The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sports

  • Ebele Obi dreams glory with Heartland

    Ebele Obi dreams glory with Heartland

    Heartland new signing Ebele Obi has said he hopes to win his first NPL title with ‘The Naze Millionaires’ in the new season.

    The older brother of Chelsea star Mikel Obi, goalkeeper Obi told MTNFootball.com that he believes with the organisation and quality of players in Heartland he could achieve his NPL target.

    “My main target with Heartland is to be crowned the league champions. I have never won the Nigeria league and that is my dream with Heartland,” he declared.

    “We have the players who can make me achieve that this season. And with a little bit of luck, we can do it.”

    Ebele Obi has featured for Mighty Jets and Rangers. He was without a club last season after he was released by Rangers.

    Heartland last won the league in 1993 as Iwuanyanwu Nationale and last season, they finished eighth on the NPL table.

    However, they successfully retained the Nigeria FA Cup and will again represent the country in next year’s CAF Confederation Cup.

  • CLATTENBURG RACE ROW: Mikel banned

    CLATTENBURG RACE ROW: Mikel banned

    Barely 24hours he signed a new five-year deal with Chelsea, the English FA have announced that Super Eagles midfielder John Obi Mikel has been given a three-match ban and fined £60,000 (about N15,142,187million) for “using threatening and/or abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour” in the aftermath of his side’s game against Manchester United in October.

    The Nigerian international stormed into the match officials’ changing room after the Blues’ 3-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge and angrily confronted referee Mark Clattenburg, who he allegedly believed to have racially abused him, according to what he had been told by team-mate Ramires.

    The referee was recently cleared of any misbehaviour, and Mikel’s personal disciplinary hearing will keep him out of Satrday’s match against Sunderland.

    The statement on the FA’s official website read: “Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel has been given a three-match suspension to begin with immediate effect and fined £60,000 following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing today [Thursday 6 December 2012].

    “Mikel had requested a personal hearing after admitting an FA charge of using threatening and/or abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour.

    “The breach of FA Rule E3 was in relation to an incident which occurred in the match official’s changing room at the end of Chelsea’s fixture against Manchester United on 28 October 2012.

    “The Regulatory Commission’s independent chairman Christopher Quinlan QC emphasised that the Independent Regulatory Commission accepted, as did The FA, that at the time he threatened the referee the player genuinely believed that the referee had racially abused him.

    “But for that factor the suspension would have been significantly longer.

    Subsequently The FA investigated the allegation that the referee racially abused the player and found that there was not a case for him to answer.”

  • Osaze fit to gun down Arsenal — Clarke

    Osaze fit to gun down Arsenal — Clarke

    STEVE Clarke says Ben Foster’s recovery from a second minor groin operation remains on track – and he has given Super Eagles ace, Osaze Odemwingie and the rest of his squad a clean bill of health ahead of Saturday’s trip to Arsenal.

    The Albion No.1 will miss the Emirates Stadium clash and the Baggies boss insists it is too early to say if he will be fit to face West Ham eight days later.

    But the illness that affected Boaz Myhill, Billy Jones and Yassine El Ghanassy over the last fortnight has cleared up in the Baggies camp.

    “Ben is working well and he is on schedule,” said Clarke.

    “Apart from that I have everyone else available. We’ll decide on whether he’s available for the following game next week.”

  • Burkina Faso afraid of Nigeria — Put

    Burkina Faso afraid of Nigeria — Put

    BURKINA Faso coach Paul Put says he is afraid of Nigeria at next month’s Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

    In an interview, Put said his team would start as outsiders in their group that comprises Nigeria, Ethiopia and reining defending champions, Zambia.

    Put said it would be difficult to qualify to the quarterfinal because Nigeria and Zambia would start as favourites in the group.

    He said Nigeria had always been a powerhouse in African football while Zambia as defending champions would be difficult to beat .

    “We have two tough teams; Nigeria is a foot-balling nation; Zambia showed their strength at the 2012 tournament, so this is a very tough group. Even Ethiopia would be difficult to beat because they want to prove a point after missing out on the tournament for so many years,” Put said.

    He said his team would have to work extra hard and rely on other team’s misfortunes to progress to the quarterfinal.

    “With football, anything is possible; there are surprises because results depend on many factors like injuries and suspensions. I followed Zambia during the 2012 tournament and they play as a collective team with a big heart. We are outsiders in this group,” he said.

    “We are hoping to improve on our last performance because last time we failed to win any match.”

    Put said his team would start preparations in January when all the players were available, adding that he had only assembled seven local players so far.

    Zambia won its maiden Africa Cup in February this year after beating Ivory Coast 8-7 on post-match penalties following a scoreless stalemate in regulation and extra-time.

