The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Alloy Chukwuemeka

  • ABS FC to sign a five-year sponsorship deal with Puma

    ABS FC to sign a five-year sponsorship deal with Puma

    Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) clubside ABS FC of Ilorin will on Thursday sign a five-year sponsorship deal with global sports branding outfit Puma.

    The club’s Director of Football, Alloy Chukwuemeka, disclosed in a statement on Monday in Ilorin that the signing ceremony would also see the official launching of the club’s new kit.

    “The deal is part of Puma’s commitment to the growth and development of sports in Nigeria.

    “Puma, through its official franchisee in Nigeria, Persianas Retail Ltd, will be partnering with ABS FC to kit and sponsor the team for a period of five years,’’ he said.

    Chukwuemeka said the deal was the first of its kind and represents the biggest football kit sponsorship in the history of the Nigerian football league.

    “The partnership will see ABS FC and Puma working together to expand the profile of Nigerian football over the course of this partnership,’’ the ABS FC official said.

    He further said the signing ceremony which is scheduled for the Palms Mall in Ilorin would be graced by the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick.

    “Also, the Chairman of the League Management Company (LMC), Shehu Dikko, will join him as Special Guest of Honour,’’ Chukwuemeka said.

  • ABS shop to replace sacked six players

    The management of Abubakar Bukola Saraki (ABS) Ilorin FC has relieved six players of their positions in the team and placed 3 on probation.

    The team’s Director of Football, Alloy Chukwuemeka, made the disclosure while speaking with newsmen in Ilorin on Sunday.

    He told newsmen that the club arrived at the decision to drop the players after a meeting at the club’s secretariat on Saturday.

    He said the players were released because of lack of productivity, saying their contributions to the team were not encouraging, hence the need to replace them with others.

    “We had told the players from the beginning that only the good ones among them will be with us.

    “We are very ambitious and we want to achieve good results, so, we will not tolerate anyone not adding to our value.

    “This is a young team that we are building for the future, the process starts now and the foundation must be solid,’’ Chukwuemeka said.

    The Secretary of the Club Owners Association, explained that the technical crew has requested for immediate replacement for the six released players.

    “We are going to recruit another six to replace the dropped players.

    “Screening for these new set of players will commence from Monday to Wednesday,’’ Chukwuemeka added.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Saraki Boys finished the first stanza of the 2016/2017 Nigeria Professional Football League 10th on the log after 19 rounds of games.

    Meanwhile, the team has since gone on break to regroup by April 28 for preparations for the second stanza and the final of the state’s Federation Cup against Kwara United.

  • ‘LMC lacks power to exclude Nembe, Giwa from league’

    ‘LMC lacks power to exclude Nembe, Giwa from league’

    THE League Management Company (LMC)’s decision to exclude Nembe City FC and Giwa FC of Jos from participating in the Glo Premier League on the grounds of non-compliance with registration requirements, has been condemned by a stakeholder who said it lacks the powers to do so.

    Speaking with sports writers in Abuja on Tuesday at his arrival for the Club Owners’ Association executive meeting with the affected clubs, Acting Secretary of the Association Alloy Chukwuemeka said the LMC was in a hurry in taking such decision, stressing that the exclusive powers to relegate, promote, dismiss, exclude and suspend any team from any cadre of the leagues in Nigeria resides with the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).

    He added that what the LMC should have done was to recommend their findings to the NFF for action, not rushing to the media to announce their exclusion which amounts to usurping the powers of the NFF/AGA.

    He began: “Yes, we are here for the meeting as you rightly observed, but I cannot pre-empt the outcome of the meeting, so you can wait until we come out of the meeting.

    “The essence of the meeting is first, in solidarity with our colleagues whose clubs were excluded from participating in the league. We are here also to find out the true position of the issues on ground so that we can present it to our larger forum and other relevant quarters.”

    “Personally, I think the LMC lacks powers to exclude any team from participating in the league, it is the exclusive power of the federation, they can only recommend. That is all I can say for now, so just wait until after the meeting”, said Chukwuemeka.

  • Glo League season to kick-off March 7th

    Glo League season to kick-off March 7th

    FOLLOWING series of postponements, the 2013/14 Globacom Premier League season will now finally kick-off on March 7th.

    SportingLife gathered on Tuesday afternoon that the new date was agreed upon by the club owners of the elite domestic league after the date was proposed to them by the League Management Company (LMC).

    Acting Secretary to the club owners, Alloy Chukwuemeka told SportingLife that: “The clubs have unaninously agreed on the March 7 date proposed by the LMC, and they also had another meeting with the league regulators on how to ensure a hitch-free season.

    “Details of the decisions taken will of course be made to the press in no time.”

    Meanwhile the Match Day 1 games of Giwa vs Kano Pillars, Enugu Rangers vs Nembe City,Abia Warriors vs Kaduna United, Warri Wolves vs El Kanemi Warriors, south-south derby of Bayelsa United vs Sharks, Lobi Stars vs Crown FC, Akwa United vs Gombe United, Taraba vs Nasarawa United and star matches of Sunshine Stars vs Enyimba and Heartland vs Dolphins will go on as scheduled.

