Forest striker Awoniyi reportedly placed in induced coma after urgent surgery

NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) — Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi has reportedly been placed in an induced coma after undergoing “urgent” surgery on an abdominal injury that was the subject of a heavily debated on-field discussion between the club's manager and owner following a Premier League game over the weekend.

The Nigeria international was injured when he collided with the goal frame after coming on as a second-half substitute during the 2-2 draw against Leicester on Sunday.

Awoniyi was placed in an induced coma to aid his recovery from Monday's operation, Britain's PA news agency reported Tuesday, saying it will help restrict his movement and regulate his heart rate.

Forest had released a statement after Awoniyi's surgery, saying he was “recovering well." The team has two games left in the Premier League — at West Ham and at home to Chelsea — as it seeks to qualify for the Champions League.

After the game against Leicester, Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis entered the field and remonstrated with manager Nuno Espirito Santo.

Espirito Santo said Marinakis was frustrated because of a miscommunication between the bench and medical staff after the injury to Awoniyi.

After receiving treatment, the 27-year-old striker signaled he was OK to continue so Espirito Santo left him on and immediately made his final substitution, taking off Elliot Anderson for Jota Silva in the first minute of stoppage time.

However, Awoniyi was in discomfort for the rest of the game, effectively leaving Forest down to 10 players and hampering its hopes of a winner.

In its statement, Forest said Marinakis' post-match reaction “was one of deep care, responsibility, and emotional investment in one of our own.”

“In moments like that, he demonstrates his leadership, not just through words, but through action and presence,” the statement read. "In the final 10 minutes of the game, when he saw our player clearly in discomfort, struggling through visible pain, it became increasingly difficult for him to stay on the sidelines.

“His deep frustration at seeing our player lying on the ground in severe pain — something no one with genuine care could ignore — triggered him to go onto the pitch. It was instinctive, human, and a reflection of just how much this team and its people mean to him.”

Marinakis relinquished his position as a person with significant control of Forest in recent weeks as the club closed in on unlikely Champions League qualification.

UEFA has rules to bar clubs from its competitions in any season if owners have “decisive influence” over two clubs which qualify. Marinakis is also president of Olympiakos, which has qualified as Greek champion.

With two rounds of the season to go, Forest is seventh — one point behind fifth-placed Chelsea. The top five will qualify for the Champions League.

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Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis walks before a Premier League soccer match against Leicester at the City Ground in Nottingham, England, Sunday May 11, 2025. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi, left, and Leicester City's Facundo Buonanotte collide with the goal post during a Premier League soccer match at City Ground in Nottingham, England, Sunday May 11, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)