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Tue, Oct

After the exit of all the English Premiere League representatives -- Chelsea FC,  Manchester City and Arsenal FC -- from the UEFA Champions League at the round of 16 on Wednesday, the stage is now set for the remaining teams to move on to the quarter finals.

The draws for the quarter final fixtures took place  in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday, ahead of actions in the game which will commence on 14th April.

Spanish league, La Liga is dominating with representatives at the moment, with three of its strongest teams -- Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid -- still in the run.

Others remaining in the run are, Saint-Germain, Juventus, Monaco and Bayern Munich.

Below is the draw for actions to commence on 14th April:

 Paris Saint-Germain vs. Barcelona

  • Atlético Madrid vs. Real Madrid
  • FC Porto vs. Bayern Munich
  • Juventus vs. AS Monaco

 

The Cranes of Uganda have opted to play against the Super Eagles of Nigeria in the friendly match ealier scheduled to be against the El Verde of Bolivia.

Bolivia withdrew from the friendly set for 26th March in Uyo, because of the fear of armed conflict and the tense political situation in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, Nigerian officials said they they were shocked with the withdrawal because they had put everything in place to ensure a hitch-free game.

The friendly against the Cranes is scheduled for 25th March at the same Uyo, Akwa Ibom stadium.

With the latest development, Super Eagles captain and goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama will now be able to win his 100th cap.

The 32-year-old had been named in the 28-man squad selected by Super Eagles assistant coach, Daniel Amokachi.

The withdrawal of the El Verde means that Enyeama would have to wait until Nigeria's friendly against South Africa on 29th March before earning his landmark 100th cap.

Other players named in the squad against Bolivia include, Brown Ideye, Anthony Ujah, Aalesund defender, Akeem Latifu; Watford striker, Odion Ighalo and Belgian club Gent Moses Simon.  

 

For fear of being attacked by Boko Haram, El Verde,  the national team of Bolivia have cancelled their friendly match with Nigeria, previously scheduled for 26th March in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

"Armed conflict and the tense political situation in Nigeria forced our withdrawal," said President of the Bolivian Football Federation, Carlos Chavez.

Commenting on the cancellation, the authorities in Nigeria  said they were shocked  by the decision, because they had already put everything in place to ensure a hitch-free game.

The game had been publicised as one in which Nigeria's Captain and goalkeeper Vinent Enyeama would have earned his 100th cap for the country.

The 32-year-old had been named in the 28-man squad selected by Super Eagles assistant coach, Daniel Amokachi.

The withdrawal of the El Verde means that Enyeama would have to wait until Nigeria's friendly against South Africa on 29th March before earning his landmark 100th cap.

Other players named in the squad against Bolivia include, Brown Ideye, Anthony Ujah, Aalesund defender, Akeem Latifu; Watford striker, Odion Ighalo and Belgian club Gent Moses Simon.  

Alas Nigerians! The National Assembly passed NFF Act 2013 and no Act for other sports but unfortunately it is comically and clinically irrelevant and dead on arrival as others based on the antecedents of present administration where the country’s citizens continue to be muscled from relying on Nigeria’s Judicial independence from Executives for fear of some archaic “servitude phenomenon”. Nigerians are not second class citizens in their own country, but only in Nigeria can we expect this Master-Servant mentality where our laws are jettisoned for the sake of FIFA and there was no record of any real benefit coming out of FIFA to Nigeria ever. Yes, appearance fees at World Cup cannot be compared with a N450million monthly dash by the federal government to NFF. So what does the country gain from FIFA insults, absolutely nothing. This article is about all sports in Nigeria not just football for the benefit of all Nigerians.

When Nigeria talks about RIO Olympics Games that is due to commence in about 18months or so, the imposed people in charge of sports will ‘shout’ them down as a distant agenda that is less urgent. But it doesn't seem that the Minister for Sports, Mr. Danagogo aka Danaboy got a clue on how  to plan or prepare for an Olympics Games, on the other hand Nigeria has never appointed anyone who knows how, since the so-called democracy ‘pinched’ the brains of the country’s supposedly leaders. And of course Danaboy tenure is less than 90days away. This writing will attempt to provide guidance to the Sports Ministry as a civic duty. Some information is part of this writer published book.

