Category: Sports

The Karate Federation of Nigeria (KFN) on Thursday renewed its appeal to telecommunication establishments and private individuals in the country to respond positively to its call for sponsorship deals in 2013.

Clement Iyaluegbeghe, secretary of the federation, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview in Lagos that their sponsorships would help to revive the federation’s yearly programmes.

Iyaluegbeghe said that although the federation extended its appeal to various corporate bodies in the country, the telecommunication sector was in a better financial position to assist the federation.

“Lack of sponsorship is a major problem rocking the sport and I am making an earnest appeal to telecommunication firms and philanthropists to give positive response to our requests,” he said.

Iyaluegbeghe said that due to poor sponsorship, the federation lacked the required funds to execute its programmes, thereby keeping the athletes at a standstill.

“The situation is really affecting our athletes because there are no contests to appraise their skills and performances,” he added.

Iyaluegbegbe said that the body had visited various private and public organisations with letters, seeking for sponsorships to enable them organise competitions, but ended up with empty promises.

“We approach companies with letters to support us with funds and gifts so that our proposed yearly programmes could be executed, but we have ended up with the companies giving us unfilled promises,” he said.

According to him, the circumstances at the federation has prompted some athletes to shift to other martial art sports, which he said was not good for the development of the sport in the country.

“The situation has forced many of our athletes to develop their skills in other martial art sports, making it difficult for us to groom young and talented athletes to replace the aged ones,” Iyaluegbeghe added.

The secretary noted that required sponsorships would enhance the federation’s yearly programme for the growth of its athletes, coaches and other stakeholders in the game. He then called on state associations in each of the six geo-political zones in the country to partner and organise a series of grassroots championships in their zones for the growth of the sport.

FC Barcelona superstars, Carles Puyol, Victor Valdez, Gerard Pique and Xavi Hernandez have been named in the Catalonia squad to face Nigeria’s Super Eagles on January 2, 2013.

It is an exhibition game at the Cornella-El Prat Stadium, the home ground of La Liga club, RCD Espanyol.

Manager of the Catalonia side, Johan Cruyff named a strong squad that included 10 players from FC Barcelona, seven from RCD Espanyol and two from La Liga club, Rayo Vallecano.

Austrian club, Red Bull Salzburg, Getafe and AC Milan have one player each in the team which was unveiled in a ceremony attended by the president of the Catalonia Federation, Andreu Subies.

The friendly against the Super Eagles is Cruyff’s last game in charge of Catalonia, and he said that the best players have been chosen, leaving out players from the second division, because it is an important game and the opponents are preparing for the African Cup of Nations.

“For me it was a personal obligation. Forty years ago I was well received and have been here as a player and coach. I have fulfilled my obligations that I targeted,” the former Ajax player told mundodeportivo.com.

Head coach of the Super Eagles, Stephen Keshi also spoke about the game.

“This will be my second time of facing Catalonia as a coach. I still recall when we were preparing for the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations when I was assistant to Bonfrere Jo. We lost that game 4-1,” Keshi told supersport.com.

The ‘Big Boss’ also assured Nigerian fans not to lose sleep over the game as the team will “put in a strong performance against Catalonia.”

“We will be playing that game with a team dominated by players who ply their trade in the Nigeria Premier League. One or two foreign-based professionals will join us and I want to assure our teeming fans that the boys selected for that game will put in a strong performance against Catalonia,” Keshi explained.

Catalonia Squad

Goalkeepers : Victor Valdes (Barcelona), Kiko Casilla (Espanyol)

Defenders: Martin Montoya, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Marc Bartra, Jordi Alba (all Barcelona), Raul Rodriguez, Joan Capdevila (Espanyol), Jordi Amat (Rayo Vallecano)

Midfielders: Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez, Sergi Roberto, Cristian Tello (all Barcelona), Victor Sanchez, Joan Verdú, Sergio Tejera (Espanyol)

Strikers: Alvaro Vazquez (Getafe), Jonathan Soriano (Red Bull Salzburg), Piti (Rayo Vallecano), Sergio Garcia (Espanyol), Bojan Krkic (Milan).

