The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Soccer fans

  • Kanu’s wife, soccer fans celebrate Papilo at 42

    Kanu Nwankwo’s wife, Amara and his numerous fans have continued to shower encomiums on the football legend who turned 42 on Wednesday. Kanu, who is the first Nigerian football player to be named ‘African Player of the Year’ twice, is regarded as one of Nigeria’s greatest sportsmen.

    His wife Amara, with whom he celebrated 14 years anniversary in July, wrote on her Instagram page @amarakanu; “Oh look what 1st August brought us. Happy birthday to you champ @kingkanu4. You are loved.”

    Similarly, elated fans also took to Twitter to send birthday wishes, while they listed his achievements and career highlights. They commented wildly under his post on Twitter through his handle @papilokanu. He wrote, “I thank God. Happy birthday to me.”

    @MistaYawan tweeted, “Happy birthday to the man that made me fall in love with Arsenal.”

    @Bimbogramm said, “He is one of the greatest ever Africans to play in the premier league.

    He is the most decorated Nigerian player of all time. Happy birthday Kanu Nwankwo. Let us celebrate this legend.”

    @Okueyunungo said, “HBD the great Papilo. You have indeed made us proud.”

    @iamtoror wrote, “Happy birthday Arsenal and Super Eagles’ legend. More life.”

    @bitrusdang tweeted, “Happy birthday to Nigeria’s soccer hero. Atlanta ’96.”

    @Dejiogunsanya said, “Papilo, I know say one day you go make us proud. HBD @Arsenal. Legend.

    The legendary Kanu was a member of the Nigerian national team from 1994 to 2010, making his debut in a friendly against Sweden.

    At the start of his career, Kanu was instrumental to Nigeria’s overall success at the 1993 FIFA U-17 tournament in Japan and their subsequent 2–1 victory over Ghana in the final. He also took part in winning the Olympic gold in the football event at 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he scored the winning goal in the 4-3 semi-final win over Brazil.

    He also played for the Dutch side Ajax, Inter Milan of Italy, and English clubs Arsenal, West Bromwich Albion and Portsmouth.

    Kanu has won the UEFA Champions League medal, UEFA Cup medal, three FA Cup Winners Medals and two African Player of the Year awards and the Premier League. (NAN)

  • W/Cup Ticket Sales: Second round begins March 13

     

    Soccer fans across the world desirous of purchasing the World cup ticket have an opportunity to do so as the second round of sales begins March 13 from 12 noon Moscow time.

    World soccer ruling body FIFA dished out the information Monday informing that the ticket will be sold on first-come first served basis. The tickets the body further said can be purchased at FIFA.com/tickets.  It however underscored that tickets for all matches will be available except match 7 clash between Argentina and Iceland and the final billed for July 15.

    Fans are advised to place their order as soon as the sales period opens, as high demand is expected and tickets are likely to sell out very quickly. A traffic light system available on FIFA.com/tickets will give fans an indication about availability.

    A total of 1,303,616 tickets have already been  allocated since the start of ticket sales in September 2017.

    “With only 94 days left until the FIFA World Cup opening match, we continue to be very happy with the outcome of ticket sales. The huge demand by both local and international fans highlights the great sense of anticipation and excitement that Russia 2018 is sparking around the world,” said FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura who was recently in Lagos for the FIFA Executive Summit.

    FIFA Head of Ticketing Falk Eller commented: “Such a great interest obviously caused many matches to be fully overbooked, but we have set up a transparent and fair process of ticket allocation based on a random selection draw procedure, which ensures that each and every application has an equal chance of being successful. Fans who were not so lucky can still be part of the FIFA World Cup in Russia as sales restart on Tuesday.”

    FIFA has also made an allocation of tickets available for disabled people and people with limited mobility in accordance with the number of special access seats available in the 12 stadiums.

  • Banking on soccer fans for brand penetration

    Banking on soccer fans for brand penetration

    As brands gasp for breath in the economic recession, Nigerian Breweries Plc is promoting its premium brand, Star Lager, to boost sales. It has signed deals with five leading football clubs in Europe, writes ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI.

    It is one of the biggest shocks in the marketing industry. In two weeks, Nigerian Breweries (NB) Plc made two major marketing decisions that cost millions of dollars.

