The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Russia

  • Special Eagles seek adequate preparation ahead of Amputee World Cup

    Nigeria would have to intensify its preparations for the upcoming World Cup because of the quality of teams in its group, says, Ugochukwu Obieze, Athletes Representative, Nigeria Amputee Football Federation (NAFF).

    Obieze told the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday that the World Cup, holding from Oct. 24 to Nov. 5 in Mexico, has Russia, Brazil, El-Salvador and Nigeria in Group E.

    He added that the national team fondly called “Special Eagles” ought to be in closed camp by now to put finishing touches to their preparations for the 2018 World Amputee Football Federation (WAFF) competition.

    “Our training has been in progress since the new board cleared the outstanding affiliation fee and that restored our hope and participation in WAFF programs of which this World Cup is part of.

    “The match fixtures have sent a warning signal that there is need for us to fortify our team with adequate preparations because Russia, the defending champions of the 2014 edition is in our group.

    Read Also: Amputee footballers appeal for welfare ahead 2018 World Cup

    “So, now that the event is fast approaching, we need to resume national camp as soon as possible to enable us concentrate and get focused in order to excel in the group,” he said.

    The athletes’ representative described Nigeria’s participation in the forthcoming football tournament as a long awaited objective, adding that it was a first appearance for the special Eagles national team.

    According to him, lack of sponsors, inability to secure visas, and irregular participation in intercontinental tournaments has denied the nation participation in the tournament since its inception.

    “The opportunity and dream to fly Nigeria’s flag in the amputee World Cup has finally come, and we are doing everything possible to have a remarkable outing by bringing the trophy home,” he added.

    News Agency of Nigeria reports that the 24 affiliated countries of WAFF will participate in the tournament which Russia won in 2014 in Argentina.

    Amputee football is a sport for the disabled which involves seven footballers, six outfield players who have extreme amputation, while goalkeepers have upper extremity amputation and uses loft strands and crutches to play.

  • Russia’s Aurus vehicles for Europe market

    Europe is likely to become the first export market for Russia’s Aurus cars and first pre-orders have already been received, Chief Executive Officer of the Russian car producer Franz Gerhard Hilget has said.

    “We have foreign pre-orders,” Hilgert said but did not elaborate.

    According to him, the car maker is now trying to complete certification in Europe so it is very likely that the first exports of Aurus cars will be to European countries.

    “First step is to get the European type of approval because the European approval is accepted in many countries by 80 per cent,” he said.

    In order to promote Aurus cars abroad, the Russian carmaker plans to cooperate with distributors in those countries, Hilgert said. He added that for the moment he cannot name any specific companies.

    “We have candidates,” he said.

    Hilgert also said his company has an investor from Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates).

    “That is the territory where we will definitely be developing. We signed a memorandum (with Tawazun’s Defense, Security and Development Fund – TASS) and we plan to close the deal before the end of the year,” he said.

    In July, Russian Industry Minister Denis Manturov said Tawazun Company from the United Arab Emirates is going to invest into production of Aurus cars.

    He said Tawazun’s Defense, Security and Development Fund (DSDF) will join the joint venture for Aurus cars as a partner and will invest up to 110 million euro into it. Investments will be made for development and production of luxury cars under the new Aurus brand and the line of modern protected vehicles. The parties intend to jointly develop series production, distribution and after-sales servicing of Aurus cars. Tawazun will have about 30 per cent in the Aurus car project. 60 per cent will remain with Russia’s NAMI and Sollers will hold about five per cent.

    Aurus is a Russian brand of cars for senior officials. The name combines the two words Aurus: “aurum” (a Latin word for “gold”) and “Russia.”

    The car was designed as part of the Kortezh project, which has been implemented by NAMI (Central Scientific Research Automobile and Automotive Engines Institute) in Moscow, Russia, since 2013.

     

  • Russian billionaire to build World biggest ice hockey arena

    The billionaire president of Russian ice hockey club SKA Saint Petersburg says he’s planning to build the world’s biggest ice hockey arena in the city, in the hopes that the venue will host games at the 2023 World Championships.

    Gennady Timchenko told the Russian media that a 22,500-capacity stadium will be constructed ahead of the world championships in 2023, which Russia has bid for, according to TASS.

    The stadium would cost in the region of 20 billion rubles (US$295 million), and building work is expected to start next year.

    “We want to build in St. Petersburg the biggest hockey arena in the world,” Timchenko said at the weekend at the team’s launch ahead of the new Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) season.