Emmanuel Adebayor has refuted claims that he resigned from the Togo national team because of unpaid bonuses.

The Tottenham striker has withdrawn from Togo’s squad for the tournament which begins in January in South Africa.

Adebayor is unhappy with the organisation of the and unprofessionalism of the Togo Football Federation.

“I am hearing people saying I do not want to go to the African Nations Cup because of unpaid bonuses,” the 28-year-old told The Sun Sunday.

“I do not need a bonus from Togo- it is £1,000 per game. ‘I would not refuse to play for my country over money. It is all about the organisation-or lack of it.

“I was on the bus in Angola when people died in front of me. I held them as they died.

“Even the government do not want to pay for the treatment for the people who survived. It is not right.

“It is a terrible situation. After we qualified for South Africa I told them we had to sort things out.

“I said we needed a good organisation otherwise I was not going. Now we are going to South Africa and nothing has changed.

“South Africa is a good place but you never know what will happen so we need to be organised-but Togo will not be. That is why I am not going.”

He continued: ”When I go back to play for Togo, most of the time they never even pay me back for the air fare.

”That does not matter. This is not about money as I am lucky to earn a good living. This is about the safety.

”I have paid for other players as well as they often go to an airport in another country to fly home but there is no ticket waiting for them. ‘Or we go to a hotel for a game and no one has booked the rooms. Sometimes there are only 10 rooms booked for the entire travelling squad.

”There should be 20 rooms booked, not 10, so we have to pay the extra. We could be in a hotel where the toilets do not work.”

Adebayor was on the Togo team bus when it was attacked by gunmen en route to Angola for the 2010 Nations Cup finals.

Ghana have rejected a request by Espanyol to have midfielder Mubarak Wakaso delay his arrival for their pre-African Cup of Nations camp next week, MTNFootball.com can exclusively reveal.

The Black Stars will start camping in Abu Dhabi on 4 January for Africa’s flagship football tournament to be held in South Africa.

The Spanish top-flight side were hoping to have their key midfielder Wakaso for the La Liga derby clash against Barcelona on 6 January.

Espanyol asked the GFA to allow Wakaso to join his Ghana team-mates in the UAE on 7 January which could have made him available for the tough match a day earlier.

But Espanyol insiders have told MTNFootball.com that the GFA has rejected the request insisting that the player must join camp on 4 January just like all the other players in the Black Stars squad.

This means Wakaso will not be available for Espanyol’s biggest match of the season as the midfielder will now join the Ghana team on the date set by coach Kwesi Appiah.

Almost all the players invited for the Black Stars camping including the Europe-based stars, who are currently on holidays in the country, will travel with the squad from Accra.

Ghana will be camping in the UAE city of Abu Dhabi in preparation for the competition to be held in South Africa from January 19 to February 10.

The Black Stars have been drawn in Group B where they will face DR Congo, Mali and Niger.

Nigeria international Peter Odemwingie has shared his thoughts and impressions on the state of Russian players – Pavel Pogrebnyak and Andrei Arshavin- in the English Premier League.

“Pogrebnyak started the season well for Reading. He was praised in the local media. But they write a little about Arshavin. Journalists need heroes, Reading and Arsenal are not shining this season. Pogrebnyak’s team, it is obvious they will be fighting for survival.

“Regarding Arshavin, for him now is the important point. All teams in December and January have a very busy schedule. Under these conditions increases injuries plus players are eliminated through suspension. I am saying that Andrei certainly has a chance to remain in Arsenal. And how he uses this opportunity depends on his future,” Odemwingie told bobsoccer.ru.

Andrei Arshavin is being linked with a move to Reading in the January transfer window. But he is not satisfied with the wages the club is offering.