Anticipatory (Long Range Plan) Program

This is developmental regime aimed at the 2020 Olympics Games. A Sports Development Authority (SDA) must be established.

Sports Development Authority (SDA) - Athletics

“NSC must establish a new corporate entity with the aim of developing athletes. In order to achieve this aim a new institutional structure must be established along with the determination on how such institution be governed.

Nigeria embraces American-styled democracy in her federal government structure and it will not be a difficult process to allow the governed, including the athletes in determining the leadership of the new SDA.

Stakeholders

It is fundamental in most democratic societies that the governed participates in the process of appointing or electing leaders and for the purposes of this writing, the governed are the stakeholders. Among them are all registered athletes, non-defaulting States Amateur Athletics Associations, non-defaulting parties such as club owners and other organizations or groups like uniformed services, etc.

NSC employees do not qualify as stakeholder. The non-defaulting party is defined as those individuals or clubs that are not in any arrears of debt to AFN or any athlete. A defaulting State Associations are those who failed to host or hosts less than mandatory minimum of three age-graded / inter-school competitions every year and those that failed to provide sporting facilities for that State.

The stakeholders’ choice of leaders begins with the election of the new members of the Board of Directors.

Board of Directors

The Board of directors is routinely appointed at-large based on merit and qualification to supervise an organization’s decision making by voting for or against any measure. This method of appointment should be adopted and strictly followed unless the stakeholders determine that such rule should be amended. A Board of Directors Selection Committee (BDSC) should be organized by the stakeholders. BDSC will set the guidelines for the Board election, conduct the election and set the goals of the Board, including the requirements that elected board member will be limited to two terms of four years. Previous and that the outgoing AFN Board members are not eligible to contest any position in SDA.

After the election process, the list of top ten will be publicly announced for vetting including security clearance by the country’s security agencies and validation of work experiences, credentials or qualifications. However, the incumbents are expected to have a fund-raising background.

BDSC will determine nine among ten forwarded individuals based on the number of votes, security findings and other merit such as fundraising skills, experiences and qualifications. Once that decision is made BDSC function terminates. Any appeal of the process must be delivered to NSC for resolution.

The selected Board members determine, among themselves who will be the Chairperson, and other office holders. The Chairmanship should be rotated annually. However, no Board member can run SDA operations in any capacity.

In addition, the new Board monitors SDA’s affairs through Committee of experts in specific areas such as audits, athletes’ or coach selections.

All Board decisions must meet the quorum requirements, simple majority or unanimous decisions in certain areas depending on the SDA’s constitutional demands. Veto power may exist on certain issues (such as the dismissal of its President during his / her term).

Restructuring Transition Committee (RTC)

Restructuring Transition Committee (RTC) should be set-up by the new Board. RTC has two functions, which are technical (athletes' specific) or non-technical.

RTC-Non-technical should establish a search Committee for hiring a permanent head of marketing / promotions within 30 days.

The role of the President will be defined by the RTC with amendments by any succeeding Board.

The RTC (and later SDA President) is required to list out annual local, national and international program of events along with funding estimates. The suggested local competitions funded by each State should be at least three age-graded or inter-school state championships on each year. Four national competitions privately funded should be organized and at least two international outings should be encouraged. SDA may at any time fund its own weekly All Comers meets, etc.

RTC should train and engage former athletes to officiate any of its sanctioned events nationwide because this is a pool of experts currently ignored.

RTC should negotiate with international shoe companies directly to assist the nation's athletes in athletic wears and equipment. SDA will not supply athletes with running / spike shoes due to the Card System funding mechanism. Only in international engagement will athletic wear be supplied to selected athletes.

RTC should set its fundraising goal to at least $30Million annually and not operate a budget deficit through shrewd spending.

RTC should within two weeks begin the process of setting up a search Committee with instructions to forward names of potential (President) candidate for background checks (security, fraud, criminal, etc.).

Until SDA President is hired, the RTC-Technical can in the interim hire Technical Secretary, Coaches / Trainers. In addition, it can prepare contract documents for the Card System and determine eligibility of athletes and enroll them immediately. Catch Them Young (CTY) program preparatory phase begins immediately through research and liaison between RTC, Federal Ministry of Education, LGAs and State governments. The Minister for Sports must be available for meetings with State officials.

