Gareth Bale, the captain of Wales, will not participate in Tuesday’s crucial World Cup qualifier against Belgium. For the game in Cardiff, Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has been left out of manager Robert Page’s 23-man team.

Bale, 32, was substituted at halftime during Saturday’s 5-1 demolition of Belarus, a precautionary move he later termed as “planned.” Due to a hamstring injury, he had not played in two months before to the game.

Page had said on Monday that they would assess Bale’s recovery before making a final decision, indicating that the Real Madrid star’s only hope of featuring against Belgium would have been as a substitute.

“He was never going to start. We knew that coming into camp,” Page told the media on the eve of the game.

“The plan was always for him to get a half in the first game and then come on and maybe have an impact in the second game.

Source: BBC Sport

– Meanwhile, Bola Tinubu's running mate, vice presidential candidate of the party is the one currently occupying the seat

– The former governor of Taraba state who is also the APC returning officer confirmed the development on Thursday

The Borno state chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has picked the state Attorney General, Kaka Shehu Lawan as the party’s candidate for the Borno Central Senatorial seat currently occupied by Sen Kashim Shettima, now vice presidential candidate of the party.

APC returning officer and former deputy governor of Taraba state, Alhaji Uba Magari, while announcing the results of the election held at the party state secretariat in Maiduguri Thursday, July 14, said the former Commissioner of Justice scored 459 votes out of 480 valid votes, The Sun reports.