The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sports

  • Plateau to present 399 athletes, officials

    Plateau to present 399 athletes, officials

    The Plateau Commissioner for Sports Development, James Yakubu, on Thursday said that a contingent of 399 athletes and officials would represent the state at the 18th National Sports Festival in Lagos State.

    Yakubu, who disclosed this in Jos, said the athletes would feature in 23 sports.

    He said the state government had provided what would make the athletes comfortable, to enable them to be able to perform at their very best at the 14-day fiesta.

    According to him, government had taken delivery of sports equipment needed for the festival and has released funds for the payment of athletes’ allowances, as well as their other needs.

    The commissioner, who said the issue of accommodation and other logistics had been taken care of, charged the athletes to reciprocate the government’s gesture by wining laurels.

    He announced that a sum of N500, 000 was being set aside as reward for athletes that would win medals.

    “We have made available N500, 000 as an on-the-spot reward for athletes who will win medals. It is a way of encouraging the athletes toward a result-oriented outing,’’ he said.

    Yakubu said the contingent would surpass its 12th position at the 17th edition of the Games, tagged “Garden City Games,’’ in Port Harcourt in 2011.

    He disclosed that Gov. Jonah Jang would today address the athletes ahead of their trip to Lagos.

  • Reuben yet to sign for Pillars

    Reuben yet to sign for Pillars

    Eagles star Gabriel Reuben has yet to sign for Pillars, fueling speculations he could finally be on his way to Europe in the winter.

    Top officials informed MTNFootball.com that the highly-rated Reuben has already been cleared by a London-based agent, who will now sell him when the January transfer window opens.

    “He has not signed for Pillars for the new season. He has been sold to an agent,” an official informed.

    Gombe United ace Samuel Mathias has already been signed by champions Pillars as a direct replacement for Reuben. The former Enyimba defensive midfield star passed over a chance to join top Belgian club Gent in the summer.

    Reuben, who has been nursing a groin injury, has therefore not been training with Pillars, while his other national team players at Pillars like Papa Idris, Umar Zango and Mannir Ubale have rejoined the team.

    Papa Idris featured for Pillars in Tuesday’s friendly against the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) football team.

  • Toure, Drogba, three others listed for BBC award

    Toure, Drogba, three others listed for BBC award

     

    The five candidates for the BBC African Footballer of the Year 2012 award have been revealed.

    Yaya Toure has made the shortlist for the second consecutive year and he is joined by his Ivory Coast team-mate Didier Drogba, Senegal’s Demba Ba, Morocco’s Younes Belhanda and Zambia skipper Christopher Katongo.

    BBC reports that the winner will be decided by African football fans, who have until 1830 GMT on Thursday, December 13 to vote for their choice.

    The fans can either vote via this page or by sending an SMS from their phones to +44 7786 20 50 75:

    Text 1 for Demba Ba

    Text 2 for Younes Belhanda

    Text 3 for Didier Drogba

    Text 4 for Christopher Katongo

    Or Text 5 for Yaya Toure

    The winner will be announced on December 17.

  • Itodo determined to shine in Rangers

    Itodo determined to shine in Rangers

    Goalkeeper Akor Itodo believes he still has lots of work to do if he is to get a regular shirt in Enugu Rangers following his move from El Kanemi at the start of the month.

    Itodo has been in great form since joining the Flying Antelopes but told futaa.com he still have at least two other rivals ahead of him in the pecking order of coach Okey Emordi’s team.

    And after recording another clean sheet in Rangers’ pre-season friendly clash with ATC Academy on Monday, the 18-year-old keeper reckons he must work up his socks if he will have to make a claim for a regular shirt.

    “I’m in good form but then I still have a lot to do if I want to play regualarly for my club. I need to work har because we have some quality goalkeeper in Rangers,” he said.

    Itodo has kept in all of Rangers’ last five pre-season matches conceding just one goal in over 450 minutes of action. He was outstanding for El Kanemi in the Federation Cup where he kept two clean sheets in three matches at the Lagos Centre.

