The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sports

  • Female boxers in thrilling bouts

    Rivers Anita Amakiri on Saturday dazzled Delight Oguazu of the Federal Capital Territory with 14 points to 2 points in the 48kg bout that thrilled fans as female boxing entered day three.

    In the event at the ongoing 18th National Sports Festival at the National Institute for Sports (NIS) Indoor Sports Hall, Sulaiman Amida of Borno beat Ahuma Ihuoma of Abia by 11-4 points also in the 48kg.

    Nancy Owohor of Benue lost to Jackson Rose of Akwa Ibom 6-2 points in the same category. Egunjobi Yetunde of Ogun beat Adeniyi Modinat of Lagos 12-4 and Kolawole Anun of Ondo beat Lily Inema of Bayelsa 8-3.

    Ohaeri Chiaima of Imo lost to Ekpelimode Sophia of Delta 8-1, while in the day’s final 48KG bout, Okon Elizabeth of Cross River defeated Liadi Rukaiyat of Kwara 6-4. The intensity of the bouts grew stronger in the 51kg category with Effiong Ndumo of Akwa Ibom losing to Yakubu Fatimo of Ondo 4-1.

    In the second bout of the category, Adeniyi Fajoke of Rivers beat Omoyayo Saadu of Ogun 4-7 to advance to the next stage of the competition. The 54kg category produced three bouts with Okoye Chioma of Delta losing to Ukaegbu Cynthia of Imo 5-1, while Frank Judith of Rivers beat Okogiwa Sandra of Edo 2-0.

    In the day’s final 54kg bout, Chukwu Roseline of Ondo lacked finesse and mobility as she lost 2-15 to Oriyomi Ayisat of Lagos. In the 57kg category, Vivian Vincent of Team Lagos advanced with a 16-11 points win over Obuseh Marvelous of Delta, while Odion Onome of Ogun beat Caro Maxwell of Edo 9-0.

    In the 64kg category, Oluwasegun Toyin of Ondo lost narrowly to Adeniji Bukola of Benue 2-4; Okeke Favour beat Busayo Alale of Gombe with referee stopping the contest in the first round. Tijani falilat of Ogun beat Amihe Chukwu of Imo 5-0; Oluwo Unke proved too strong for Abiodun Adeju as she advanced comfortably with 8-0 flawless win. Promise John of Akwa Ibom overcame Mary Emmanuel of Kano with referee stopping the contest in the second round.

    Action was intensified as the 75kg bouts between Edem Emen of Edo and Ogbo Scholota of Enugu ended early in the first round as referee stopped the contest in favour of Emen. Popoola Wuraola of Osun lost 6-12 to Adejumola Toyin of Ogun as the day’s 75kg bout was wrapped up with victory for Ekung Mary of Akwa Ibom over Mohammed Birikisi of Rivers 8-1.

  • SportingLife’s Ojeikere named Editor of the Year (Sport paper)

    It was all pomp and pageantry at the maiden edition of the Sports Business and Media Awards as crème-de-lacreme converged at the event organized by the Hally Sports International at the weekend in Lagos.

    The Chief Executive Officer, Hally Sports International, Mr. Godwin Spiff-Sagbama in his speech stated that the award is put together to recognize and also encourage the corporate world and the media men, stressing that the award would promote healthy rival in the industries.

    The awardees are; Pepsi won the sports drink of the year non-alcoholic, sports brand of the year alcoholic went to Nigerian Breweries Plc, Squadron carted the sports driven advert of the year while Nestle Milo picked the sports brand of the year confectionary, Oscar Ezinwa Football Academy won the Academy of the year.

    Other winners are; sports brand of the year finance –GTBank, sports brand of the year telecoms went to Globacom, sport administrator of the year goes to the Deputy Governor Lagos State, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Deji Omotoyinbo of Sports Vision on Classic FM won the radio presenter of the year while sports based radio presenter of the year went to Babafemi Raji. Milo World of Sports Raypower emerged sports programme regular, as Sports Machine on Brila FM was adjudge sports programme of the year.

    Sport based Radio producer regular went to Joseph Faulkner Classic FM, Radio producer sport based Femi Obong-Daniels of Nigeria info, Channels carted away the Sports TV of the year and Sports TV programme of the year (Sports to night Channels), Olalekan Okusan of The Guardian is the sports writer of the year, Romanus Ugwu of the Sun/SoccerStar emerged the Sport writer of the year sport based, Pius Ayinor of the Punch won the Sport editor of the year regular, just as the Punch became the newspaper of the year regular, Sports editor of the year sports based goes to Ade Ojeikere of Sporting Life.

    Toyin Ibitoye of Channels TV won the Sports TV presenter of the of the year, Complete Sports defeated other top contenders to the Sports newspaper of the year sport based while Ayodele Ojo of the Sun/SoccerStar won the photo journalist of the year award.

