GERMAN MEDIA UNANIMOUS AS ETHAN NWANERI IS SNUBBED ONCE AGAIN FOR DORTMUND

Arsenal loanee Ethan Nwaneri is two months into his stint at Borussia Dortmund and here's how he's faring

Ethan Nwaneri lasted just over an hour against Werder Bremen(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

A pattern of Ethan Nwaneri not finishing games for Borussia Dortmund continued on Friday night. The Arsenal loanee joined the Bundesliga side on deadline day and has started four league games.

The 19-year-old has yet to complete 90 minutes for the club. He's been brought off in each of his five starts across all competitions, with his latest substitution coming in Dortmund's 2-2 draw against Werder Bremen on Friday.

However, Nwaeri has enjoyed an unbeaten start to the new campaign. Dortmund currently sit top of the league with 13 point but Bayern Munich and Freiburg, who are both three points behind, have a game in hand.

Nwaneri's only goal contribution in Germany came when registering an assist on his debut against Hoffenheim and he has since struggled to make an impact in front of goal. He got closer to scoring his first goal on Friday but was denied by ex-Gunners goalkeeper Karl Hein on two occasions.

The teenager was then brought off after an hour and German media have had their say on his performance.

BILD

Ethan Nwaneri has yet to complete 90 minutes for Borussia Dortmund(Image: Getty Images)

Germany's biggest newspaper, BILD, gave Nwaneri a grade of five for his performance, the joint-lowest for Dortmund alongside team-mate Marcel Sabitzer. The outlet may have been inclined to raise his rating if the referee hadn't disallowed his second-half goal for a foul.

BILD wrote: "But then Nwaneri scored a stunning bicycle kick (62nd minute) to seemingly give Dortmund the lead. Dortmund celebrated – but only briefly. The reason: Referee Christian Dingert ruled [Waldemar] Anton's slight push on [Niclas] Fullkrug an offensive foul. Therefore, VAR couldn't intervene. A bitter evening for Dortmund..."

Spox

Spox felt the 19-year-old struggled initially but his influence grew as the game went on, despite his end product still lacking. They gave him a rating of three out of six, with one the highest possible grade. They wrote: "Nwaneri initially remained relatively inconspicuous, but then developed into Dortmund's most dangerous player in front of goal.

"With his first truly good attacking move, he beautifully chipped the ball into Beier's path before his big chance (43rd minute). After that, several of his shots were either just a touch too inaccurate or were thwarted by the excellent Bremen goalkeeper Hein. He was then replaced by Silva after just over an hour. Rating: 3."

The 19-year-old was subbed off in the 63rd minute(Image: AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Goal

Goal's assessment also noted Nwaneri's inability to impact the game at key moments, but praised his technical ability. They gave the winger a six out of 10 rating and wrote: "The teenager showed good technical security on the flank but found it difficult to impact the game in the final third against a deep-sitting Bremen block.

"He was replaced by Fabio Silva just past the hour mark." Only Serhou Guirassy, Maximilian Beier and Gregor Kobel received lower scores from the outlet, with Dortmund's trio all receiving 5/10 ratings.

- Fasika Zelealem

WINTER OLYMPICS 'PENIS-GATE' SPARKS ANTI-DOPING CONCERNS

Extraordinary questions have arisen over the prospect of athletes injecting acid into the penis, which would theoretically increase the suit sizes of ski-jumpers and improve aerodynamics

Getty

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) has responded to extraordinary questions over ski jumping athletes and whether they are injecting acid into their penises in a bid to gain an advantage at the Winter Olympics.

Preliminary events are underway in Italy, where the 2026 Games will begin in earnest on Friday, and already there have been unusual concerns around the men’s ski jumping, which is due to start on Monday.

German publication Bild has raised the question of whether athletes might inject hyaluronic acid into their penises, in a bid to increase the size of their genitalia – with the wider aim of enhanced suit sizes to improve aerodynamics.

These strange concerns come after Norwegian Olympic medallists Marius Lindvik and Johann Andre Forfang were suspended for three months, after the team were found to have secretly tweaked the crotch seams on their suits at the 2025 World Ski Championships.