New President (SDA)

The President of an organization runs that organization. This is an answer to resolving several perennial concerns in a typical Nigerian organization and for the new SDA’s President, his or her authority in consultation with the management team cannot be challenged except perhaps actions contrary to SDA constitutional documents. The President should shun all outside interests or Board interference with operations.

Functions of SDA President

The primary role of the President is the overall management of operations or activities that SDA is mandated to carry out within its constitutional limit. Essentially, the key functions of management not just the classical view by Fayol47 but also Mitzberg48ten identified functions of management.

The President, upon assumption of duty is expected to develop a plan of activities and resources along with operational target.

Activities

SDA must develop strategic and tactical goals, in addition to pre-existing operational goals by NSC. Those operational goals should be modified to accommodate new interim managers of various categories of athletes. The interim managers as appointed by the Board will oversee the effectiveness of the new regime structure.”

Strategic plan

Funding

• SDA should phase-out reliance on federal government funding except for the All African and the Olympics Games.

• The CS should continue because it provides incentives and motivation for the athletes while

 The Catch Them Young (CTY) program discovers raw talent early. The CS costs can be as high as US$1million for about 100 athletes (some will get $1,500 per month others get $1,000 while the juniors get at least $300 plus free education).

• Ban on NSC direct funding (travel and accommodations) of Board members to international

   Championships or Olympics games. Cost savings can exceed US$100, 000.

• Financial independence of NSC except mandatory new pension scheme matching contribution.

• Athletes, clubs, organizations, States, and others that take part in AFN competitions will fund such competitions through entry fees, club annual fees and stakeholders charge. This funding mechanism can fetch as much as US$1million annually.

Development / Performance

• SDA must consider as low priority athletes who are over 30years old and not worldly ranked above top 15 in their respective events.

• Redeploy many sprinters running slower than 10.3secs in 100meters of other events they are better suited such as jumps, hurdles, and long sprints. Re-emphasize throws and distance events.

• Increase transparency in decision making and athletes / Coaches selections.

• Phased-in the Local Government Area (LGA) inter-school competitions as early as 2013. Funded by LGAs.

• Phased-in State age-graded schools competitions as early as 2013. Funded by the States.

• Restructure privately funded State and National Junior Championships as early as 2013.

• Restructure National Sports Festival with under-18 category.

Technical scheme

The new technical regime follows a two-pronged approach, the Card System (CS) and Catch Them Young (CTY). This new regime will be phased-in over a six month period, but initially headed by 5-man / woman team named Restructuring Transition Committee (RTC) – Technical; with verifiable pure technical skills in track and field (may not all be Nigerians).

The regime is modelled to cater for talented athletes’ year round. The starting point is Figure 2 below which categorizes new technical regime (for athletes).

(i) Developmental concerns Elementary and Junior Secondary Schools (Coaches are seconded from the Nigerian Institute of Sports (NIS) new internship programs).

(ii) Junior deals with High School students (Elite junior attends schools funded by the NSC or AFN)

(iii) Elite athletes deal with ‘A’ or ‘B’ standard under IAAF World Championship rating. Senior Elite ‘A’ must be world ranked and Elite ‘B’ must be less than 21 years old. Junior Elite must meet ‘B’ standard and less than 18 years old

(iv) Retired (athletes) is a new category that must be supported based on their contribution towards the new pension scheme. The athletes must have competed internationally in the country for 10 years

Elite Maintenance Program

This is a program that will provide all required assistance to athletes who have reached Olympics standards as of December 2014.

“Tactical plan

• To meet the demands of a team to international competitions within the next two years, SDA must aim to maintain and sustain current crops of athletes by enrolling them in a new Card System (CS) program for junior and senior elite athletes. Such program discussed below includes eligibility for retirement benefits for athletes that invested over ten years on the national team. CS program is estimated at about US$1million annually and paid directly into the enrolled athletes’ bank account from the finance Ministry on monthly basis.

• Presents a quality Olympics Game’s team within 16months by using the following approach:

Hire twenty coaches nationwide to prepare for the elite structure and youth emphasis.