  • PARDEW LAMENTS: Newcastle miss Ameobi

    PARDEW LAMENTS: Newcastle miss Ameobi

    Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has said he would have wished for the return of Super Eagles prolific striker Shola Ameobi for today’s clash against Wigan.

    Nigeria international striker Ameobi has been out of action for more than a week due to groin.

    Pardew said he expects some of his injured players back for the Wigan home game but was unsure about Ameobi, Gabby Obertan and Ben Arfa.

    “One or two are due back. But I don’t know if they will make the next game, it is a bit tight. We can take plenty of heart into the game. I feel sorry for the players. In fact, all three should be fit for our game at Craven Cottage, where we will try to get the win against Fulham,” said the Newcastle manager.

    All three though are close to full recovery, while Shola’s younger brother, Sammy, is in line to replace Shane Ferguson on the left wing.

  • Itemuagbor hails minister over NSF policy

    Itemuagbor hails minister over NSF policy

    Foremost sports marketer and Chairman, Pamodzi Sports Marketing, Mike Itemuagbor, has saluted the speech of Sports Minister, Mallam Bolaji Abdulahi, during the opening ceremony of the National Sports Festival. Abdulahi had said at the occassion that the festival will henceforth be thrown open to both the elite and budding talents.

    “I just hope the Minister’s speech will not just be mere rhetorics but will be implemented and I must also say that competent men and women should be drafted to help organise a proper National Sports Festival as those presently saddled with that task are lacking in the proper organisation of a games of the magnitude of the National Sports Festival,” he said.

    Speaking at the weekend in Lagos, Itemuagbor said that throwing the festival open from the next edition will not only make the games a commercial attraction to corporate organisation and government but make states to jostle to host the event as well as attract the right crowd to venues. “Closed festival has actually killing the original ideals of the games. We need young talents to slug it out with the established ones and that will bring out the right competition as well as create the right ambience for the festival”.

    He recommended that the National Sports Commission should make it mandatory for all the 36 states of the federation and Abuja to host state sports festival as a condition to participating at the NSF, where athletes for the National Sports Festival will be selected to join the various invited elite athletes to compete. “I just imagine that a new athlete is competing today and Blessing Okagbare is invited and the new athlete is able to beat Okagbare, that will instantly be a future star and the world and corporate organisations will line up to support the new discovery. That is why it’s important to throw open the festival and we must commend the Minister,” he added.

    There had been controversy over the status of the NSF, with many holding different positions. Itemuagbor’s position has now helped to strenghten that of government at the highest level as Nigeria hopes to use the festival to prepare for the next Olympics in Brazil in 2018.

  • Chelsea dangle N30.5m at Ahmed Musa

    Chelsea dangle N30.5m at Ahmed Musa

    Defending UEFA Champions League winner Chelsea FC of England are reported to be chasing Nigeria international Ahmed Musa and would have to cough out a whopping transfer fee of 15 million euros (about N30.5m) to make him the third Nigerian player at Stamford Bridge.

    The CSKA Moscow attacker has flourished this season in the Russian championship, netting 8 goals in 16 matches. He was also in contention for October’s best player in the Russian Premier League.

    FootballTransfer.com.ua has reported that European champions Chelsea are closely monitoring the performances of Musa in Russia, and could table an official bid for the Nigerian as early as the winter market.

    Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal had courted Musa in the past, but did not back their interest with an official bid.

    It won’t be difficult for Musa to get a work permit in Britain as he is an established member of the Nigeria selection. On top of that, the youngster is widely regarded as one of top talents in world football.

    Allnigeriasoccer.com values Musa, who is under contract with CSKA Moscow until 2016, at a transfer fee of 15 million euros.

  • FA CUP 3RD ROUND: Southampton challenge for Mikel, Moses

    FA CUP 3RD ROUND: Southampton challenge for Mikel, Moses

    Nigeria’s duo Mikel Obi and Victor Moses will need to overcome Southampton challenge to progress in the FA Cup come January 5 and 6.

    The Chelsea duo who will form the nucleaus of Stephen Keshi’s squad to the AFCON 2013 in South Africa were Sunday draw against premiership sides Southampton in the FA Cup third round.

    Chelsea incidentally made a double last season winning both the FA Cup at Wimbley Stadium where they edged out Liverpool 2-1 and the Champions league after defeating Bayern Munich.

    The last FA Cup victory marked the fourth time the Blues will be lifting the Cup in six years.

    Other Eagles stars who will do FA Cup battle before heading for the Nations Cup include Osaze Odemwingie whose West Brom side has been pitched against Queens Park Rangers and Newcastle’s Shola Ameobi who made an impressive outing against Lone Stars of Liberia leading to Nigeria’s qualification for the continental diadem. Newcastle will face Brighton in the FA Cup clash.

