The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has officially unveiled a new trophy for the CAF Champions League

The new silverware was presented during a ceremony held in Johannesburg on Thursday, ahead of the highly anticipated semifinal clash between Mamelodi Sundowns and FC Pyramids.

The previous trophy, introduced in 2007, has been retired after 18 years of use.

Egyptian giants Al Ahly were the last club to lift it, having secured the title last season. However, they failed to reach the final this year.

The winner of the two-legged tie between Sundowns and Pyramids will become the first team to be awarded the newly designed trophy.

Nigerian athlete Chukwuebuka Enekwechi will be making his first appearance in the 2025 Wanda Diamond League season, as the fourth instalment heads to Rabat, Morocco on Sunday, having been officially listed amongst the participants to compete in the men’s shot put event

The 32-year-old expectedly did not feature in the first three meets of the season held in Xiamen, China on April 26, Shanghai also in China on May 3 and in Doha, Qatar on May 16, as the men’s shot put event was not on the line-up of disciplines. However, the Rabat Diamond League will allow the reigning African Games champion and two-time African Championship winner to assess his preparations and readiness for the World Athletics Championships set to be held in Tokyo, Japan, in September.

Enekwechi has been pitted against 11 other top athletes in the shot put event at the Rabat Diamond League.

The former Purdue University man has his work cut out when he faces the likes of two-time world champion and Olympic medallist Joe Kovacs of the USA, multiple world and Olympic medallist Tom Walsh of New Zealand and 2024 Olympic bronze winner Rajindra Campbell.

Despite the array of talent set to be on display in Rabat on Sunday, Enekwechi has reasons to feel confident, even though he has the lowest mark, having thrown 20.37m this season. However, America’s Steen Roger stands out, having recorded a season’s best throw of 21.62m, which trumps other competitors in the line-up.

There will be a total of 14 events at the Wanda Diamond League in Rabat, Morocco, on Sunday, comprising eight disciplines for the men and six women’s events.

The Invited Junior Athletes, IJA, have set an early marker at their first ever National Sports Festival in Ogun state after denying the Elite Athletes four medals already, by winning two Gold, one silver and one bronze medal within the first two days of the Games.

Amarachi Chijioke and Scholastical Tekumbur made history winning the two gold, one silver and one bronze in the 45kg women category.

Chijioke claimed two gold medals in clean and jerk with the best lift of 82kg while Tekumbur, also claimed the bronze in clean and jerk.

The National Sports Commission, NSC, has continued to receive plenty of accolades for the IJA initiative introduced to the Festival as the 38th State and the early performance of the junior  athletes within the first two days of the Games is already justifying the essence of the concept.

The NSC introduced the Invited junior Athletes concept so that Nigeria can start having a unique and scientific transition system between the upcoming junior athletes and the elite athletes.

Director General of the NSC, Hon. Bukola Olopade, maintained that the IJA concept was designed to tie grassroots to elite Sports by bridging the transition gap that has existed in the past.

“ Ninety percent of the kids representing IJA are champions from the youth games and the ones that have upset the staquo by winning these medals have automatically been elevated to elite status and qualify for elite grants that will prepare them for the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Championships next year”.

” Being the first time we are having this concept we never expected them to win medals but just to get exposure by competing with the elite athletes but we can see with the four medals already won that the junior athletes we brought for this Games are really fancying their chances with the big boys”.

Thirty eight junior athletes across different sports are representing the Invited junior Athletes , IJA, at the Gateway Games.