    “We want to thank the city leadership for helping us with this. I hope that in 2023 we will be able to host World Championship games at the new arena,” he added.

    The current record for the largest venue in the world to regularly hold ice hockey games belongs to the 21,288-seater Bell Center in Canada, which is home to National Hockey League (NHL) club the Montreal Canadiens.

    SKA Saint Petersburg competes in the Russian-based KHL, and play home games at the Ice Palace arena, which holds up to 12,300 fans.

    The Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, the current home of local ice hockey club SKA © Igor Russak / Global Look Press

    The new arena would be the latest addition to the northern Russian city’s impressive sporting infrastructure.

    The city already boasts the stunning 67,000-seater Saint Petersburg Stadium used by football club Zenit. The arena hosted games at the recent World Cup, and is said to have cost around US$1 billion, making it among the most expensive football stadiums in the world.

     

     

     

     

  • FG spends $1m to evacuates stranded Nigerians from Russia

    Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, said Federal Government spent one million dollars to evacuate 355 Nigerian football fans stranded in Russia after the 2018 World Cup.

    Onyeama made this known on Monday in Abuja while fielding questions from newsmen, and said that the evacuation was done in two batches of 155 persons and 200 persons.

    He said that the second batch of 200 fans was returned to the country along with 17 Ghanaian football fans also stranded in Russia on Sunday.

    He stated that the money spent on the exercise was huge, particularly in the hard times in the country, and urged Nigerians to travel out of the country in a regular and legal manner.

    According to the minister, by airlifting the 17 Ghanaians, Nigeria has again brought to the fore, its `Big Brother’ role in Africa.

    He said the Ghanaian authorities had appreciated the gesture through its Minister of Foreign Affairs as the returnees were transported to Ghana on Monday

    He recalled that the first batch of 155 fans, including a nursing mother, were evacuated from Russia after the Mundial in July,

    The Nigerian mission in Russia had said that some of the fans initially profiled to be evacuated absconded and urged them to report at the mission as the government had made provision for their return.

    Onyeama explained that the evacuation of the stranded fans followed a directive by President Muhammadu Buhari to Onyeama and his Aviation counterpart, Hadi Sirika, to immediately evacuate the stranded Nigerians back to the country.

    “A week ago, we learnt that there was another huge number of Nigerians stranded and Russian authorities were going to take very strong measures.

    “And again, the President directed that another plane should be made available to go and bring them back.

    “They were 200 of them that were brought back on Sunday at a cost of one million dollars to the country,” he said.

    He said that the exercise was a clear indication of Buhari’s determination to safeguard Nigerians and the interest of Nigerians wherever they may be compromised in the world.

    Onyeama said the his Ghanaian counterpart, Shirley Botchway, who visited him earlier on Monday, expressed appreciation to the Federal Government for bringing back the 17 Ghanaian fans.

    He said that the stranded fans expressed depressing and frustrating times as some of them recounted that they were scammed by travel agents “by cancelling their return tickets”.

    “We will, however, take the matter up with the travel agents; we will get to the bottom of the matter.

    “It is very depressing and very annoying because we have a lot of challenges in our countries and the few resources we have, we want to utilise it on Nigerians.

    “It is not to spend money to bring back people who just act in a very irresponsible fashion.

    “We really have to work hard to stop this manner of trying at all cost to get to European countries in an irregular manner,” he said. (NAN)

  • Russian reporters killed in CAR robbery – Ministry

    Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday a preliminary investigation showed that the three Russian journalists were killed in the Central African Republic on July 30 by assailants who wanted to rob them.

    The three journalists, whose employer said they were investigating Russian mercenaries in the torn country, tried to resist their attackers when they were killed, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing in Moscow on Friday.

    Russian online news organization Investigation Control Centre (TsUR) said in a Facebook post the three journalists — identified as Orhan Dzhemal, Alexander Rastorguyev and Kirill Radchenko — were in the country on assignment.

    Russia’s foreign ministry confirmed in a statement that three people with identification documents belonging to Dzhemal, Rastorguyev and Radchenko had been found dead and their bodies had been brought back to the capital Bangui.

    TsUR said the journalists had been investigating the activities of the so-called Wagner group, an organization of private military contractors which, people with ties to the group have told Reuters, carried out clandestine combat missions on the Kremlin’s behalf in eastern Ukraine and Syria.

    Local and international media have reported that Wagner operates in the country since Russia delivered light arms to the country’s security forces this year and deployed hundreds of military and civilian instructors to train them.