  • Team Rivers shatters Lagos’ dream

    Team Rivers shatters Lagos’ dream

    Team Rivers on Thursday shattered the dream of Team Lagos to win the female handball gold medal after defeating them 29-25 in the final match at the ongoing 18th National Sports Festival in Lagos.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the third place match of the category was won by Team Ondo which defeated Team Plateau 20-15 to win the bronze medal.

    Rivers had earlier defeated Plateau 25-21, while Lagos defeated Ondo 33-20 in the semi-finals, to qualify for the final of the event at the Handball Courts of the University of Lagos (UNILAG).

    Meanwhile, Team Lagos and Team Borno have qualified for the finals of the male category of the event, while Team Sokoto will tackle Team Ondo in the third place match.

    George Somiari, Vice Chairman, Rivers State Handball Association, told NAN that their victory in the female category was a consolation for the state’s disqualificaton in the male category, on technical grounds.

    The Rivers male team was disqualified for fielding an unregistered player in their quarter-final match against Team Sokoto which they won 35-27 and the match was awarded to Sokoto.

    “I am overjoyed; this victory is a consolation for us after we were disqualified on technical ground in the male category by the organisers. The disqualification did not, however, discourage or demoralise our female team. In fact, it further toughened their spirit to fight to the finish. If not for the disqualification, we would have successfully defended the two categories.“ he said.

    Somiari attributed the good co-ordination and their players’ discipline to their desire to win the female gold medal. Olusanjo Ogundoro, Team Rivers Coach, said that the athletes were motivated with good pay by the state government.

    “Our athletes are motivated to win over and over again in the festival generally because they receive attractive welfare packages from the state government,“ he said.

    Shittu Agboola, Lagos State Handball Coach said they lost due to a costly mistake made by their goalkeeper during the match and luck, which he said was not on their side.

    “We tried our best, but luck was not on our side and our keeper was not experienced enough. We will work hard to get a goalkeeper trainer before Calabar 2014,“ he added.

  • Team Kwara charged to win more medals

    Team Kwara charged to win more medals

    The chairman House Committee on Sports, Kwara State House of Assembly, Adamu Ibrahim Sabi has charged the state contingents at the ongoing National Sports Festival to be good ambassadors and win more laurels for the state as the game progresses.

    Sabi, while addressing the Paralympians during the Committee’s oversight visit to Lagos, venue of the 18th edition of the games, praised the special athletes for making the state proud at the festival.

    He said the state was aware of the athletes’ selfless service, adding that they would be rewarded during and after the games.

    The chairman charged the Management of the Sports Council and the State Ministry of Sports to embark on grassroots sports development and scout for talents, as part of preparation of the state for the 2014 festival.

    Sabi also urged Tertiary institutions in the state to give priority to sports to ensure the sound development of the students.

    Also speaking, Special Assistant to the Kwara State governor on Sports, Toyin Olokoba assured the athletes of govenment support, adding that having taken note of the lapses witnessed during Team Kwara’s preparation towards Eko 2012, those lapses would be corrected ahead of the next edition to be hosted by Cross River State.

    Earlier, a Board Member of the state Sports Council, Haruna Maigidansanmo stressed the need to adequately motive the athletes to achieve results and called for increase in the subvention of the council among other things to be able to perform effectively.

    Also speaking, the Head of the Organising Committee of the state Sports Council, Jimoh Oke explained the challenges facing the council, in which he employed the state Assembly to come to their aid.

    Responding on behalf of the athletes, the captain of Paralympics table tennis, Issa Abdulllahi thanked the state government for the motivation and support before and during the games.

    He charged the state government to provide their needs in the areas of equipment, increment in their allowances and permanent employment to keep them from begging after winning medals for the state.

    Sabi was accompanied by a member of the Committee, Hassan Oyeleke, and the House of Assembly Director of Information, Sunday Adeleke.

  • Rangers reject Otorogu

    Rangers reject Otorogu

    Enugu Rangers will not sign former Orlando Pirates striker Ezenwa Otorogu, who has been training with them for several weeks.

    MTNFootball.com checks have already revealed that the big striker has already begun training with Rangers neighbours Heartland with the hope to sign for the Owerri club.

    Otorogu, who has also featured for Enyimba, demanded a 12 million Naira fee to rejoin former club Rangers after he was released by another South African club Bloemfontein Celtic.

    He scored a couple of goals but mainly from the penalty spot for Rangers in pre-season training.

    However, there were concerns over his fitness with speculations he is nursing an injury.

    Otorogu had his first training with Heartland on Wednesday.

