Category: Sports

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) spokesman Ademola Olajire has revealed that the management of Chelsea FC of England has not contacted the body over the late release of the Nigerian duo of Victor Moses and John Mikel Obi

“Well, we have not been contacted by Chelsea over their wish to delay the release of our players for the Nations Cup. The players are expected latest by January 4 according to the plan and schedule of the coach, so if anything will change, we have to be notified by the club,” stated Olajire.

Nigeria said they expect Mikel Obi and Victor Moses to be released by English club Chelsea in time for the AFCON next month.

Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez has been reported as saying he wants to keep Mikel and Victor Moses till at least January 9 for their FA Cup tie against Southampton and Swansea before releasing them for the Nations Cup, according to The Daily Mail.

Mikel and Moses, integral players since Benitez took control at Stamford Bridge, are in the Nigeria AFCON squad.

“The tournament starts on the 19th (January), so they will go one or two weeks before. Maybe we can manage to keep them a little bit longer. We will talk with them. They know sometimes the players do not need to go early. But at least one week before the 19th, they have to be there,” he said.

The Chelsea stars have been granted permission to stay in London until after the New Year, but Benitez is negotiating to keep them for as long as possible as his team become embroiled in a cluttered fixture list.

‘The Blues’ will start their defence of the FA Cup at Southampton on January 5, four days before the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final at home to Swansea.

Interim manager Benitez accepts he is unlikely to have them around by the time they play Stoke in the Barclays Premier League on January 12.

Nigeria are already locked in a tug-of-war with another EPL side Newcastle United as regards the release of Shola Ameobi for a training camp in Faro, Portugal.

Players and officials of the senior national team left the shores of Nigeria for Faro, Portugal on Thursday without any financial back-up from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

The money comprises the team’s daily allowances and other contingency funds meant for their upkeep.

But a source at the Federation on Friday informed SportingLife that arrangements have almost been concluded to quickly dispatch the money so as to avoid unnecessary distractions.

“A management staff at the federation whose name l would not want to mention for security reasons is expected to travel to Portugal very soon with the money,” said the source.

“You know very well that this has never happened whereby a national team would be traveling out of the country without NFF making the necessary arrangements for their upkeep. Sometimes, issues like this can crop up but it is the way you handle it that matters,” our source said.

SportingLife, however, gathered that a recent garnishee order from a Lagos Court may have jeopardized NFF’s plans.

“NFF was sued by one of its business partners for a breach of contract and got a court ruling on Thursday that has barred them from accessing its accounts. In fact, NFF is lucky that the money it is expecting from the federal government for the Nations Cup was not paid into the accounts. It would have been terrible,” the source added.

It may have also affected the payment of chief coach, Stephen Keshi and his assistants salary arrears that were not settled before their departure.

“I understand that the coaches left blank cheques for their families with the hope that the money would be paid into their accounts,” said the source.

Eagles is in Portugal training for next month’s Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

Today am dedicating my last write up for this year to all my readers those who have taken time out to go through my write up every Saturday and most of whom were also able to send me text messages and numerous emails, whereas some sent messages requesting that I mention names of the sport cabals others were commending me for voicing out through my write up about the messages I have been trying to communicate. While some have called to commend the work been done others have called for further clarification on various subject been discussed. Interestingly I have been able to receive responses from the young and the old including a seventy five year old retiree who told me he was having some argument with his grand children over the use of the word been in one of my write up. Honestly I see all these comments as very encouraging even when some called to threaten and confront me the overwhelming support to me have been very encouraging. I thank you all for your consistency and hope that in the New Year we shall all have a wonderful experience in sport to celebrate.

Looking back to year 2012 as it relates to evaluating the contribution of sport to the national polity of Nigeria and a proper situation analysis based on our recorded performance at international competitions in the year under review one will not be wrong to say that we are still far from reaching our desired mark of excellence hence, a lot still needs to be done by all which includes the athletes, management, coaches, officials, media, sport academia, government and the much needed private sector. The cumulative effect of all these components when properly consolidated will move our sport to the next level however caution should not be thrown to the winds at this point as some people are already scheming to destroy the very fabric by preparing a recipe for destroying the entire sector through what I refer to as a gross abuse of process

Am honestly tired about hearing people call for meetings, symposiums, conferences, seminars, and stakeholder’s forum. Please don’t get me wrong I support the social interactive mix but my problem is of what relevance or benefit will it serve when it is evident that there is a more or less cultural disorientation on the actual practice and conduct of sport management and its calculated execution of programmes that are well articulated for the better good of all. I make bold to say that the difference between our sport and others in terms of performance measure and programmes actualization is simply a lack of SINCERITY of PURPOSE by the operators of this sector. We are not sincere to ourselves, our nation and to the sport sector.

We all need to refocus and redefine our priorities as a nation “believe me sincerely” whether we will move forward and become a super power in sport is rested on our determined sincerity of purpose. For so long the word sincerity have been missing from our sport revolution recipe and we need this more as we move into the new year it is my expectation that we will all come out resolved with a collective resolution to just do it right for once and kick start the process of sport revival and rejuvenation which we have over time been clamoring for as a nation.

