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The Super Eagles of Nigeria will play host to the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone in an empty stadium as the country’s sports ministry and the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 have warned the Edo State Government, on whose domain the game will take place to observe all safety measures against the pandemic by not allowing fans into the arena.

Before then-Governor Godwin OBASEKI of Edo State had promised that he would fling the stadium open fo fans in order to ensure that Sierra Leone was massively defeated in the first of the two legs of the 2020 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers between the two countries. 
The Nigerian Sports Ministry and the PTF, in a letter to the deputy governor of  Edo State, Comrade Philip  Shaibu, said: “The ministry wishes to bring to your urgent attention that in compliance with the condition of no gathering agreed upon by the Ministry and the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 before the Federal Government opened up football and contacts sports, the match between Nigeria and Sierra Leone will not have any audience and no gathering save for players, match officials and government officials from both countries. 

“Testings must be conducted on all of them prior to the match.  The no-gathering no audience for football and contact sports is still in force, which means there shall be no gathering for the Nigerian vs Sierra Leone match as any violation of this condition may lead to a rollback of the opening up of football and contact sports in the country.”The PTF and the Ministry are on the same page on this matter and the protocol for clearances rests with both the Ministry and the PTF when it comes to staging any sports event in Nigeria. Full compliance with  Covid-19  protocols is to be enforced,” the letter read.

The PTF is worried about a spike following the second wave of  COVID-19  and is considering another lockdown.The Edo State Government had announced that the gates would be thrown open to allow fans to watch the game.The match is billed for the Samuel  Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City next weekend.

Oil prices rose nearly three percent on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump falsely claimed victory in a tight U.S election with millions of votes still to be counted and the final result not yet clear.

A victory by Trump, according to globalnews.ca, is viewed as bullish for oil because of sanctions on Iran and his support for Saudi-led OPEC oil cuts to support prices.

A contested result and prolonged uncertainty are seen as the most bearish outcome for oil and markets in general, while a win for Joe Biden would be seen as bearish to neutral because of his support for green policies and softer stance on Iran.

West Texas Intermediate was up $0.94 cents, or 2.44 percent, at $38.60 a barrel by 1156 GMT.

Brent crude was up by 1.02 cents, or 2.50 percent, at $40.73.

Trump falsely claimed to have won after his Democratic challenger Biden said he was confident of winning a contest that will not be resolved until a handful of states finish vote counts in the next hours or days.

“This (potential Trump victory) is bullish for oil as OPEC+ can keep cutting without fear that Iranian oil supply will come back into the market any time soon,” said Bjarne Schieldrop at SEB.

Equity markets were volatile and bonds traded higher as vote counting showed the election was closer than polls had forecast.

Oil prices were also supported by the possibility that OPEC producers and Russia could consider deferring a planned increase in OPEC+ oil output from January as a second coronavirus wave stifles a recovery in fuel demand.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia, a grouping known as OPEC+, earlier agreed to ease cuts by 2 million barrels per day from the current 7.7 million BPD from January.

More lockdowns could cap oil price gains. Italy, Norway, and Hungary have tightened coronavirus curbs, following Britain, France, and other countries.