  • Eguavoen seeks commissioner’s help

    Eguavoen seeks commissioner’s help

    Austin Eguavoen has returned to Port Harcourt to seek the help of the state commissioner for sports, following the recruitment situation in Calabar.

    The former Enyimba coach is currently stuck in the Canaan city with 70 players, following a ‘close camping’ experience that has left him with too many players, and no solution on how to prune the number.

    “Eguavoen returned to Calabar alone, because he is stumped on what to do about the situation. Like I said before, if he returned with 70 players, they will be almost 30 too much, and he can’t drop any because of the various interest groups,” sources in the Graden City told futaa.com.

    Egu’s return to see Fred Igwe, the commissioner, is to acquaint the man in charge with then situation, so that they can both find a solution to the developing crises.

  • 2013 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS: Moroccans woo Eagles

    2013 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS: Moroccans woo Eagles

    Twelve years after the Atlas Lions lost to Super Eagles in an AFCON 2000 meeting in Lagos, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) is wooing the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for a friendly as both countries prepare for the 29th edition of Africa’s biggest football fiesta in South Africa.

    SportingLife gathered at the weekend after Morocco’s coach Rachid Taoussi informed that his employers are in talks with the NFF.

    “My bosses are negotiating for friendly against Nigeria, and if the parties come to terms, the match is expected in the weeks leading up to the finals,” he said.

    “If we can get a friendly with Nigeria, then we may like host Botswana, Ethiopia or reigning African champions, Zambia.”

    Recall that goals from Finidi Gorge and Julius Aghahowa saw the coach Jo Bonfere led Eagles overcome the Atlas Lions in a Group D final game.

    Meanwhile, Taoussi also announced two brief training camps for home-based players and a friendly against Niger in El Jadida’s Stade El Abdi on December 12.

  • Soldiers beat Dambe athlete to coma

    Soldiers beat Dambe athlete to coma

    Lagos State Traditional Boxing (Dambe) athlete, Usman Amao yesterday received the beaten of his life in the hands of men on the Nigerian army after he allegedly protested against the decision of the officials after awarding the fight to his opponent from Yobe.

    Speaking with SportingLife after the incident, a visibly brutalized Amao said he does not know what he did to warrant such treatment from those that are supposed to be protecting the citizens.

    “What happened was that in the first round I had more points than my opponent, the second round, the guy has three points and I have three points. So the officials didn’t tell us what was the result of the last round, they just declared him winner. I now protest to the officials, I didn’t even talk to the Military men, two of them just clamp down on me, started hitting me with gun, the other started kicking my head with his boot, why? I don’t know what I did to deserve such a treatment, are they not supposed to be protecting the citizens? he queried.

    However, contrary to Amao’s claim, an official, John Gana who is the coordinator of Dambe sport at the venue, said the men in uniform saved them from being attacked by the athlete, though he could not confirm if he was beaten or not.

    “I wouldn’t know if he was beaten or not, because I was concentrating on other matters. I know there was a time Lagos people came to protest against Yobe State. After the winner was declared the boy from Lagos felt aggrieved and started approaching us, using abusive language while the Military men were just sitting behind us here. When he was still coming right at us, the men in uniform just approached him and took him away so that he might not influence others.

    “Only God knows what would have happened if he was left alone. He could have vandalized this place but thank God for the intervention of the Army. But whether they punched him or not, that I cannot say,” he noted.

    Also an eye witness, who did not want his name in print, said Amao displayed low level of sportsmanship by accusing the match officials of being biased. He said the officials did their best to calm him down but he refused.

    “Discipline is very important; I know why they (the protesters) were talking just because he (athlete) is from Lagos. If he is from my state, I will query the boy. The match officials tried to control him but he refused to listen to them. You know how military are, once they say you should stop and you refuse to, they can calm you down by force, that was what happened. Let me tell you, the combination of the officials are not the Hausa people only, there are Yorubas there that are very good in officiating,” he said.

    “The military just cornered him though I can’t say whether he was beaten down seriously or not, but I know they cornered him while I was coming out.”

  • Ideye happy with victory

    Ideye happy with victory

    Dynamo Kiev forward Brown Ideye has commented on the capital side’s 4 – 2 away win over Hoverla on Friday evening, a game which corresponded to the 18th round of matches in the Ukrainian championship.

    Dynamomania.com quoted the Super Eagle as saying: ”It was a tough game because the field was very poor. Because of this, we have tried to play with long passes, but the most important thing is that Dynamo won three points. It is important that we finish this year with victory.”

    Against Hoverla, Ideye notched his 13th goal of the season, surpassing his 12 – goal tally of the 2011 – 2012 campaign.

    ”Yes, I’m very happy. Dudu gave me a long ball, I did not drop the ball on the ground and shot was accurate,” Ideye said.