Norwegian head coach Magnus Brevik, assistant coach Thomas Lobben, and fellow team member Adrian Livelten were banned for 18 months for their involvement. The tactic apparently made jumpers’ suits larger, thus reducing their rate of descent due to bigger wingspans.

According to a study in the scientific journal Frontiers, adding 2cm to the circumference of a suit would reduce drag by 4 per cent and increase lift by 5 per cent. In theory, a 2cm enhancement in suit size would give an extra 5.8m in jump length.

Bild quoted Dr Kamran Karim, who said: “It is possible to achieve a temporary, visual thickening of the penis by injecting paraffin or hyaluronic acid. Such an injection is not medically indicated and is associated with risks.”

Olivier Niggli, Wada’s director general, said on the matter: “I’m not aware of the details of ski jumping – and how this can improve – but if anything was to come to the surface, we would look at anything if it is actually doping related.

“We don’t do other means of enhancing performance, but our list committee would certainly look into whether this would fall into this category. But I hadn’t heard about that until you mentioned [it].”

Wada president Witold Banka said: “Ski jumping is very popular in Poland [Banka’s home country], so I promise you I’m going to look at it.”

The IOC and Milano-Cortina 2026 have been approached for comment.

- Alex Pattle

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER'S £12M BLACKMAILER JAILED FOR MEDICAL PICS 'BETRAYAL' IN HEALTH BATTLE

Michael Schumacher's blackmailer has been jailed(Image: Bongarts/Getty Images)

A nightclub bouncer behind the £12million plot to blackmail F1 legend Michael Schumacher with private medical pictures in a scheme involving his former bodyguard has been jailed

A nightclub bouncer has been sentenced to three years in jail after being convicted of trying to blackmail Formula One legend Michael Schumacher for £12million.

Yilmaz Tozturkan, 53, and two other men, including the sporting icon's former bodyguard Markus Fritsche, were arrested after hard drives containing private pictures, medical records and videos of the seven-time F1 world champion were stolen.

Schumacher's health status has been a closely guarded secret since his devastating skiing accident in 2013, which left him spending his days in a home-based hospital facility receiving constant care supervised by his wife Corinna, who has battled to keep details about his condition confidential.

Tozturkan and his 30-year-old son Daniel Lins were accused of demanding £12million from the Schumacher family. The two denied blackmail, insisting they were offering the Schumacher family a “business deal”.

As reported by the Daily Mail, the trial heard more than 1,500 images, videos and confidential medical records were downloaded from a computer and given to Fritsche, who passed them to Tozturkan, who said he would then “upload them on to the dark web” unless money was paid.

Prosecutors in the German city of Wuppertal called for Tozturkan, who is currently behind bars for an unrelated crime, to be given three years, while the Schumacher family had been asking for five years for what they saw as the “ultimate betrayal”.

Lins was given a six-month suspended sentence. While 53-year-old Fritsche was also on trial for the shocking plot – he received two years, also suspended.

As reported by BILD, Schumacher’s lawyer, Thilo Damm, revealed he might consider an appeal on some of the sentences.

Saying: "We do not agree with all of the court's statements, in particular that Mr. F. is only accused of aiding and abetting and not of complicity. You can rest assured that we will exhaust all legal remedies at our disposal."

Markus Fritsche was part of a three-man gang(Image: Facebook/markus.fritsche)

The Schumacher family also expressed fear that one hard drive containing sensitive material had not been recovered despite searches of the defendants’ properties. A nurse, who was sacked by the family, is also suspected of involvement in the case but failed to testify, claiming she was ill.

Schumacher’s manager for more than 25 years, Sabine Kehm, had told the court she fired the nurse because she was inadequate at her job. Sabine then added she suspected Fritsche and her of working together as they were “often together talking” and had “access to Schumacher’s record.”

Before the verdict was announced, Tozturkan told the court: “I'm very sorry and ashamed for what I have done. It was a very disgusting thing. I take full responsibility.”

- Cameron Winstanley

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