    Reuters has been unable to verify the reports. Russian authorities deny that the Wagner group’s contractors are carrying out their orders.

    Henri Depele, the mayor of the town of Sibut, around 200 km (125 miles) northeast of the capital Bangui, said the journalists were killed at around 10 p.m. (2100 GMT) on Monday.

    Their driver survived the attack.

    “According to the driver’s explanations, when they were 23 km from Sibut … armed men emerged from the bush and opened fire on the vehicle. The three journalists died instantly,” he said.

    Read Also: 15 killed, 50 injured in Afghan mosque explosions

    TsUR’s statement said the journalists flew into Central African Republic last Friday and that its last contact with them was on Sunday evening.

    The organisation is financed by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former Russian oil tycoon who was jailed on corruption charges and now lives outside Russia. He is one of the most vehement critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    TsUR has published a number of investigations alleging corruption by senior members of Putin’s entourage.

    Central African Republic has been ravaged by violence, often fought along religious lines between predominantly Christian and Muslim militia, since a 2013 rebellion overthrew then-President Francois Bozize.

    Most of the country is beyond the control of the Bangui government and a 12,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission has struggled to keep a lid on the violence.

  • Buhari lauds French commitment to regional peace, security

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Abuja lauded the Republic of France for its commitment to strong regional cooperation in the fight against cross-border crime and terrorism.

    The President made the commendation at a farewell audience with the outgoing Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Denys Gauer, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday.

    President Buhari appreciated the roles and contributions of the French government to peace, security and stability in countries in the West and Central African region.

    He noted that Nigeria had placed the issue of combating terrorism in the region on international agenda and had received support and solidarity from France in the area of training, information, intelligence sharing, technical and equipment support.

    According to the President, at the regional level where Nigeria is conducting joint patrols with neighbouring countries under the Multinational Joint Task Force; France has continued to encourage regional cooperation among Nigeria’s francophone neighbours aimed at addressing the security challenges and humanitarian conditions in the area.

    The President also used the opportunity of the farewell visit to formally congratulate France for winning the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

    He said: The victory is very important and historic for the country and I think it has raised a lot of positive optimism for French citizens.’’

    While recounting the recent visit of President Emmanuel Macron to Nigeria, President Buhari said Nigeria and France would continue to maintain cordial relations and improve economic, cultural and political relations for the mutual benefit of citizens of both countries.

    The President also received the outgoing Finland Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms. Pirjo Suomela-Chowdhury, during which he underscored the Finnish government’s support to gender and educational issues in Nigeria.

    In his remarks, the French Ambassador, harping on the positive trends in Nigeria’s economy, said more French companies had indicated interest to do business here.

    Read also: Police insists Saraki has case to answer

    He said the French Agency for Development (AFD) which opened an office in Nigeria ten years ago, had provided a total of two billion dollars facility for projects in the country.

    On cultural ties, Gauer said France had concluded arrangements to establish a cinema school in Lagos and some museums around the country in addition to formalizing an agreement on film production.

    The Ambassador said he would always keep fond memories of Nigeria and wished the country successful elections in 2019.

    In her remarks, Ambassador Suomela-Chowdhury told the President she enjoyed her stay in Nigeria and would continue to promote Nigeria-Finnish relations.

  • Nursing mother, 154 stranded Nigerians in Russia back

    A nursing mother and 154 out of 230 Nigerian football fans stranded in Russia after the 2018 FIFA World Cup arrived the country on Friday night.

    The stranded football fans, including a nursing mother in her mid- thirties came through Ethiopian Airline flight number ET-ALP which arrived Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja at about 9.12 pm.

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, who was at the airport to monitor their arrival, lauded President Muhammadu Buhari’s effort to ensure their safe return.

    Onyeama said Buhari had directed Nigerians stranded in Russia after the 2018 World Cup tournament, should be evacuated immediately.

    He said he had been working very closely with the Minister of State for Aviation following President Buhari’s directive on the exercise.

    He recalled that some Nigerian football fans stranded had besieged the Embassy of Nigeria in Moscow on July 12.

    The minister explained that there was also an allegation that some airline travel agents cancelled return tickets of their customers without informing them.

    According to him, the Nigerian Mission had been supportive by making arrangements for the feeding and accommodation of the stranded Nigerians in hostels around Moscow.

    One of the returnees, Bamidele Fatai, was full of praises to Buhari for making their journey possible.