    However, the Match Day 2 to 38 fixtures will, however, be made public by the end of this week.

     

  • ABS to face Giwa, Sunshine before NNL opener

    ABS to face Giwa, Sunshine before NNL opener

    • Ilorin side sure of Glo League return

    ABS of Ilorin will play at least two more friendly matches against Giwa FC of Jos and Sunshine Stars of Akure before their first match in the 2013/2014 National League season which starts February 15.

    The Ilorin-based side were demoted to the lower league last season after a battling attempt to stay in the elite division.

    The General Manager of the privately-owned club, Alloy Chukwuemeka told SportingLife he was impressed with the team’s preparation for the league season thus far and the quest to make their campaign in the lower league just a one-off.

    He hinted it was the sole reason they played more premier league clubs in their build up to the new league season so as to gauge their readiness for life in the lower league.

    “I am impressed with the games we have played and our preparations for the new league season. We lost by very low margins to Kogi United and even Enyimba whom we were very close to getting a draw with if not for our lost penalty kick during the match.

    “We beat Lobi Stars and we are playing against Giwa FC on Thursday and also having negotiations with Sunshine Stars for another friendly match before we call time on our friendly matches to concentrate on our ties in the National League.

    “We lost a whopping 24 players at the end of last season and I must confess that the coaches have done well to assemble a totally new set of players that could still be able to compete this much. Our target of premier league return is very much alive, ” Chukwuemeka said.

  • ABS unveils squad Monday

    ABS unveils squad Monday

    The Nigeria National League (NNL) side, ABS will on Monday announce the names of the 30 players signed for the season.

    The llorin-based side lost a record 24 players to various clubs at the end of last season.

    An official of the side, Alloy Chukwuemeka, said the side has finalised programmes for the new season, signing players that will help it return to the elite league.

    “We lost a record 24 players to the mega buck clubs which necessitated massive recruitment for the upcoming season.

    “The final list of 30 players will be released on Monday to enable us enter into the mood for the commencement of the season on January 25.

    “We don’t have further time to waste, we have to act fast to cover ground and position ourselves towards realising our dream for promotion to the Premier League at the end of the season,” Chukwuemeka said to supersport.com.

    He said the side has lined up quality pre-season matches commencing on Thursday, January 9 against the NNL Division A campaigners, Kogi United at the Lokoja Confluence Stadium.

    “Once the list is confirmed on Monday we’ll immediately kick off our pre-season build-up matches on January 9 against Kogi United in Lokoja,” he added.

     

  • Club Owners congratulate Jonathan, NFF

    Club Owners congratulate Jonathan, NFF

    The Association Nigeria premier league club chairmen and Managers (club owners) have hailed the superb performance of the Nation under 17 golden Eaglets for the record victory at the just concluded teenage world cup in Dubai, UAE. The body in a statement jointly signed by the Ag. chairman Barr. Isaac Danladi (Nasarawa utd) and the Ag. Secretary Alloy Chukwuemeka (ABSFC) described the Eaglets performance as excellent with the highest degree of commitment and patriotism. The club owners praised the NFF, the NSC and above all President Goodluck Jonathan for his high spirit of sportsmanship and support which earned Nigeria the Goodluck to victory. They however urged the president to give more supports to the NFF to ensure outright qualification of the Super Eagles for the senior World Cup.

  • ABS relegation is a temporary set-back — GM

    ABS relegation is a temporary set-back — GM

    The unfortunate relegation of Abubakar Bukola Saraki FC from the Apex league in Nigeria, Glo premier league has been described as a temporary setback as the club is poised to stage a come back in earnest.

    General Manager of the club, Alloy Chukwuemeka told reporters at the Sam Mbakwe Airport Owerri Tuesday reroute Abuja that the relegation of the Ilorin side is unfortunate and sad, describing it as a slap to the system. Chukwuemeka, who also doubles as the secretary of the Club owners of Nigeria, said that for a real professional side like ABS that plays the best brand of football to be relegated cast a doubt on the system we operate, stressing that a lot need to be done in the system to accommodate private ownership and investment into the league.

    The former Yobe Desert Stars media chief urged the numerous fans and supporters of the club to remain faithful to the club in its determination to stage a big comeback to the premiership soonest.

    On the next line of action for the team he said the management and players have met and resolved to remain with the team in order to actualise a quick return, just as they await the owners of the club to give direction as to the future of the young team.

    According to him, “Sincerely speaking, the relegation of the club is very unfortunate and sad considering the personal efforts of our boss Senator Saraki at sustaining the team for three seasons at the top flight.

    “Yes, we were victims of a bad system as well as other environmental factors that don’t support private sector participation. But I am sure we will bounce back soonest.

    Presently the team is on break as we await further directives from the owner of the club on the next line of action,” he said.