  • AFCON 2013: Ideye dreads Chipolopolo

    AFCON 2013: Ideye dreads Chipolopolo

    Dynamo Kiev striker Brown Ideye has said defending champions Zambia will still be the team to beat in South Africa as they play as a team.

    Nigeria are drawn with the Chipolopolo in the first round of next year’s AFCON after they eliminated them in the quarterfinal of the competition two years ago in Angola.

    The Eagles also beat Zambia 2-0 last November in a friendly in Kaduna, northern Nigeria, but Ideye said the champions will be a tough preposition because they play as a team.

    “Zambia have been together for a while and they understand each other very well, that was why they were able to win the Nations Cup,” Ideye told MTNFootball.com.

    “We have the players that can win the Nations Cup, but we must first be a team where the players understand each other. We need to play together a lot more. We therefore need time to play together and understand how the coach wants us to play at all times.”

    Ideye improved his chances of making the final squad to the tournament with a well-taken effort against Venezuela last week, but he faces a fierce competition for squad places from the likes of Ike Uche, Emmanuel Emenike, Obafemi Martins and Shola Ameobi.

  • Sports City shops decry low patronage

    Sports City shops decry low patronage

    With five days to the commencement of the 18th National Sports Festival (NSF) some sports shops at the National Stadium in Lagos on Wednesday decried the low patronage of customers.

    Some of the sales persons who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interview said that they were yet to feel the impact of the festival in their sales.

    Tina Nwaizu, a sales girl at the Independent Sports Stores, said that the build-up to the festival has impacted on their sales. ‘’Our shop is well stocked with sports equipment, but we are yet to experience any increase in our daily sales so far,’’ she said.

    Also, the owner of Filmo Sports Limited at the Stadium who refused to disclose her name, said that the festival has not impacted positively on her business.

    ‘’In the past, if a big event like this is coming up, shops around the stadium usually enjoy high patronage. People always come in to buy items before the competition. Everywhere is so dry, people are not demanding for goods. It just as if the festival is not holding in Lagos,’’ she said.

  • Enyeama escapes death

    Enyeama escapes death

    Nigeria’s football community would have been thrown into mourning as goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama escaped death after a rocket fired by Hamas exploded above his Maccabi Tel Aviv’s training ground, forcing the Super Eagles vice-captain and other players to take cover from falling shrapnel.

    Robert Earnshaw, Enyeama’s teammate, who is on a season-long loan from Cardiff told The Sun of the United Kingdom that they have been witnessing escalating violence in the troubled area at first hand. More than 110 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed since the current conflict began last Wednesday.

    Hamas rockets have been fired at Tel Aviv from Gaza, and Earnshaw detailed the moment one of those missiles was intercepted as he, Enyeama and others were training, forcing players to flee for safety.

    He said: “I looked over to my left and saw all the Israeli guys, who had all done three years’ service in the army. They knew exactly what was going on.

    “One of them shouted that Enyeama, other foreign players and I had to take cover up by the side of the dressing rooms, so we just ran after them.

    “Then we heard a loud bang of the Iron Dome – a new protection system used to intercept rockets. We then had to protect ourselves from all the shrapnel coming down.”

    Maccabi lost 1-0 at Beni Yehuda last Saturday despite another raid taking place just 45 minutes before kick-off.

    Meanwhile, Maccabi Tel Aviv announced Wednesday that its player travelled north to the new training facility in Netanya in order to hold its practice outside of the Dan region missile range.

    After enjoying a day off on Tuesday, Oscar Garcia’s players wet back to practicing and began preparing for the league game this Saturday against HaPoel “Nir” Ramat HaSharon.

  • Badminton official warns against rule violations

    Badminton official warns against rule violations

    Amechi Akawo, Secretary, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), on Wednesday warned players against the use of banned substances during the 18th National Sports Festival (NSF).

    He also noted that engaging in any form of incriminating acts would attract sanctions from the federation, in line with international regulations.

    Akawo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that any player found to have cheated through the use of illegal substances would be penalised, in accordance with the rules of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

    “If for any reason, a player wins a laurel illegally, such player would either be banned from participating at the next NSF or have the medal withdrawn and awarded to his opponent. We will practise what is obtainable at the Olympics and the BWF because the festival is our own Olympics. We will not tolerate any form of misconduct,’’ he warned.