    Another returnee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was swindled by an agent who cancelled his return ticket.

    He said he was in Moscow to support the Nigerian Football Team and catch fun only to discover his ticket had been cancelled when he was ready to return home.

     

     

  • Stranded Nigerians in Russia back in Abuja

    A nursing mother and 154 out of 230 Nigerian football fans stranded in Russia after the 2018 FIFA World Cup arrived the country on Friday night.

    The stranded football fans including a nursing mother in her mid thirties came through Ethiopian Airline flight number ET-ALP that arrived Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja at about 9.12 p.m on July 20.

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, who was at the airport to monitor their arrival, lauded President Muhammadu Buhari’s effort to ensure their safe return.

    He said that that the President directed that Nigerians, who were stranded in Russia after the 2018 World Cup tournament, should be evacuated immediately.

    According to him,  the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been monitoring the process of the evacuation, which is under the coordination of the Mission of Nigeria in Moscow.

    Pic.28. A cross section of the 155 Stranded Nigerian in Russia going through Immigration routine check during their arrival at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport in Abuja on Friday (20/7/18) Anthony Alabi/NAN

    He said that 155 stranded Nigerians were cleared to board an Ethiopian Airline flight to Abuja.

    ”The aircraft departed Domodedovo Airport in Moscow with the stranded Nigerians in the afternoon and arrived in Abuja this evening.

    Onyeama said he had been working very closely with the Minister of State for Aviation following President Buhari’s directive on the exercise.

    Some Nigerian football fans who were stranded had besieged the Embassy of Nigeria in Moscow on July 12.

    ”They were among the fans who travelled to the Russian Federation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Tournament and were stranded after the events due to lack of funds for their upkeep.”

    The minister explained that there was also an allegation that some airline travel agents cancelled return tickets of their customers without informing them.

    He said  President Buhari, however,  gave the directive that they should be evacuated with immediate effect at the expense of the government.
    Onyeama commended the good gesture of Mr President, saying those stranded were never part of government delegates to Russia.

    According to him, the Nigerian Mission had been supportive by making arrangements for the feeding and accommodation of the stranded Nigerians in hostels around Moscow.

    One of the returnees, Bamidele Fatai was full of praises to President Buhari for making their journey possible.

    He also thanked the Nigerian Mission in Moscow for giving them necessary support.

    Another returnee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was swindled by an agent who cancelled his return ticket.

    He said he was in Moscow to support the Nigerian Football Team and to catch fun only to discover that his ticket had been cancelled when he was ready to return home.

  • Russia transfers World Cup hosting duties to Qatar

    Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday handed over mantle of the World Cup host to the emir of Qatar whose country will stage the 2022 edition of the tournament.

    The ceremony marked a handover from the world’s largest country by landmass to one of the smallest.

    Qatar has a population of 2.3 million people and an area slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Connecticut.

    Qatar’s size, as well as its broiling temperatures and lack of ready stadium infrastructure, have prompted some to question the decision by FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, to make it host.

    Qatar’s rulers, however, say they will rise to the challenge, with hours to go until the final between France and Croatia that will bring down the curtain on Russia’s hosting of this year’s tournament.

    Qatari Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, joined FIFA chief Gianni Infantino and Putin at the Kremlin ceremony.

    Putin, at the ceremony, expressed gratitude to footballers and fans alike.

    “Russia is handing over the relay baton for hosting the FIFA World Cup to Qatar.

    “We are proud of what we did for fans of this wonderful sport.

    “We ourselves, the whole country, got an enormous amount of pleasure from interacting with soccer, with the world of soccer and with the fans that came here from all over the globe.

    “I’m sure that our friends from Qatar will be able to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup on the same high level.

    “We are, of course, ready to share the experience we acquired in hosting the World Cup this year along with our friends,’’ the Russian President said.

    At the climax of the ceremony, Putin handed an official World Cup ball to Infantino, who then handed it over to the emir.

    The Qatari emir said his country would put in all its efforts to make a success of the 2022 World Cup.

    “We hope to overcome all the difficulties,” he said.

    He said his country would also try to outdo the success of the Russian team on the pitch, who surpassed expectations by reaching the quarter-finals.

    “Though it will be hard to repeat that success as we are a small country, but we are very keen on sport,’’ he said.

    In the build-up to this year’s World Cup, some Western politicians called for a boycott over Russia’s annexation of Crimea and allegations of assassinating its opponents overseas, which Moscow denied.