    The first was an announcement of its Star Lager beer as the official beer of the Nigerian Football League. The leading brewer also last weekend brought five leading European football clubs to  Eko Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, to sign on its premium lager beer, Star, as the official beer of the clubs with opportunities to tap into the larger fan base of the clubs in Nigeria, which is over 20 million.

    The clubs are Arsenal, Real Madrid, Juventus, PSG and Manchester City.

    Nigerian Breweries, The Nation learnt, is eyeing marketing to boost sales in the face of the recession which has affected marketing.

    By capturing the local and European league fans, the deal is expected to deliver weekly exposure to the brand during the matches. Banking on Nigeria’s share of viewership and fan base of the European clubs, The Nation checks show that Star Lager is expected to hit more than seven million fans of the clubs.

    Acording to an analysis, Nigerian fans account for 25 per cent of Arsenal FC global fans, which  Marketing Week. Centaur Media Plc put at 100 million worldwide – the third largest team in terms of fan base.

    Also, Real Madrid’s supporters are estimated by ESPN, a sports media, to be 450 million worldwide with followership among Nigeria’s La Liga-fans, the club’s Director of Institutional Relations, Emilio Butragueno said.

    Other clubs, such as Manchester City FC, Juventus, and PSG, that have adopted Nigerian larger brands, also boast of followership in Nigeria.

    With Star lager beer endorsed as the official beer of the clubs, brand analysts said it had taken a big leap in its drive to play competitively with other global brands. NB’s Marketing Director, Franco María-Maggi, explained that the deal would support a positive fan culture with a unique experience.

    He said: ”STAR is one of the most committed football supportive brand in Nigeria. The people are very passionate about football and we could only think of a better way to reward fan experience through these partnerships. It is our resolve to continuously provide engaging and broad activities of events for the millions of dedicated football fans of these clubs.”

    He said the deals bestowed on Star the rights to promote Real Madrid, Arsenal, Juventus, Manchester City and PSG to millions of fans across Nigeria.

    He added that it would give access to images and content from the clubs with an opportunity for Star to brand its bottles with the logos of these clubs.

    Also, the Portfolio Manager, National Premium, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Tokunbo Adodo affirmed: “We have a culture of affinity with the sports that has spanned several decades. This stands Star in good stead as a worthy partner by these global football brands.’’

    The brand has been commended for supporting local league, thereby dousing the an unwarranted craze for foreign football by soccer lovers.

    League Management Company, Shehu Dikko Chairman, said: “We are excited about the partnership with Star, and hope to achieve more from this relationship especially with the support of all stakeholders involved. Having Star as a major partner will certainly be the key to a bright future for the professional football league in Nigeria.”

    Meanwhile, during the unveiling of the deals, NB introduced bottles of Star labelled in the official emblems of the clubs.

    It also endorsed players, such as J. J. Okocha, Ken Nwankwo, and Tijani, who played for some of the foreign clubs, such as PSG and Arsenal FCs.

    Kelechi Promise Iheanacho of Manchester City FC and Alex Iwobi of Arsenal were also in a documentary with their team-mates welcome Star Lager as the official beer of the leagues.

  • Soccer fans mob Alebiosu in Aba

    Soccer fans mob Alebiosu in Aba

    Soccer fans at the Aba Township Stadium on Wednesday mobbed Kwara United FC of Ilorin striker, Segun Alebiosu for his scintillating performance and aggressive moves against Enyimba Int’l FC in a match day 35 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) encounter which the host won 1-0.

    Alebiosu was a real nightmare and threat to the defence of the league leader as every of his moves look dangerous throughout the game.

    Chinedu Udoji, captain of Enyimba nodded home the only goal of the game in the 23rd minute winning an aerial battle to get the goal.

    Some of the soccer enthusiasts followed Alebiosu beyond the stadium gate seeking to shake his hands for the troubles he caused their team in the game.

    Some of them vowed that their team will snatch the young striker from Kwara United next season.

    Alebiosu who had scored five goals this season said he put up the performance because he wants to do all he could to help his team remained in the league.

    “Our performance has shown we are not negotiating anything than to remain in the league.

    “You can see the overall performance of everyone because we believe is not over yet.

    “The season has not ended for us and we will keep fighting till the end of the season,” Alebiosu said.

    The young striker urged his team’s supporters to keep praying for them as he pledged the resolve of the team to win the remaining three games.

