American rapper, Future, sampled a song by Nigerian breakout star, Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems on his Billboard hit, ‘Wait For U.’ The sampled song which formed the track’s hook is ‘Higher’, a song from Openiyi’s EP, ‘For Broken Ears’. Future had earlier revealed that the track, which also featured Canadian rapper, Drake, was a sample. Appreciating the singer’s vocals on the song, he tweeted, “As soon as I heard the @temsbaby sample over @atljacobbeatz, it instantly connected to my soul “Even though ‘Wait For U’ is a sample and not an original recording, I still put it featuring ..read more

FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, said on Saturday that World Cup fans can survive for three hours a day without beer after sales were banned around stadiums. “I think personally if for three hours a day you cannot drink a beer, you will survive,” he told his opening press conference in Doha. “The same applies in France, Spain, Scotland.” World Cup chiefs on Friday banned beer sales around stadiums in Qatar in a stunning U-turn, just 48 hours before Sunday’s kickoff. Alcohol is largely prohibited in the Islamic nation but the organisers sparked fury from fans with their dramatic late decision ..read more

Furious football fans have started condemning World Cup bosses, saying handing the tournament to Qatar has ‘ruined’ it after a shock announcement on Friday revealed alcohol is banned from all stadiums. England fans already in Qatar have slammed FIFA as a ‘disgrace’ for the unexpected booze ban only 48 hours before the World Cup kicks off, adding that attending the tournament ‘feels like Big Brother’ is in charge, The Daily Mail reports. Only a few hundred England fans were in Doha when FIFA announced that alcohol would not be sold on stadium concourses after coming under pressure from the Qat ..read more

A stage play titled, ‘Hear Word’, will be staged in five cities across West Africa, including Lagos, Benin and Abuja (Nigeria), Accra (Ghana), and Dakar (Senegal). The aim of the play is to mark the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. According to a statement sent to Merrymakers, the play, which is organised by a non-profit organisation, iOpenEye Africa Foundation, ‘utilises the power of performance art to challenge the status quo, and empower and improve the independence, rights, and status of women’. In the last eight years, the initiative has produced stage performances, wom ..read more

Manchester United’s lawyers are looking at how to bring Cristiano Ronaldo’s time at the club to an end following his explosive interview. The club said it had “initiated appropriate steps” and “will not be making further comment until this process reaches its conclusion”. Ronaldo accused United of betraying him and trying to force him out of the club in an interview with TalkTV broadcaster Piers Morgan. United have not put a time frame on the process but it is thought they want Ronaldo’s exit done “cleanly and quickly” and in as dignified a way as possible, Sky Sports News ..read more

An up-and-coming singer, James Odogwu, aka Dote Urban, says that has made many sacrifices for the growth of his music career. He told Saturday Beats, “The greatest sacrifice I have made for my music was using money meant for other things for my music. It is not easy to sacrifice money meant for other things for something one desires. Any little money I have is always invested into my music.” Speaking on what inspired his new song, ‘Trivia’, he said, “I wanted to create a feel-good song that people would dance to. I spoke with the producer, E19, about it and he created the beat. The moment I h ..read more

An online movie streaming platform, IBAKATV, has introduced a new system of movie distribution and free data, for its subscribers to enjoy a ‘unique experience in movie downloads and streaming’. Speaking at a media parley, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Blessed Idornigie, noted that the platform was constantly looking for ways to make it easier for their subscribers to access, download and stream movies easily. He said, “As of today, for customers to access movies on streaming platforms such as ours, they need to subscribe for Internet data, as well as subsc ..read more

Anthony Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn has confirmed that the British-Nigerian could fight the winner of Deontay Wilder vs Andy Ruiz Jr for the WBC strap if it is vacated, Saturday PUNCH reports. WBC title-holder Tyson Fury and unified champion Oleksandr Usyk (WBA, WBO, IBF) have been in negotiations to stage the first undisputed heavyweight unification clash of the four-belt era for February or March next year. However, with the winner of the historic clash having to possibly face mandatory challenges from all four sanctioning bodies, Hearn expects the heavyweight scene to look very differen ..read more

UFC Commentator Joe Rogan believes former middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, has been nothing but graceful in defeat following his loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 281 at the Madison Square Garden in New York. Up 3-1 on the judges’ scorecards in his title fight against Pereira at UFC 281, middleweight champ Adesanya (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) was stopped in Round 5. It was a standing TKO finish for Pereira (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC), who had Adesanya rocked and badly hurt three minutes into the final frame. Adesanya was stumbling, prompting referee Marc Goddard to stop the fight. “The Last Stylebender” imm ..read more

Cristiano Ronaldo dreams of facing the “magic” Lionel Messi in the World Cup final as two footballing greats head into the twilight of their careers. The 37-year-old Ronaldo will hope to help Portugal escape Group H, where they face Ghana next Thursday before clashes against Uruguay and South Korea. Messi, 35, heads to Qatar with one of the pre-tournament favourites, Argentina, who start Group C against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, with meetings against Mexico and Poland to follow. Having battled for centre stage against former Barcelona star Messi for numerous years, ex-Real Madrid forward Ronal ..read more