Tag: set

Nigeria Premier League returnee El Kanemi Warriors are billed to take part in a series of pre-season matches which will see them head to three states.

A club source told futaa.com that the northern club will play three games in Gombe while they will then head to Taraba where they are also play two matches.

The Warriors who witnessed an exodus of players and officials after bagging promotion ticket last season due to security fears in the north eastern part of Nigeria are scheduled to wrap up their tour-like preparations in Adamawa where they will also play two matches before heading back to their base.

The former FA (Federation) Cup winners are also in line for some pre-season matches in Chad and Cameroun which are border to their Maiduguri base.

Futaa.com gathers that since the club started preparation for the season about two months ago, they have not been privileged to feature in any warm-up games due to a handful of reasons.

Gombe United striker, Mustapha Babadidi will return to action when the new season gets underway after completing his recovery from a horrific shin injury.

The 17-year-old striker has not played since suffering a gash to his shin against Enugu Rangers at the Pantami Stadium on March 21.

However, he has resumed training for the past two months and has moved into contention for a place in Maurice Cooreman’s squad.

“I am now fully fit and it has been going well in training,” he told supersport.com. It hasn’t been easy being on the sidelines for so long, but I thank God it is over now and I’m really looking forward to playing again next season.” Babadidi had taken the league by storm, banging in ten goals in 15 matches as the Scorpions enjoyed a spell at the top of the premier league.

They equally suffered a dip in form in his absence, but he believes they could reproduce the explosive start of last season and even sustain it this time.

“I think we can do well because we still have the nucleus of last season’s squad in place and we are determined to make up for the disappointment of last season after showing so much promise,” he said.

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The Local Organising Committe (LOC) for the Obudu International Mountain Race says it will organise another hitch-free competition this weekend when the 8th edition of the race holds at the Obudu Ranch Resort in Obanliku, Cross River State.

Sir William Archibong, chairman of the committee disclosed at the weekend that his committee has concluded all arrangements for a perfect race on Saturday.

‘The LOC is ready to organise another world-class race come Saturday. We have taken care of all logistics and want to assure His Excellency, the executive governor of Cross River state, senator Liyel Imoke, all Cross Riverians and Nigerians in general that we will organise another successful race that befits the status of excellence we have adorned”, he said.

He further disclosed that officials of the World Mountain Running Association (WMRA) have started arriving for the race while elite runners invited for the race will start arriving from today.

Honourable Patrick Ugbe, the state’s commissioner for youth and sports, who is also a member of the LOC, added that the committee will fulfil Governor Imoke’s charge that this year`s race should be used as a test-run for the World Mountain Running Championships which the state is hosting in 2014.

Ugbe further disclosed that this year’s race will be run over 12 kilometres in line with the requirements of the world governing body for mountain running and is open to onlyprofessional runners. `This is more like a fresh start for us because we will observe all the rules that govern a world mountain running championships in this year’s race, but we are up to the task. The WMRA believes in us and the governor has confidence in our organisational abilities”, says Ugbe.

The race is sponsored by the government of Cross River State principally to attract tourists to one of its flagship projects, the Obudu Ranch. The ranch sits on a mountain plateau at an altitude of 1600m. It is an IAAF permit event, a WMRA associate member event assisted by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria. Doping control will be carried out and prizes withheld pending the results.

Enyimba will this week announce a new coach likely to be a Nigerian based in England from a short list of three coaches, officials have said.

Former Nigeria coach Austin Eguavoen has thrown in the towel at ‘The People’s Elephant’ and his assistant Abdu Maikaba has moved to champions Kano Pillars.

MTNFootball.com has since scooped that an England-based Nigerian coach, who has played for various top Nigerian clubs, is favoured to get the job of restoring lost glory for the Aba club who for the second straight season will not feature in international football.

“Enyimba will soon name a new coach, three coaches have been short listed and I know that a top Nigerian coach who is based abroad is likely to get the job,” a top source informed MTNFootball.com

“He is the top favourite looking at the CVs. The chairman is in USA, but when he comes, the appointment will be ratified.”