The Food Security and Sports Diplomacy event unveiled by the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Lagos State chapter and Pan African American Chamber of Commerce (PAACC) to commemorate the United Nations World Nutrition Month cannot be a better success without mentioning and applauding the support from the NIgeria Bottling Company (NBC) maker of Coca-Cola soft drink, Carolkings Media Ltd, Promasidor (Cowbell), Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) and MOL Tech Ltd.

According to the chairman of Lagos SWAN, Ambassador Olatutu Oladunni, the impactful and productive partnerships and sponsorships cannot be underestimated as they continue to offer unlimited support to the upgrade of sports diplomacy initiatives and their influence on diversity in international diplomacy and foreign trade.

She said: “These companies proved beyond doubt again their unwavering support to community advancement, youth developmental growth and socio-economic upgrade via their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR ) and the Society Development Goal which have made the likes of  NBC, Flour Mills of Nigeria and Promasidor a force to reckon with over the years and the new corporate diplomatic prospective company with innovation, Carolkings Media Ltd and of course the amiable growing tech giant, MOL Tech Ltd, have continued to show unlimited potentials in terms of support to social development and community building to various agencies in the Nigerian society.

“We can boldly say their unwavering partnership and support has taken Lagos SWAN to another sophisticated level of progress and advancement, giving the sports writers association in the Centre of Excellence better relevance and recognition among its peers in the society.”

The event, held at the Rahman Bello Hall inside the University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, was a moment for Lagos SWAN and its partners, Pan African American Chamber of Commerce (PAACC) and the Defence Headquarters, was a success thanks to the support from the companies.

“We cannot but thank the Almighty God for the success of the program, and more importantly, Lagos SWAN recognised with humility the support we got from our friends in the private sector who believed in our cause to redirect and reinvigorate sports journalism in Lagos,” said Ambassador Oladunni.

“Companies such as Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC), Coca-Cola, Flour Mills of Nigeria, Promasidor,  Nestle, MOL Tech, Carolkings Media and others generously gave their support to spice up the event.

“The support was so awesome, and the association is well pleased, looking forward to seeing more of this support in our future events,” she said.

The presence of the high-profile personalities added glamour to the international forum from the majestic presence of His Royal Majesty, who also doubled as the professor of petroleum, Kabiyesi, Olowu of Owu, Abeokuta, Oba.  (Prof) Saka Adelola Matemilola and his amiable wife, Queen of Owu kingdom, Olori (Ambassador) Adijat Adelola Matemilola, who was also decorated and honoured as the new face of Lagos SWAN, Sports Diplomacy Tourism and Culture Ambassador, while the event was equipped with sophistication of UN/WTO trainees on good security and organic food manufacturers.

The esteemed presence of the Defence Headquarters’ delegation of the Chief of Defence of Staff, General Musa Christopher Gwambe, ably represented by Commandant, Armed Forces Resettlement Centre, Oshodi, Lagos (NAFRI), Air Vice Marshall Bashir Rimi Mamman, Comptroller General Nigeria Customs Services, CG Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, represented by Deputy Controller Gbenga Adeniyi, MFM General Overseer Dr. Daniel Olukoya, ably represented by the Chairman House Fellowship Board, Pastor Gabriel Abayomi.

Others included AIG Zone 2 Headquarters, Lagos, AIG Adegoke Fayoade, Dr Ayo Ogunsan, a board member Lagos State Security Trust Fund, Kabiyesi Oniwaya, Yaba, Oba Sulaiman Ogun-Oloko and his amiable Queen also Lagos SWAN Sports Diplomacy Ambassador, Olori Temitope Ogun-Oloko, Principal of the Queens College, Lagos, Dr. Adetutu, Vice Chancellor, Mountain Top University, Prof Ayolabi, National President of SWAN, Mr Isaiah Benjamin and National Exco members,  World Trade Organization Trainee on Food Security and Export, Dr Aisha Ime-James alongside her delegates, Director General of the Institute of Security Nigeria, University of Lagos, Barr. Akinade, among others and the amiable international food exhibitors across the continent and a host of others who included students of Mountain Top University and students at Queen College, Lagos.

The FIFA Club World Cup takes place in July 2025 in the US, with the world’s best clubs and players fighting it out to be crowned world champions and it will all be broadcast live on DAZN.

All 63 matches in competition will be broadcast by DAZN worldwide, in multiple languages, and all for free, as clubs from Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa and Oceania all compete.

The build up to the expanded, 32-team competition heats up when the tournament draw is made on Thursday, December 5,which you can watch for free exclusively on DAZN. Sign up here for a free DAZN account to watch.

The new format is set to be played every four years, just like the World Cup.

Who is in the Club World Cup draw?
The 32 clubs involved are some of the biggest in the football world. They include Real Madrid, River Plate, Flamengo, Juventus, Boca Juniors, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain.

Qualification for the tournament was based on either winning a continental title – IE: UEFA Champions League or CONMEBOL Libertadores – in one of the four most-recent seasons or by having a high ranking of performance in the top-level continental tournament over the four-year period.

So, for a country like England, who were given two slots, Manchester City and Chelsea will represented them, rather than say Liverpool, because the former two clubs have won the Champions League more recently.

