The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sports

  • The Nation Wanderers tackle Eko FM today

    The Nation Wanderers will tackle Eko FM today in one of the opening matches of the 5-a-side football event of the NUJ Games at National Stadium, Lagos.

    The encounter which holds at the indoor hall of the National Institute of Sports, NIS, and gymnasium hall of the National Stadium,will kick-off at about 11 am and is expected to see the best of The Nation Wanderers who recently took a trip to the Super Eagles’ camp in Abuja for tactical lessons.

    Interestingly, the Group Sports Editor of The Nation/SportingfLife Newspapers, Ade Ojeikere, who will be on hand to cheer the squad, has also promised that his ‘boys’ will smile to the bank if the squad sinks Eko FM at the end of the hostilities.

    Speaking on the match, SportingLife’s Uchenna Ajah warned that The Nation Wanderers will be out to give Eko FM a run for their money.

    He said: “We are not just the fastest selling newspapers on the stand, we are also eager to show that we are here to improve on our previous fourth place finish. Come Saturday, we are going to give Eko FM a bit of what the Super Eagles will do to Liberia in the final AFCON qualifier in Calabar next weekend.”

  • 350 athletes in Chukwumerije Taekwondo meet — Official

    No fewer than 350 athletes are in Abuja to participate in the maiden Chika Chukwumerije Taekwondo Competition,according to Ferguson Oluigbo, President of the Taekwondo RefereesAssociation of Nigeria.

    Oluigbo, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, in Lagos, said that the competition would hold between Oct. 6 and Oct. 7 in Abuja. He said that the competition would be glamorous, adding that it was certain to produce many talented champions.

    Oluigbo added that the competition would also serve as a training ground for the athletes to hone their fighting skills ahead of the 18th National Sports Festival, scheduled to hold in Lagos from Nov.27 to Dec. 9.

    “It will afford coaches opportunities to select those to represent them at the sports festival,’’ he said.

  • 3SC sack six players

    Six players of Ibadan based side, Shooting Stars Sports Club have been declared surplus to requirement and, subsequently, have been sacked, SportingLife can exclusively report.

    SportingLife gathered from a source that the affected players were dropped for loss of form and gross indiscipline.

    Kinsley Elvis, Raheem Owolabi and Tope Orelope are the affected players. The others are former Sunshine Stars striker Kabiru Alausa, Afeez Awakan and Christiano Kelechi.

    A source said the management took the decision in a bid to raise a formidable team for the coming season and a continental ticket that they missed last season.

    “The club can no longer keep players that will not add any value to the team. We were very close to getting a continental ticket last season and we want to better our performance next season. The players were also dropped for lack of form and gross indiscipline,” the source said.

    “The players were shocked claiming they have been badly treated.

    “They queried the justification for dropping them. They claimed that the club did not give them enough chance to prove themselves. They were very sad,” the source added.

    The trio of Elvis, Okanlawon and Orelope, it was learnt, challenged the decision.

    Elvis, who was signed from Rangers International of Enugu during the week 9 transfer window, claimed some people from the club were against his success. He had earlier played for the team in the 2004/2005 season

    Orelope was among the players that were placed on transfer last season but was later recalled.

    “Orelope was among the players that were asked to leave the club last season before he was called back but he has not changed. He had poor performances last season and I doubt if he will ever make a comeback to the team again.”

    Awakan, who was signed from FC Ebeide, it was gathered, played only two league matches last season.

  • ‘Local players have everything to gain’

    A midst the usual fears and insinuations that local players will be made mince-meat of by their foreign counterparts at the Governor’s Cup, Tournament Director Wale Oladunjoye has submitted that Nigerian players have everything to gain, noting that having a tournament that brings players from accross the globe to the country is another way of exposing the local players.

    Most local players, according to him, will not only become match-rusty if a championship of the Governor’s Cup calibre is missing in the tennis calendar, they might also be forced to part ways with the game due to fruastration.

    “It is a known fact that our players do not have the capacity like their foriegn counterparts to travel and compete in championships regularly, the Governor’s Cup is a way of bringing players from far and wide to come and compete with them at home.

    “They may not neccessarily win, but the exposure is important to their career,” he said.

    Oladunjoye, who doubles as the Special Assistant to the Lagos State Government on grassroots sports development, described landmark enteries from over 55 countries of the world ahead of the 12th edition which serves off October 13th at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club Onikan, otherwise called home of tennis in Nigeria, as an indication that the Lagos show has become a major hit in the world tennis calendar.

    Aside from the $80,000 prize money up for grabs, about N70 million has been set aside to ensure a hitch-free organisation of the tournament that has seved as a stepping stone for many players who later made their mark at the Grand Slam including Sania Mirza of India, Nina Bratchikova of Russia, Kristina Kucova of Slovakia among others.

  • Ukah racially abused in Poland

    Ukah racially abused in Poland

    Ugochukwu Ukah suffered racial abuse from fans after he featured for Jagiellonia Bialystok against Pogon in a league match.

    Narrating his ordeal to MTNFootball.com, the Nigeria defender, who has been capped once by his country, said he never expected such a thing but was comforted by an immediate apology.

    “I was racially abuse by a fan who went ahead to spit on me. After our game with Pogon I went to where the fans were to appreciate them, but a couple of them refused to shake my hands and instead insulted me and one even spat on me,” he said.

    “The police were swift to act and picked out the person who did that. I was not happy with it, but the Mayor of city of Bialystok called me to his office to tender a public apology to me for what happened and assured me the culprit would be charged to court. I was comforted by the city Mayor’s gesture and I won’t let what happened to weigh me down.”

