The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ban

  • Terry accepts ban for racial abuse

    Terry accepts ban for racial abuse

    JOHN Terry has announced he will not be contesting the FA’s decision to ban him for four matches over the race row with Anton Ferdinand.

    Last month an FA panel ruled that Terry had directed racist language at Ferdinand in the Premier League match.

    The three-man panel judging over Terry’s case concluded that he was not a racist, but were not satisfied by his defence, describing it as ‘improbable, implausible and contrived’.

    Terry said in a statement on Thursday: “After careful consideration, I have decided not to appeal against the FA judgment.

    “I want to take this opportunity to apologise to everyone for the language I used in the game against Queens Park Rangers last October.

    “Although I’m disappointed with the FA judgment, I accept that the language I used, regardless of the context, is not acceptable on the football field or indeed in any walk of life.”

  • NFF risks CAF’s ban for slow rate of development

    NFF risks CAF’s ban for slow rate of development

    THe Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) needs to step up its programmes in football development, especially at the grassroots otherwise it may incur the wrath of the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF), the highest football body on the continent.

    SportingLife exclusively gathered from a top CAF official, who spoke in a condition of anonymity, that Nigeria had failed to impress CAF with her programmes as regards football development in the country, and CAF may come with a sledge hammer if this situation fails to improve.

    “Nigeria is a very important body not only in African football but world football. But it baffles us in CAF that the country’s football body has not convinced us as regards their developmental programmes which are key to the growth of the game in the country. We are still studying the situation and if nothing is done, CAF may come with a position on this matter”, the source, a top Ghanaian CAF official, warned.

    Some football pundits have severally complained about the poor developmental programmes of football in the country. They questioned the way the country’s national teams are being selected especially the U- 17 and U- 20 national teams for both men and women’s teams.

    Most football followers concluded that lack of a sustainable and well defined structure in the football sector caused the fielding of overage players in our youth teams. They advised that the Nigeria Football Federation needed to come up with a good programme and plans to ensure football is developed in the country.

    The CAF source complained of this and wondered why Nigeria had not done anything concerning this while other countries in the continent showed improvement in the development of the game in their domains.

  • Jonathan, Ban in close door meeting

    Jonathan, Ban in close door meeting

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday met with the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon as the 67th Session of the UN General Assembly began in New York

    The UN Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria reports that shortly after receiving the president, both parties went into a closed door meeting.

    NAN gathered that they discussed recent developments in Nigeria, how best to enhance the fight against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea as well as the implementation International Court of Justice judgment on Bakassi .

    According to a source, they also agreed on the pressing need for stabilisation of the political situation in Mali and for a concerted international approach to problems in Guinea-Bissau, Darfur, and Sudan-South Sudan.

    NAN also learnt that they discussed terrorism in the Sahel and the importance of socio-economic factors in reducing it by ensuring increased investment in agriculture, education and employment.