Reformulate funding sources and bring all States and LGAs as well as Ministry of Education together under the new approach;

Discourage spending on foreign airline tickets for national trials because it shows a preferential treatment;

Discourage forced camping (local or international) and reemphasises local training facilities in all region of the country. Athletes invited to represent Nigeria can assemble and train at the local centre near them under the guidance of National Coach assigned to that region;

Redeploy of good athletes running slower than 10.3 seconds in 100 meters to other events should be encouraged.”

I rest for now.                                                                                      

Dr. Rashid A. Balogun, CPA, LLB(Hons.), LLM(London)

 

This writer resisted being drawn into a public political discussion recently, but can clearly state his minds on unbecoming events by some officials of a political party based on allegations that that would wake-up a dead soul. This writer woke up at exactly 2:58AM singing an old tune by Ebenezer Obey that says, “Oja Oyingbo ko mo pe enikan o wa o” meaning, Oyingbo market doesn’t know if someone didn’t come and it took a long time to go back to sleep because of certain reality in applying the song to the current spate of events in Nigeria. From allegation of dollars everywhere being thrown away by a certain contestant of a party in the upcoming election to reckless security damnation by some citizens. Of course that song has become relevant to some political party, not just the ruling party because the suffering of the people, the austere environment, the dollar rising prices and the tagging of being corrupt mean absolutely nothing to some of these election contestants.

Allegation in respect of doling out dollars was that the contestant were providing incentives to the voters to compromise their voting power and of course, legally speaking both the offeror and the offeree of the incentive will be determined to have acted contrary to law of the land. This writer was never approached nor would he entertain such corrupt practice, but going by the actions of his colleagues in sports environment, it is very easy to jump to the wrong conclusion. Some of these people admitted openly to this bribery for vote agenda without any reservation and this is abnormal actions which must CHANGE.

Ideally, the penalty for these actions is jail time to both receiver and the payer and of course there may not be enough space in prisons to accommodate all of them, but as a deterrent to some of these people must serve jail terms or public flogging. At this juncture, it must be asked, where does the scarce dollars come from? Postulation exists that the monies were from federal purse or ill-gotten gains but is that source anything for a debate or rather the reasoning behind why such wasteful spending occurred without the political party base of such individuals calling such persons to order. The image this writer sees from such actions can be framed metaphorically, as an individual being accused of being a thief and during such accusation the individual was observed pickpocketing one of the accusers wallet while standing. This cannot be good for the spirit of democracy or the nation’s interest.

 Another issue of concern is the potential explosive situation where certain militants from the south-south to the southwest who appeared to be brandishing dangerous weapons at some individuals while protesting against the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and outright calling for his sack. Unfortunately, there is no proof of a link to any political party as their sponsor, but they admittedly announced their support for the ruling party. This writer would have expected the ruling party leaders to renounce the actions of these groups, but the party has yet to do so and until then the voters’ insinuation and allegation that those groups were sponsored remained valid. The fear is the action of these groups when the election takes place or decision is announced for the March 28 election.

Certainly these events cannot be regarded as usual electioneering rather they are despicable criminal acts in motion and the key question is where the Attorney General is? Or why the security agencies failed to respond? Either way, no one can say with all honesty, they condoned the actions of the groups not because of right of protest, but brandishing of weapons without police authority, this writer imagines. Strange things, strange happenings, strange people and all these MUST CHANGE.

I rest for now.                                                                                      

Dr. Rashid A. Balogun, CPA, LLB(Hons.), LLM(London)

The Green Eagles of Nigeria, also referred to as the Home based Super Eagles senior national will resume training camp in Abuja for their two international friendly matches against Cote d’Ivoire and Sudan on Tuesday.

The friendly matches will be a sort of compensation for Nigerian football fans, since the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Equatorial Guinea.

Nigeria will not be defending the title they won in the last edition of the championship after failing to win crucial qualifiers against Congo and South Africa.

The Green Eagles will be led by assistant coach Daniel Amokachi to confront 1992 African champions Cote d’Ivoire on 11th January. They will take on Falcons of Sudan on 19th of the same month.

The players had an earlier planned resumption date for Sunday, 28the December but it was postponed till 30th December after Mali backed down from participating befor Sudan agreed to face the Super Eagles.