  • Obuh confident of victory over Amajita

    Obuh confident of victory over Amajita

    John Obuh, the Head Coach of the Flying Eagles, says the team is poised to prevail against the Amajita of South Africa on Sunday in Ilorin.

    Obuh, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin, said the team would use its observations in the first leg to prepare for the second leg tie in Ilorin. The Under-20 team had on Sept. 21 in Nelspruit forced the Amajita to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the final qualifier series in the ongoing African Youth Championship (AYC) qualifiers.

    “So far, we have been preparing, having played in the first leg. Whatever we must have observed in the first leg is what we will use as our preparation for the second leg,’’ Obuh said.

    He told NAN that he was satisfied with the calibre of players now in the team and would make the best use of the players at his disposal during the match on Sunday. The coach, however, said that there was still room for any player that satisfies the coaching crew that he could prove his mettle.

    “Anybody that is a Nigerian, once he satisfies us, has a room to play for the Flying Eagles,’’ he said.

    The Flying Eagles’ coach urged Ilorin fans to turn out in their numbers and throw their weight behind the team.

    “ I believe the crowd will be much this time round because in football, you know the more you qualify to play the next game, the more people become interested in you. I’m sure that the crowd will be more than what we had during the Tanzania game,’’ he said.

  • Committee plans national elite referees’ course

    Committee plans national elite referees’ course

    The Referees’ Committee of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) said on Thursday that it would hold a national elite referees’ course.

    It’s Chairman, Mr Muazu Suleiman, who disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, said the course was aimed at ensuring that the Nigerian referees meet FIFA standard.

    Suleiman said that the course would include physical fitness test, to ascertain the level of physical and mental alertness of the referees. He said that FIFA had already organised an international course for member-association of the Nigerian referees.

    “ After the FIFA-organised course, the next course is going to be national one. The national one will involve all the referees who will be officiating our Premier League and National League matches. Not only the course, we will also carry out physical fitness test. It is only those who are physically fit, and who have passed the standard set by FIFA will be allowed to participate in the Premier League and National League. Also, we will have the zonal courses that will involve referees who will be officiating the nationwide League and the female league.

    He said the date for the courses had not been agreed on due to the postponement of the 2012/ 2013 Premier League Season. Suleiman, who is also a member of the NFA’s Executive Committee, lauded the level of improvement of Nigerian referees’ officiating due to the skills learnt from the courses organised for them.

  • Aiyenugba suffered racism in Israel

    Aiyenugba suffered racism in Israel

    Nigeria outcast Dele Aiyenugba, now in his fifth season with Bnei Yehuda, has admitted that he suffered racism in his first year with the Israeli outfit.

    ”I just do not listen and try to ignore. I do not let it penetrate my ears. Already yelled at me here ‘monkey’ or ‘nigger’ in Hebrew, and I understand, of course, those words. when they are shouted to me. I just prefer to respond with a smile, it just gives me more power. Seen such things in other clubs where fans curse black players and call them names,” the 28 – year -old goalkeeper told Walla Sport.

    The former Enyimba shot-stopper added: ”The worst thing is when fans curse at you and call you names. This happened to me in the first season at Bnei Yehuda. This was my first season, I was younger and I made mistakes at the post. I remember we had the Brazilian striker Jose Duarte, is really fighting with fans, quarreled with some of them because of the cries and curses, but I preferred to be smarter and meet fans because once you fight fans, you lose them.”

    Aiyenubga, who was signed as replacement for compatriot Vincent Enyeama, has made over 100 appearances for The Lions in the Israeli championship.

  • Ex-Eaglets Ademola Raphael trains with 3SC

    Ex-Nigeria U17 star Ademola Raphael has returned from a stint in Spain and he is training with 3SC with the hope of joining the team.

    Raphael, who was part of the team who won the 2007 U17 World Cup, told MTNFootball.com he is a free agent after his contract with Spanish club Atletico Baleares ran out this year.

    The creative midfielder, who also trained with Shooting Stars at the beginning of last season before he returned to Europe, said he is now ready to join ‘The Oluyole Warriors’ for the coming season.

    “I have to return to the country to play good football. I’m a free agent and this is an opportunity for me to stay back with my family after my time in Spain,” he said.

    “I chose Shooting Stars because I love the club, they are one of the best clubs in Nigeria. I am back in Nigeria to play for them. I want to also win trophies with them because I still remember those days when they used to have a lot of stars playing for the national team and winning trophies.”

    He said it would also be an opportunity to reunite with his Golden Eaglets teammates from the class of 2007, Laide Okanlawon and Dele Ajiboye, who are with the Ibadan club.

  • National Sports Festival has lost its glory, says Amike

    Henry Amike, President, Nigerian Olympians Association (NOA), has said that the National Sports Festival in recent times has not served its purpose as a grass-roots development programme.

    Amike made this observation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos. The former national quarter miler said the festival has being hijacked by State governors, to display their State’s affluence, instead of engaging in genuine grass-roots sports development.

    “As far as I’m concerned, State governors now see the NSF festival as a status thing, to flex their muscles. I don’t see any developmental plan, unlike in the early days of the national sports; it has lost its true essence. When I was young we had the junior, intermediate and senior category there is nothing like that again,’’ he said.

    He called on organisers to refocus on the need to help develop grassroots sports which will translate into greater success at the national level to compete favourably at international meets.

    “We need to have a developmental programme that will help groom these athletes and guide them to be useful to themselves and the country. If we continue to see sports festival as glamour event, then it will never serve its purpose,’’ the NOA President added.