    Kwara United will lock horns with FC Taraba on Sunday in Ilorin in a match day 36.

  • Chivita 100% connects soccer fans

    Chivita 100% connects soccer fans

    In a bid to re-emphasize and add flavour to the partnership between Chivita 100% and globally admired football club, Manchester United, Chi Limited, maker of the leading juice brand Chivita 100% fruit juice, at the weekend, held a free screening of the football match between Manchester United and Chelsea FC.

    The event which took place at the popular Kingsize Restaurant located at Oregun in Lagos had in attendance a plethora of guests including several journalists, soccer fans and officials of Chi Limited who distributed free drinks of Chivita 100% to the delight of the audience.

    The screening, organised with a view to increasing public awareness about the partnership between Chivita 100% and the English Premier League team, saw many fans showing their unalloyed support for the team and expressing their wishes to remain loyal consumers of Chivita 100% fruit juice.

    Speaking at the event, Obinna Dike, who is a Business Administration student at the Lagos State University and passionate Manchester United fan said “this is a good event organised by Chi Limited and the partnership between Chivita 100% and Manchester United is a great one that would possibly spur Manchester United to victory. It is also very interesting to see these brands connect with passionate soccer fans like me as I can now refresh with Chivita 100% fruit juice whilst watching my favourite club play”

    Another soccer fan, Rafiu Salami, a trader at Yaba Market, had this to say, “It is very nice for a proudly Nigerian company to be having such relationship with such a terrific club like Manchester United. I commend both brands for this initiative and know that the partnership would further trigger interest, excitement and patronage for these iconic brands”

    With the partnership signed in July 2014, Chivita 100% became the official fruit juice partner for Manchester United in Nigeria.

  • 21 Egyptian soccer fans sentenced to death

     

    An Egyptian court has sentenced to death 21 defendants over clashes between rival football fans in which 74 people were killed last February.

    The riots began minutes after a league game at Port Said stadium between local side al-Masry and Cairo club al-Ahly.

    The violence – Egypt’s worst football disaster – sparked riots in Cairo during which a further 16 people died, BBC reports.

    The sentences came after a day of clashes as the opposition marked the second anniversary of the revolution.

    Last year’s football riots led to the suspension of the league.

    It began when al-Masry fans invaded the pitch, hurling stones and fireworks at the visitors.

    At the time some fans – who said security forces appeared to do little to prevent the clashes – accused supporters of toppled President Hosni Mubarak of instigating the incident.

    At least 73 people, including policemen, were tried.

    The judge said he would announce the verdict for the remaining 52 defendants on March 9.

     

  • Soccer fans task ‘wealthy Nigerians’ on AFCON

    Soccer fans task ‘wealthy Nigerians’ on AFCON

    The Nigerian community in South Africa has urged wealthy Nigerians to sponsor Super Eagles’ fans to watch the team’s matches at the ongoing 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

    According to the body, such well-to-do Nigerians should emulate an Ethiopian billionaire, Mohammed Al-Amoudi, by providing support to enable their compatriots to watch the matches.

    Some of the Nigerians spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria Correspondent in South Africa on Wednesday.

    They complained of lack support, particularly in transportation and tickets, to watch the national team’s matches in the tournament.

    “It is unbelievable to see the large number of Ethiopians at the stadium on Monday to watch their national team game against Zambia.

    “The number was so overwhelming: everywhere you turn to inside and outside the stadium, all you see are the Ethiopian supporters.

    “What amused some of us was the fact that it was an individual that provided the resources for the Ethiopians to come out in their numbers to support their national team.

    “We have lots of wealthy Nigerians `who can support a worthy cause’ for nation building and integration through sports. More so, this could be used in promoting the good image of Nigeria,’’ South Africa-based Olubanjo Adesuyi said.

    He said the number of Ethiopians in South Africa could not match the number of Nigerians living in the country.

    “Nigerian citizens are more in number than the Ethiopians and you know that an average Nigerian is football crazy and always wants to support the National team.

    “But the greatest problem we have here as individuals and groups is lack of transportation to the match venues.

    “Although a lot of Nigerians drove more than four hours to Nelspruit to cheer the Super Eagles, we will match the Ethiopians, if we have transport from different parts of South Africa to match venues to cheer the Super Eagles,’’ Adesuyi said.

    He added that some fans were ready to purchase match tickets, if transportation would be provided.