Pot 1: Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Flamengo, Palmeiras, River Plate, Fluminense
Pot 2: Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Porto, Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Juventus, Salzburg
Pot 3: Al Hilal, Ulsan, Al Ahly, Wydad, Monterrey, Club Leon, Boca Juniors, Botafogo
Pot 4: Urawa Red Diamonds, Al Ain, Esperance Sportive de Tunisie, Mamelodi Sundowns, Pachuca, Seattle Sounders, Auckland City, Inter Miami
How to watch the Club World Cup draw
The Club World Cup draw will take place at 6pm GMT; 1pm ET; 12pm CT on Thursday, December 5. It will be broadcast live and for free on DAZN worldwide.

To watch on DAZN, simply enter your email address to setup a free account and that is it. Sign up here.

Or, if you are already a DAZN subscriber or Freemium member, then the draw is part of your current membership.

DAZN News will also be running a live blog of the draw to keep you fully up-to-date with proceedings.

How does the draw work and key rules?

The pots
Pot 1 is made up of the highest-ranked teams from Europe and South America. Pot 2 is the rest of Europe.

Pot 3 is the best of Asia, Africa, Concacaf and the rest of South America

Pot 4 is all remaining clubs.

The rules of the draw
No group can feature more than one team from the same confederation except for UEFA, which has 12 teams across the eight groups
Teams from the same country cannot be drawn together, which only affects Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid
Inter Miami CF take position four in Group A and will play the opening game
Seattle Sounders take position four in Group B to ensure they play at their home ground
There is also a seeding structure in place, which means UEFA’s top seeds Real Madrid and Manchester City will be in opposite halves of the draw, as will CONMEBOL’s Flamengo and Palmeiras. It means these teams will not potentially meet until the semi-finals, if they all win their respective groups.

The same principle of being in opposite halves of the draw applies to Pot 1 seeds 3 and 4 for each confederation, which are Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain; and River Plate & Fluminense.

In Pot 1 the UEFA teams will be placed into groups so that, if they finish first in the group, they cannot play each other before the semi-finals. The same applies to the four South American teams.

To achieve the necessary draw build for Pot teams, pathways have been created.

Pathway 1: Winners of Groups A, C, E and G play the runners-up of Groups B, D, F and H.
Pathway 2: Winners of Groups B, D, F and H play the runners-up of Groups A, C, E and G.
In Pot 2 Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Internazionale and FC Porto will be drawn into a group with one of Flamengo, Palmeiras, River Plate, Fluminense.

Atlético Madrid, Benfica, Juventus and RB Salzburg will be drawn into a group with one of Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain.

How the draw will run
Finally we can actually get to the draw. It will start by drawing all of the teams from team pot 1, then pots 2, 3 and 4. Groups will be filled in order, subject to draw rules.

For Groups A and B, the other teams take the same position as their pot (as Inter Miami and Seattle are in position 4).

For Groups C to H, the position in the group will be drawn. This influences the order of the fixtures.

Where is the Club World Cup being staged?
The July 2025 tournament will be hosted by the United States, as a warm up to them co-hosting 2026 World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico.

There will be 12 different stadiums used for the club competition.

The first match will be held in Miami on Sunday, June 15, at the Hard Rock Stadium, and will see home club Inter Miami play.

New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium will host the final on July 13.

Atlanta, Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Charlotte, TQL Stadium
Cincinnati, Bank of America Stadium
Los Angeles, Rose Bowl Stadium
Miami, Hard Rock Stadium
Nashville, GEODIS Park
New Jersey, MetLife Stadium
Orlando, Camping World Stadium
Orlando, Inter&Co Stadium
Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial Field
Seattle, Lumen Field
Washington DC, Audi Field

Watch the Club World Cup draw live on DAZN
Club World Cup

Sign up for a free DAZN account now to watch the Club World Cup draw live on DAZN on Thursday December 5.

Or, if you are already a DAZN subscriber or Freemium member, then the draw is part of your current membership.

A DAZN Freemium account costs nothing and provides access to action across football, boxing, NFL, golf, darts, motorsports, basketball and padel.

This includes the UEFA Women’s Champions League, NFL, PDC Darts, LIV Golf, Super League Basketball and Saudi Pro League, plus other weekly specially selected games, leagues, sports and highlights.

Free TV Channels include Matchroom Boxing, PGA Tour, PDC Darts, PowerSports World, Billiard TV and Padel Time TV.

You only need an email address to register for a Freemium account, with no hidden costs or fees.

An online streaming service has exclusive rights to the big Champions League match – but it’s easy to watch it for free.

Liverpool will be returning to the Champions League on Tuesday night, hoping to get back to winning ways on the opening night of the new campaign, facing old foes AC Milan.

The side, who previously faced Milan in the 2005 and 2007, suffered a 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, so they will be hoping to get back to winning ways this week.

However, Milan have also had a tumultuous ride so far, with the team currently in 9th after four games, despite a solid 4-0 win over Venezia at the weekend.

It’s shaping up to be a thrilling match, then, with both teams having plenty to prove, and you can watch it for free on Amazon Prime Video.