Sport must be taken very seriously by all those responsible for its smooth operations in Nigeria I say this again because of my unpleasant experience recently to be specific decided on 26th December, 2012 to take my family to the National Stadium Abuja my mission was simple just to do some exercise with my two year old son and my wife not excluding my baby girl but surprisingly the stadium turned out to be a scary place for the young boy. The deplorable state of the stadium became a serious worry as it has brought to fore the poor state of the pitch the worn-out tracks that has characterized the once pride of our dear Nation. I hope that when next we visit the stadium again we will not experience what we witnessed on the 26th December, 2012.

The strength of a nation is measured by various parameters and sport is one of such parameter that a nation can be measured with hence, the need for Nigeria to be properly guided into producing the much needed leadership in Sport for Africa. Surprisingly, we were seen as a very good example by all before now but started losing this role when we allowed mediocrity to hold sway in the way and manner we run our sport system.

Many reasons have been postulated for the various challenges encountered in sport advancement but the most succinct amongst them is the inability of the operators to decide on how best they want to run the sector and also work towards ensuring that the sector is effectively managed. Enough of my philosophical postulations and back now to the reality of our current discuss which is repositioning our sport as an enviable mountain to behold.

Nigeria a great country of great people need more in sport than we are currently getting the fact that we have consistently been able to put up an appearance at international tournaments even without adequate preparation places us on the historical threshold of what one can call the magic sport practitioners springing up surprises when they are most needed because as we have been made to understand that the god of sport is a Nigerian.

Prayers alone cannot take us to the promise land if we fail to plan very well I am optimistic that with a renewed vigor by Government and a well defined operational disposition, Nigeria will be a Nation that will be envied in the nearest future. We also need to be consistent in the execution of our programmes and not change the music at every swing of the hip by the bata sport dancers. Wishing all my readers a blessed and prosperous new year

Mikel Obi looks ahead to Sunday’s tough encounter against Everton at Goodison Park.

The Nigerian midfielder will be available for Chelsea’s next two matches before he joins up with the Super Eagles in Faro.

Mikel Obi returned to action on Wednesday to help Chelsea to a 1-0 victory against Norwich after serving out his three-match ban for unsportsmanlike behaviour towards Mark Clattenburg.

The Nigerian international rues the ban as he will have to miss matches in January and February as he will be representing Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations Cup in South Africa.

“After the Norwich match there are only two more games and I’ll be away again,” Obi told his club’s official website. “I think we have to meet up on January 4, and the manager said he wants to rotate the team and bring in fresh legs.

“I’ve been playing since he [Rafael Benitez] started, so it’s probably been good to have a week or two off to recover a little and get the legs going again. I also played the first game in Japan which was quite good. Unfortunately I didn’t play in the final, I missed the last game and then Sunday was the last game to miss.”

Obi missed last Saturday’s 8-0 whitewash of Aston Villa where David Luiz impressed in midfield.

Next up for Chelsea is an away trip to Goodison Park to meet Everton, who are yet to lose on their home patch.

“We don’t need anybody to tell us about how hard it is to play at Everton; it’s always a difficult place to go for anybody.

“On their day they can beat any team at Goodison Park, and they’re in good form too. They will both be tough, but if we do well we can get something out of them if we are on our game,” he concluded.

Obi is expected to join the Super Eagles in Faro to play the last friendly match against the Cape Verde Islands on January 9.

Newcastle’s striker Shola ameobi shocked his manager Alan Pardew on Friday morning when he declared his intention to play for Nigeria at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations holding in South Africa from January 19 to February 10.

SportingLife’s checks on Newcastle’s website on Friday revaled that: “It seems there is a clause in Shola’s contract that says he will refuse to play in an African Cup of Nations tournament, but it also seems that the Nigerian born striker has changed his mind and wants to play for Nigeria next month in South Africa.”

The website also stated that: “Newcastle have no room for maneuver in this situation, and Nigeria are almost certain to get their way by getting Ameobi. It seems the only thing the European clubs get to do in this scenario is pay out huge wages to the players, who are taken away from them for up to six weeks every couple of years.There’s something wrong with that somehow – and surely the AFCON should be changed to be very four years – as soon as possible.”

Alan had said earlier this week that he will not be going, but this is what he had to say yesterday (Friday) on Newcastle’s website: “It’s something we’re trying to clear up with the authorities at the minute,” said Pardew, who is already resigned to losing Cheik Tiote to Ivory Coast. “I don’t really want to say any more than that. We seem to have two different messages coming out, but we should hopefully sort that out in the next couple of days and have a more definitive answer.”

The Nigerian coach Stephen Keshi has left former Newcastle striker Oba Martins and Aston Villa’s Peter Odemwingie out of the squad in preference to Ameobi, and he has even said he will request that FIFA suspend the Newcastle striker for the length of the tournament if the Tyneside club refuse to release him.