    There were also warnings from some campaign groups about the potential for hooligan violence, racist attacks and homophobia.

    The tournament, however, proceeded without any significant organisational hitches, violence and evidence of racism or harassment of visitors.

  • Russia 2018: A World Cup of Surprises

    Adeyinka Akintunde

     

    The 21st edition of the FIFA World Cup, hosted in Russia and won by France, which beat hard-fighting Croatia 4-2, will remain in the hearts of football lovers all over the world as one tournament filled with surprises from the beginning to the end. The football world was treated to one-month of suspense from Eastern Europe, where every prediction made turned out wrong.

    The surprises started right from the first kick of the ball on 14th June. The opening matches of the World Cup over the years have recorded low score lines of a draw, or a slim win, but nobody expected what the 2018 opening fixture had to offer. Russia, the lowest ranked team, going into the World Cup, stunned the whole world by beating Saudi Arabia 5-0 at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow.

    Yuri Gazinsky scored the first goal of the tournament with a fine header, after 12 minutes, before Denis Cheryshev, Artyom Dzyuba and Aleksandr Golovin all found the back of the net four different times, to break the Asian hearts.

    The hosts would go on to reach the quarter-finals stage, for the first time in their World Cup history, triumphing over 2010 FIFA World Cup winners Spain in the round of sixteen, before Croatia got the better of them in the last eight.

    At the Spartak stadium Moscow, two days after the opener, Argentina, two-time champions and a hot favourite to win the World Cup, were forced to a draw by new comers, Iceland.  Sergio Aguero had opened scoring for the La Albiceleste, and four minutes later, Alfreo Finnbogason equalized, scoring Iceland’s first ever World up goal.

    But the shock of the day came at the 63rd minute, when superstar Lionel Messi was awarded a penalty to win the game for Argentina. Iceland goalkeeper, Hannes Halldorsson saved it, leaving Messi and the world stunned.

    Argentina would go on to lose scandalously 3-0 to Croatia, and needed a last minute victory against Nigeria to advance to the round of sixteen, where they lost 4-2 to France.

    Read Also: Russia 2018: Brazil beat Mexico to reach quarter-finals

    Lionel Messi would love to forget Russia 2018 in a hurry, as it turned out a nightmare for him. Where his rival, Cristiano Ronaldo got four goal for Portugal in the tournament (which included a hat-trick against Spain on his first match day), the Argentine could only manage one goal, in the match against Nigeria.

    Germany was tipped to defend their title the won at the last edition, on the last day of this year’s fiesta. But they recorded a shock 1-0 loss to Mexico on the opening day, Hirving Lozano scoring on the counter attack after 35 minutes.

    Germany recovered with a last minute victory in the second match against Sweden, needing a draw in the last match against South Korea, but they lost 2-0, finishing last in the group, and thus, the tradition of a World Cup defending champion crashing out at the group stage, which began in 2002 with France (Brazil the only exemption in 2006), continued.

    Spain, 2010 winners, as well as Portugal crashed out at the round of sixteen, after failing to get the better of Russia and Uruguay respectively. Brazil lost in the quarter-finals against dark-horses Belgium, Uruguay fell to France in the last eight, and England broke the voodoo of losing penalty shootouts, when they sent Colombia home in the round of sixteen.

    Since 1982, Africa always had a representative at the knockout stage of the World Cup. That was not to be in 2018, as the five African representatives; Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia and Senegal all crashed out at the group stages.

    The Teranga lions had a close shave with qualification, having secured the same point and goal difference with Japan, but lost the place in the knock-out round with the introduction of the fair-play rule, that saw Senegal  receive six yellow cards in three group games, as against Japan been issued four.

    Belgium, a team tagged the dark horses of the show ended up as the highest scoring team of the competition with 16 goals. They finished the World Cup as bronze medalist, Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard getting the job done for the Red Devils against England in Saint Petersburg.

    The new world champions, France, was not given a chance to shine in the showpiece. The Les Blues, 1998 World Cup winners, kicked off their campaign with two victories against Australia and Peru, securing a draw against Denmark in the group stages. They went on to beat South-American opponents, Argentina and Uruguay in the knockout stages and came out winner against Belgium in the semi-finals.

    Croatia on their part, with massive support from their president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who was in the stands watching the players, and in the dressing room to celebrate with them, came out group winners with maximum nine points in the “group of death” that included Argentina, Nigeria and Iceland. They survived two penalty shoot-outs against Denmark and Russia in the knockouts, before needing extra-time to beat England.