    The secretary, then, advised athletes to adhere strictly to the rules, saying winning at all costs could tarnish the image of the athlete and the state.

    “When we see a potential talent, the BFN would gladly manage such player but if you win through an unfair means, such a player has disgraced himself and his or her state,’’ Akawo said.

    He said the BFN already had developmental plans to harness talents discovered from the festival and move them into the junior national team, to be formed after the festival.

    “It will be the beginning of change for the athletes’ careers because we are looking for young talents for future world junior competitions.

    “We want to form a strong younger team that can replace the likes of Ifraimu Jinkam and Enejo Abah, but they need to start from somewhere and the festival will help them,’’ he said.

    The BWF was founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation.

  • Asoju-Oba table tennis championships: Kazeem Adeniyi is first upset seed

    Asoju-Oba table tennis championships: Kazeem Adeniyi is first upset seed

    The ongoing 44th Asoju-Oba table tennis championships on Wednesday recorded its first upset as Kazeem Adeniyi, the number two seeded player, lost his quarter-final match to unseeded Olarenrewaju Ojongbede.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adeniyi of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) lost 8-11, 7-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-5 and 8-11 (2-4) to Ojongbede of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF).

    The highly-entertaining encounter received a standing ovation from the appreciative crowd at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos. Adeniyi, who was last year’s men’s singles runner-up, told NAN that he prepared well for the competition, but still found it hard to believe how the upset happened.

    He said he would work hard on his shortcomings, in order to perform optimally at the 2013 edition of the championships. “I trained well, but I still find the upset hard to believe, I will continue to work on areas where I performed poorly,’’ he said.

    Ojongbede said that the match was strenuous and that he was ready to take on other top-rated players in his quest for the men’s singles title. “I never believed I could defeat such a brilliant player; the game was tough, but I think God was on my side,’’ Ojongbede said.

    Meanwhile, Oluranti Lajide, an International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Umpire, also said that the competition had become more challenging as most of the new players were holding their own against the accomplished ones.

    “The competition has just recorded its first upsets and with the calibre of players on parade here, we will witness more upsets before the end of the tournament,’’ Lajide said.

    He noted that the players were playing according to the ITTF rules, adding that they only needed to be brushed up in the area of services.

    Results from other gruelling matches in the second round showed that other seeded players in the men’s singles were able to scale through to the quarter-finals of the championships. Ganiu Ashimiyu, number one seed of NSCDC defeated an unseeded Kehinde Awobajo of Union Bank Club 11-7, 11-0, 11-4 and 11-4 (4-0), to move to the quarter-finals.

    Olajide Omotayo, seeded number six at NSCDC, also defeated an unseeded Adeyinka Ahmed of Spring Fresh 11-6, 11-5, 11-8, 6-11 and 11-0 (4-1). Number three player, Gbenga Anthony of Union Bank Club also outplayed an unseeded and clubless Bolaji Shobayo 11-10, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5 and 11-10 (4-1).

    NAN reports that semi-final matches at the championships will be played on Thursday.

  • Wikki appoint Maidajin

    Wikki appoint Maidajin

    Nigeria Premier League (NPL) club, Wikki Tourists have named Yakubu Maidajin as their new technical adviser.

    Maidajin replaced Ladan Bosso who has joined former Nigerian champions, Bayelsa United. Wikki Tourists’ chairman, Sule Chindo confirmed the development to supersport.com adding that the management of the Bauchi based Club would support Yakubu in his quest for honours.

    “We wanted to replace Bosso with former Nasarawa United coach, Bala Nikyu but Yakubu has convinced us that he is capable of steering the club. His mandate is to get a continental ticket this coming season and we would give him all needed support,” Chindo said to supersport.com.

    Speaking to Supersport.com on his elevation, Maidajin said: “Special thanks to the management of Wikki Tourists who chose me and I promise to fly high next season.”

    Wikki Tourists finished the past season on 51 points from 36 matches.