The players have been instructed to arrive at their usual abode at Bolton White Apartment, Zone 7, Abuja with their international passports and four passport photographs by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Following the call to camp, NFF General Secretary, Musa Amadu warned the invited players against lateness to camp.

He explained that the friendly games billed to be played at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates were planned to start up the building of a new Super Eagles squad from the home front as well as to expose the Green Eagles.

“All the players are expected in camp latest by Tuesday. Lateness will not be condoned as any player who does will face the penalty. We accepted the friendly games in UAE to expose the home based players despite the country failed to qualify for the 2015 African Cup of Nations,” Musa Amadu said on Radio Nigeria.

“We have no time to waste as we think we need to begin to build a national team from the domestic league. Same time, we are working round the clock to make sure that the Super Eagles will have opponents for all the FIFA windows available in year 2015 and we are happy that the two games with the Ivorians and the Malians .

“The two games against Ivory Coast and Sudan will be good for the home based Super Eagles. As you all know, Cote d’Ivoire are serious contenders and will be fielding their strongest team against Nigeria in the friendly, that will be a competitive test for the players.

 

The players invites are:

Invited players are:

Goalkeepers: Chigozie Agbim (Gombe United); Daniel Akpeyi (Warri Wolves); Theophilus Afelokhai (Kano Pillars)

Defenders: Solomon Kwambe (Sunshine Stars); Idris Aloma (El-Kanemi FC); Chimma Akas (Sharks FC); Nelson Ogbonna (Heartland FC); Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves); Erhun Obanor (Bendel Insurance); Bright Esieme (Enyimba FC); Umar Zango (Kano Pillars)

Midfielders: Ammel Angel Wilfred (Kogi United); Joseph Nathaniel (Sharks FC); Charles Henlong (Giwa FC); Stanley Dimgba (Warri Wolves); Rabiu Ali (Kano Pillars); Chinedu Udeaga (Enugu Rangers); Emem Eduok (Dolphins FC); Kingsley Sokari (Enyimba FC)

Forwards: Mfon Udoh (Enyimba FC); Gbolahan Salami (Warri Wolves); Osaguona Christian (Enugu Rangers); Gambo Muhammad (Kano Pillars); Christian Obiozor (Enugu Rangers)

Ikechukwu Uche and Aaron Samuel both scored to keep Nigeria's hopes of Africa Cup of Nations qualification alive in a morale-boosting 2-0 win over Congo on Saturday.

A tight first half yielded few clear-cut chances, but the visitors made the breakthrough just before the hour mark when Emmanuel Emenike was brought down inside the box and Uche kept his cool from the spot.

Thievy Bifouma missed a penalty for the hosts five minutes later and Samuel wrapped up the points with a tidy finish in the last minute, with angry home fans causing a slight delay when they threw missiles onto the pitch.

The result moves Nigeria into second place, with goal difference pushing them ahead of Congo heading into the final round of games in Group A.

Congo started brightly and saw Bifouma spurn two presentable chances inside the opening 10 minutes, while Fode Dore also skewed wide when well placed seven minutes before half-time.

The visitors suffered an early blow after the interval when Hope Akpan went off injured, but they broke the deadlock soon after.

Chancel Massa fouled Emenike in the box and Uche beat the goalkeeper with a low finish into the bottom-left corner from 12 yards.

Congo were given a chance to level the scores with a penalty of their own after Godfrey Oboabona was adjudged to have handled a Prince Oniangue shot.

Bifouma stepped up to take the kick, but Vincent Enyeama guessed correctly and pushed the striker's effort away to ensure Nigeria's lead remained intact.

After Uche had wasted two chances to double Nigeria's lead, the hosts saw efforts from Francis N'Ganga and Delvin Ndinga go close, the latter denied by a great save from Enyeama

A swift counter-attack following that save saw Nigeria secure their victory, substitute Samuel curling a left-footed effort beyond Massa to give Keshi a winning return.

More Articles ...

  1. Keshi Recalls Uche for Remaining AFCON Qualifying Games
  2. Keshi Reinstated as Super Eagle’s Coach
  3. Recall Keshi, Amodu Entreats NFF
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