    “He is now training with us,” said Heartland skipper Chinedu Efugh.

  • Caf Under 17 championship: Draws hold Dec. 9

    Caf Under 17 championship: Draws hold Dec. 9

    Golden Eaglets’ assistant coach, Nduka Ugbade has said his side have shifted attention towards qualifying Nigeria for next year’s FIFA Under17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

    The Eaglets at the weekend defeated the Junior Eagles of Mali 4-0 on aggregate to book a passage to the African cadet showpiece billed for the North African state, Morocco from April 13 to 27.

    CAF is billed to hold the draws for the championship on December 9 in Morocco. The eight teams for the draws are hosts Morocco, Nigeria, Ghana, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire, Botswana, Congo and Gabon.

    Ugbade said they have decided to cut short the celebration trailing their qualification to pay undivided attention to doing well at the African championship in Morocco.

    “Our emphasis right now is to work hard towards qualifying for the World Cup in the UAE, that means we must finish among the top four at the African championship coming up in Morocco in the second week of April.

    “As much as we appreciate the encomium that greeted our qualification, we’re playing down the celebration to concentrate on the task ahead.

    “We’re not unmindful of the fact that the team still need some touch here and there; we have to move fast to cover the loopholes observed during the qualifiers to ensure we go to Morocco not only to qualify for the World Cup but to win the African title,” the former Nigerian player said to supersport.com.

    The former Eaglets’ captain said his wards are not afraid of any foe as the date for the draws gets closer.

    “We’re ready to face any opponent. We’re not losing sleep over the group we’ll fall into. Our priority is to prepare very well for the championship.

    “We want to be champions and should be ready to face any obstacle that may come our way.

    “We have an existing unbeaten record to maintain. CAF should feel free to draw us against any country; we’re battle-ready,” he enthused.

  • Open sports festival: Swimming federation backs Abdullahi

    Open sports festival: Swimming federation backs Abdullahi

    The Nigeria Swimming Federation (NSF) on Thursday said it supported the idea of making subsequent National Sports Festivals open to elite athletes.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Bolaji Abudullahi, Minister of Sports and Chairman, National Sports Commission (NSC), recently suggested the idea for the Games to be made open.

    NSF president Babatunde Fatayi-Williams, who disclosed the federation’s position during an interview with NAN, said that making it open would make it highly competitive. He said that the local and elite athletes should be given the opportunity to show their skills for the country to have an array of potentials.

    “I think it’s a good idea to throw the sports festival open to all athletes because it will give room for serious competition which will also make talents to be discovered,’’ Fatayi-Williams said.

    The NSF boss said that giving the elite athletes the opportunity to participate would not affect the performance of the local athletes.

    According to him, when local and elite athletes participate together, it will make it possible to set new national records. Fatayi-Williams said that elite athletes suffered from neglect which made them to be out of sports early, adding that states usually invested their resources in them to bring `returns’.

    “National records can only be broken when elite athletes compete with the local ones; it will give the states the opportunity to select as many athletes as possible. Elite athletes are discouraged and suffer neglect because states will only invest in athletes who can bring their fortunes back,’’ he said.

    Fatayi-Williams recalled that the best sports festival so far was in 2006 at Abeokuta, Ogun, tagged “Gateway Games’’ because elite athletes competed and even broke records.

    NAN reports that Delta is dominating in swimming at the ongoing 18th National Sports Festival, tagged “Eko 2012’’ with 28 medals so far, comprising 10 gold, nine silver and nine bronze.

    Ondo is trailing Delta with 10 medals, including five gold, three silver and two bronze, while Edo is in the third position with three gold and a silver.

  • Joel Obi: I’ll be OK for AFCON

    Joel Obi: I’ll be OK for AFCON

    Inter Milan ace Joel Obi has assured he will be fully fit for the 2013 AFCON after he recently had a relapse of a muscle injury.

    In October, after being out since March Obi returned to action with Inter in a Europa League game and even scored against Azerbaijani champions Neftci PFK in a 3-1 away win.

    However, the injury relapsed against Catania in an Italian Serie A fixture on October 21.

    His injury problems have raised concerns over his chances of making the Eagles squad to next year’s Nations Cup as he has only played a bit role in the qualifiers.

    “I’m happy I’m back in training, trying to get 100% fit and be ready for both my club and Nigeria,” Obi said on a radio interview programme on Thursday. “I will be fit for the Nations Cup. I still have more to give to Nigeria.” Obi said he expects the fans to back the Eagles at the 2013 Nations Cup in South Africa.

    “We won’t disappoint them but we would need their support,” he said.

    Inter host high-riding Napoli on Sunday and Obi said he is looking forward to be available for that game.