually abandoned with the score goalless. Fans and players have protested vehemently against the way the club is being run by Presa, as well as the state of the stadium and their training facilities. Rayo played three previous home matches this season at Leganes’s Butarque stadium after their ground required urgent...

Ogaga Ifowodo has won the 2026 edition of The Nigeria Prize for Literature with his poetry collection, ‘Why Does God Need a Gun?’, earning the $100,000 prize, while Peter Oghenetega Oke and Feranmi Abiola emerged joint winners of the inaugural Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts. The winners were announced at NLNG’s Grand Award Night in Lagos State on Friday, in a statement signed by the General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Sophia Horsfall on Saturday. “Ifowodo’s winning collection emerged from 223 entries, while Oke’s Beyond Tarkwa Bay and Abiola’s Mara Mania jointly won the creative arts prize, which carries a $20,000 award.” The Nigeria Prize for Literature is one of Africa’s most prestigious literary honours, recognising outstanding literary works by Nigerian writers. The inaugural creative arts award, meanwhile, seeks to celebrate originality and excellence in artistic expression. Speaking on the winning poetry collection, the Chairman of the Advisory Board...

Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum on Friday said President Bola Tinubu has assured him that the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Services and the Office of the National Security Adviser will take necessary measures to rescue children abducted from Askira-Uba Local Government Area very soon. Zulum spoke to State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, after meeting the President on the security situation in the state. He said he had raised the recent abductions in Askira-Uba with Tinubu, including those in the Mussa community, and the President responded with assurances. “The President has said it very well because I’ve complained to him about the recent abductions that were done in Askira-Uba Local Government of Borno State, where some children were abducted in Mussa and other communities,” Zulum said, adding, “And, inshallah, the President has given me the assurances that the Nigerian Army, the office of the Director of...

The councillor representing Ogugu Ward III in Olamaboro Local Government Area of Kogi State, Rosemary Aduku, has reportedly died after spending days in captivity. Her death was announced in a statement by the Chairman of Olamaboro Local Government Area, Dr Ameh Williams, on behalf of the Olamaboro Executive Council, on Friday. Williams was however silent on the type of captivity she was being held until her death In the death and burial announcement, Williams described the late councillor, popularly known as Hon. Rosella among her colleagues, as a wonderful, humble and reliable person who was committed to making people around her happy. The statement read, “It is with deep sorrow we announce the sudden demise of our dear sister and colleague Hon. Mrs Rosemary Aduku, the Honorable Councilor representing the good people of Ogugu Ward 3 in the 8 Olamaboro Legislative Council. “Hon. Rosella as she is profoundly called among...

The World Bank says Nigeria’s 36 states recorded a 93 per cent increase in revenues between 2023 and 2025 but education received a declining share of the sector’s expenditure. The bank disclosed this in its latest Nigeria Development Update, which examined how increased public revenues have influenced spending priorities across the federation. The report was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria by the World Bank in Washington D.C. According to the report, states’ aggregate revenues rose by approximately 93 per cent in real terms, while expenditure increased by 92 per cent during the period. The report attributed the improvement partly to exchange-rate reforms, petrol subsidy removal, stronger revenue administration and increased allocations from the federation account. It said states also benefited from refunds, settlement of longstanding federal obligations, intervention funds, and stronger Value Added Tax collections. However, education’s share of total state expenditure declined from 14.9 per cent...

The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Thursday opened its hearing into Senegal’s appeal against being stripped of the Africa Cup of Nations title in favour of Morocco. The hearing in Lausanne comes almost 10 months after Pape Gueye’s extra-time goal gave Senegal victory over the tournament hosts following a chaotic finish to normal time. Many Teranga Lions players had walked off the pitch in protest at a late penalty award to Morocco, which was missed by Brahim Diaz once the Senegalese players returned to the pitch almost 20 minutes later. But in March, the Confederation of African Football overturned that result, awarding Morocco a 3-0 victory, and the title. Thursday’s opening day of the hearing lasted more than five hours behind closed doors. “I know that the wait for supporters, as much the Senegalese and Moroccan ones as all African fans, has been very long,” CAS general manager Matthieu...

The Oyo State Police Command has arrested a 45-year-old man, Adeniyi Benjamin, for allegedly operating an unlicensed medical facility and practising medicine without qualification in Ibadan. This was contained in a statement signed by the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ayanlade Olayinka. Benjamin was arrested on October 2 at Life Is Good Hospital in the Olodo area of the city by operatives of the Command Monitoring Unit following intelligence about his activities. The police said the suspect was found attending to patients and administering treatments, particularly for fertility-related conditions, despite not being a certified medical doctor. According to the command, items recovered from the facility included two weighing scales, four Quantum Magnetic Resonance Body Analysers, a stethoscope, a carton of assorted medicines and specimen bottles. “During preliminary investigation, the suspect confessed to have been operating as a quack practitioner for about seven years and stated that he had been...

The Joseph Adekunle Adegbite Scholarship Foundation (JAASF) has awarded N14 million in Tuition Support to 28 undergraduates drawn from public tertiary institutions across Nigeria. The presentation took place on October 1, 2026, at Golfview Suites and Conference Centre, Ikeja, Lagos, during the Foundation’s annual scholarship presentation event. Central to this year’s gathering was the topic, “Raising a Generation Against the Olodo Uprising: Reclaiming the Future Through Education, Excellence, and Purpose.” Discussions focused on concerns over declining standards and the growing acceptance of unearned success in various aspects of society. In the keynote session, participants were urged to reject practices that undermine genuine learning and personal development. Reference was made to examination fraud, miracle centres, sorting, AI-generated academic submissions, and the pursuit of credentials without the corresponding knowledge and capability required to justify them. The speaker warned that convenience-driven choices often carry hidden costs, remarking that “every shortcut is a loan...

Veteran Nigerian rapper Olusegun Osaniyi, popularly known as Lord of Ajasa, has become a United States citizen, prompting an outpouring of congratulatory messages from fellow artistes, music producers and fans. One of the pioneer of mainstream Yoruba rap shared clips, photographs and Instagram stories on his page, #lordofajasa, on Wednesday, holding his American citizenship certificate. In another photograph, the rapper and his wife posed with the American flag, marking the milestone that quickly attracted attention from fans and entertainment platforms. The development also revived conversations about Lord of Ajasa’s place in the history of indigenous Nigerian hip-hop, particularly his role in popularising Yoruba rap before the emergence of acts such as Dagrin, Olamide and Reminisce. PUNCH Online reports that his long-time associates and contemporaries were among those who celebrated the milestone in the comment section of his Instagram post. Music producer and Coded Tunes founder, Olumide Ogunade, popularly known as...