African football is alive every weekend with exciting league action around the continent and our weekly round-up of league action highlights a selection of the most important stories.

NIGERIA

Remo Stars took advantage of a slip by Rivers United to reclaim their position at the top of the NPFL. First half goals from Peter Onuoha and Franck Mawuena handed the Sky Blue Stars a 2-0 home win over El Kanemi Warriors in Ikenne on Sunday.

Stars moved to 29 points and have a one goal better goal difference than Rivers United, who lost away to Enugu Rangers on Saturday.

The 15th minute goal from Collins Ugwueze pushed Rangers into third spot on 27 points, two points behind the leaders, and meant Ikorodu City dropped down to fourth after they had been beaten 1-0 away at Bayelsa United.

Shooting Stars were the only away winners on the weekend and are also in touch with the frontrunners as they sit on 24 points follow the 1-0 win over Sunshine Stars on Saturday.

MOROCCO

With Morocco’s three continental club competition representatives competing in either the CAF Champions League or CAF Confederation Cup this weekend, Renaissance Zemamra used the opportunity to move into second spot in the Botola Pro 1 with a 2-0 home win over Moghreb Tetouan on Sunday. It was not unexpected with Tetouan struggling this season and flirting with the relegation zone.

Zemamra are on 23 points, still four behind leaders RS Berkane who have a game in hand and will play that on Thursday at home to CODM Meknes.

Maghreb Fes are in third courtesy of a 2-0 win at JS Soualem in Berrechid on Sunday with an early goal from Botswana international Kabelo Seakanyeng and then a late addition from centre forward Mohamed El Badaoui.

Chabab Mohammedia, who lost nine of their opening 10 matches at the start of the season, have now drawn two in a row after a 1-1 stalemate at Ittihad Tanger on Sunday. But they are still adrift at the bottom of the table with a paltry three points.

LESOTHO

Lesotho Mounted Police Service lost their 10-match unbeaten start from the start of the Premier League season, and dropped from top of the standings to third, as Bantu handed them an emphatic 4-2 beating at Maseru’s Bambatha Stadium on Sunday.

Hlompho Kalake scored twice as Bantu came back from conceding early.

That allowed Matlama to end the weekend’s round of matches in first place after Freddie Hlalele’s first half header handed them a 1-0 victory over Lioli, who pipped them to the title last season.

Matlama have already lost twice this season but won their other eight matches and now have 24 points, two more than LMPS who have played one match more.

Bantu went second above LMPS on goal difference only while champions Lioli dropped down to fourth as they remained on 20 points.

In the battle of the two bottom placed teams, Mzamane ended their 10-match losing streak, picked up their first points and kept a first clean sheet in a 1-0 win over ACE Maseru, who are still without a victory but do have three points from previous draws.

CAMEROON

The new Elite One season got underway at the weekend, beginning on Sunday with a derby in Melong where Stade Renard, who were third last season, played out a goalless draw with newly promoted visitors Aigle Royal de Moungo. Cameroon Football Federation president Samuel Eto’o made the symbolic kick off.

A 3-0 win for champions Victoria United at home in Limbe to Yong Sports Academy from Bamenda highlighted a busy Sunday programme of seven matches but the real action came in the Douala derby where Union edged Les Astres 4-3. There were seven different scorers in the game.

For Victoria United, young striker Fredex Songue scored a double to take the early lead in the top goalscorer charts.

UGANDA

Vipers are the new leaders in the Premier League as they won 2-1 away at Bright Stars in Wakiso on Saturday, going one point clear of National Enterprise Corporation.

The six-time champions used their first-half dominance to go ahead through Gusto Mulongo and Allan Okello, and leave Stars to get a consolation goal from Warren Bule.

On Friday, Fred Amaku and Jude Ssemugabi both scored a double as struggling Kitara handed Mbale Heroes a 6-0 hiding to move out of the relegation places.

-CAF

Nigeria’s Favour Ofili will be the centre of attraction tonight as she attempts to show the world what they could have seen if she had taken part in the 100m women’s race at the Paris 2024.

She has the winner of the race, Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia to beat and make a bold statement.  Both clashed in the first semi-finals of the race on Monday night where Alfred took first over Ofili. The time difference between the two was just 0.07 seconds. Alfred ran 21.98 seconds while Ofili returned after 22.05.

But a semi-final race is not the same as the final race as both may have just ran the earlier one for qualification reserving energy for the big race.

Also lined up are McKenzie Long, Brittany Brown and Gabrielle Thomas of the United States,  Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita (both British), Jessika Gbai of Cote d’Ivoire,

MIKE ROWBOTTOM,  FOR WORLD ATHLETICS

The morning session on Saturday (Day 3 of Athletics) ended with drama in the decathlon as Canada’s defending champion Damian Warner and Norway’s Sander Skotheim were both unable to register a mark in the pole vault.

An Olympic decathlon best of 53.91m in the discus had lifted Grenada’s Lindon Victor to within one place of a medal after seven events, with Germany’s overnight leader Leo Neugebauer remaining in pole position ahead of Warner and Skotheim after that discipline.

But the medal dreams of Warner and Skotheim were dashed following the pole vault, as they failed to clear their opening heights.

US sprinters Kenny Bednarek, the Tokyo 200m silver medallist, and Fred Kerley, the 2022 world champion, were top qualifiers in the men’s 100m heats as they both clocked 9.97.

The key challengers, including Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson who leads this year’s 100m world list with 9.77, plus USA’s world champion Noah Lyles and defending champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy, also all progressed.

Meanwhile, the first of the newly created repechage rounds, in the women’s 800m, created races of huge excitement, with home athlete Anais Bourgoin generating ear-splitting noise from another packed morning session crowd as she progressed to tomorrow’s semifinals.

Warner, Canada’s defending champion in the decathlon, got his second day of competition off to a successful start as he produced the fastest 110m hurdles time of 13.62, with Ken Mullings of The Bahamas registering 13.70 and France’s Makenson Gletty, massively encouraged by the buzzing crowd, clocking the third best effort of 13.96.

That bunch of 1024 points moved Warner, fourth at the end of the first day, into the lead on 5585, 14 points clear of Puerto Rico’s Ayden Owens-Delerme, with Neugebauer, who leads this year’s world list with 8961, staying in touch in third place on 5560, one place ahead of Norway’s European silver medallist Skotheim on 5543.

Victor’s was the winning flourish in the discus. But Neugebauer, who holds the decathlon world best in the discus of 57.70m, did enough with a second-place 53.33 to retain gold-medal position with 6500 points, 72 ahead of Warner, with Skotheim third on 6326 and Victor fourth on 6311.

But it was all change after the pole vault, as first Skotheim failed all his three attempts at his opening height of 4.50m and then Warner did the same at his opening height of 4.60m. Neugebauer cleared 5.00m and Victor 4.90m, but there were PBs for Estonia’s Janek Oiglane and Norway’s Markus Rooth, who both managed 5.30m.

That took Rooth to 7271 points and he finished the session in second place, behind Neugebauer on 7410 and ahead of Victor on 7191, with only the javelin and 1500m to go.