Former Nigeria defender Chikelu Iloenyusi has stated that Peter Odemwingie’s attack on the Nigeria Football Federation and coach Stephen Keshi is justifiable, declaring that the player was not treated with respect.

He also said the former Locomotiv Moscow player is ‘not the only stubborn player in Nigeria.’ The West Brom striker has been unleashing series of attacks on the top Nigerian football officials following his omission from Nigeria’s preliminary squad to the forthcoming Nations Cup. And Iloenyusi said he had the same experience in the build up to Mali 2002 while Keshi was an assistant coach in the team.

“When you want to drop a big player nothing stops you from telling him the reasons why you won’t call him but because nobody wants to take responsibility. He should have told him why he dropped him. He has been doing so well and he helped us qualify for the last World Cup. but why are they treating him this way. The same thing that they did to Osaze is what they did to me before Mali 2002. They never told me anything on why I would not be part of the team to the Nations Cup and it was like an insult to me because nobody can explain to me why I was dropped from the squad,” he said.

Danny Shittu has informed Nigeria that he will be unable to represent the country at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Millwall defender is one of 32 players called up by coach Stephen Keshi to attend a pre-tournament camp in Portugal. But the defender emailed the NFF on Thursday saying he would be unable to accept the call-up because he had ‘made other commitments’ that he is unable to get out of. However, the NFF maintains that they will insist on enforcing the rules to ensure the player reports to camp.

“Our position on this is very clear, and it has not changed,” NFF spokesman Ademola Olajire told KickOffNigeria.com. “Every player invited to camp must show up. We know the rules, and we are prepared to enforce it in this, or any other instance.”

KickOffNigeria.com understands that the NFF have already responded to Shittu rejecting his reasons and asking him to report as scheduled.

If the defender fails to report, and Nigeria report him to FIFA, not only would he be unable to play for Millwall for the duration of Nigeria’s participation at the tournament, but for an extra five days after, according to Art 6(2) of the FIFA Player Status Regulations.

Twelve Super Eagles players trained at the team’s camping site on Friday under the watchful eyes of the coaches Stephen Keshi, Daniel Amokachi and Ike Shorunmu, five hours after touching down in Faro, Portugal.

Players were immediately attended to in terms of accommodation and training effectively took off at 4:30 local time, which is 5:30 Nigeria time. The 12 players currently in camp in Faro are Goalkeepers Chigozie Agbim and Dan Akpeyi. Godfrey Oboabona, Azubuike Egwueke, Solomon Kwambe, Papa Idris, Henry Uche, Sunday Mba, Gabriel Reuben, Ejike Uzoenyi, Benjamin Francis and Norway based Fegor Ogude.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles Friday afternoon in Faro, Portugal continued its final phase of preparation for the African Cup of Nations after two weeks of rigorous training in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

Head Coach Stephen Okechukwu Keshi led 12 players, his four assistants and backroom staff to the Faro camp after flying to Portugal from Accra, Ghana on Thursday night. The team left Abuja for Accra at about 5:30pm Nigerian time after initial delay of the flight that was scheduled to leave earlier.

The TAP Portugal flight that was to take the team from Accra to Lisbon in Portugal was also delayed but finally took off at about 12 am Nigerian time after a one hour delay. At exactly 5:25am Nigerian time, the plane touched down at the Lisbon International Airport. Nigeria is one hour ahead of Portugal in time zones.

After immigration formalities, two buses were waiting to convey the team to Faro, Portugal where the team will stay till January 16, when it will relocate to Nelspruit in South Africa, where it will stay for the AFCON championship. The smooth bus ride took exactly three hours, which meant the players and officials had breakfast in Faro at the serene Browns Sports And Leisure Club, in Vilamoura area of Faro.

Weather in Faro is fair, as it has been hovering between 13-16 degrees celcius, which will be similar to what the players will experience when hostilities start at AFCON 2013.

Most of the foreign based players are expected to start trickling into camp from today.