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Goodluck sacks football federation

Posted by Choochoo Sports Book on July 1, 2010 at 5:34am
Nigeria’s President, Goodluck Jonathan, took steps to clean up the country’s football yesterday by dissolving the board of the Nigeria Football Federation and withdrawing the national teams from international football competitions for two years...

The decision came against the backdrop of the Super Eagles’ poor performance at the ongoing FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The Eagles finished at the bottom of Group B with one point after three matches.

Presidential spokesman, Ima Niboro who broke the news to journalists in Abuja said the move by the government was to enable the country put its house in order:

“The most important thing is that the President has directed that Nigeria withdraws from all international competitions for the next two years. This will enable us put our house in order and enable us work out a more meaningful way to engage the global stage in terms of football so that this kind of rather embarrassing outcome we had in South Africa will not repeat itself,” he said.

The president’s directive did not just stop at the moratorium on Nigeria’s participation in international football events. He also ordered that NFF offices be sealed and employees of the body be sent home. At the time of filing this report, this directive had been fully complied with and armed policemen were seen barricading the entrance to the NFF building. Mr Niboro said President Goodluck had also directed that:

“Audit be undertaken of the finances of the World Cup project; that any perceived misapplication of fund should be investigated and relevant agencies of government involved in tracking down whoever has done wrong and bringing whoever found culpable to book.” He added:

“The President also approved that the FCT Minister should find a suitable piece of land for the building of the Nigeria Football House. This will also serve as Secretariat to the Nigeria Football Association. These are the Presidential directives that came out of the meeting this afternoon,” Mr Niboro said.

Task force report

Before the decision to move against the football federation was taken, Mr Jonathan was briefed by members of the President Task Force (PTF) set up by late President Umar Yar’Adua to ensure Nigeria’s qualification for and credible performance at the World Cup, on the Eagles outing in South Africa. Rotimi Amaechi, Chairman of the committee and Governor of Rivers State, who also spoke to journalists after the government’s decision said president Goodluck acted largely on the recommendation of the task force. He said:

“Our recommendations were based on what we saw and what we met on ground. You will observe that the history of our qualification was not as smooth as it used to be before. We struggled to qualify. We got to the World Cup, we got a new coach; PTF was paying the Coach.

We agreed to pay the Coach $1.3 million which we paid. We got to the World Cup and we had all sort of mal-administration; we also had all sorts of problems and we find out that the problem of Nigeria Football now is structural and there is the need for us to look inward, sit back and re-organise the structure to ensure that we don’t continue to have what we currently have now.” He continued:

“We recommended to Mr. President, which he has approved that we formally write FIFA to say that Nigeria will not engage in any international competition for the next two years so that when we re-organise Nigeria Football and train higher coaches and all that and come out to any competition it will be to the delight of the Nation.

“The Nation has been punished enough, people have had heart attack because of Nigerian football. We want to reorganise and get it back to what it used to be when it was the pride of the Nation and we are glad that Mr. President has approved all our recommendations and given directive to that effect.

To stave off a possible backlash from world football governing body, FIFA, which frowns at interference by government in the administration of football, a letter explaining Nigeria’s decision to reorganise its football for the next two years has already being sent via email to the football body. An aide of the sports minister, Ibrahim Bio, who wants to remain anonymous, said the decision to inform FIFA did not arise from fear of any possible sanction but was done as a matter of courtesy.

“We are a sovereign nation and have a right to run our affairs without anyone outsider dictating to us,” he said.

Attempts to get FIFA to respond to the new developments were unsuccessful at the time of filing in this report.
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Colombian football team robbed in South Africa two weeks ahead of the World Cup

Posted by Choochoo Sports Book on May 29, 2010 at 10:03pm
Colombian football team robbed in South Africa two weeks ahead of the World Cup..

The Colombian football team has been robbed in South Africa two weeks before the start of the World Cup.
The team lost £1,800 pounds worth of U.S. dollars and euros on Tuesday after players were targeted at their hotel in Johannesburg.
Two female workers at the five star Hyde Park Southern Sun were arrested for allegedly taking the cash from the players' suitcases after they arrived to play an international friendly against South Africa.

Police spokesman Eugene Opperman said the pair had been charged with theft and appeared in court.
He said: 'They are accused of taking the money after going through suitcases and bags in several rooms on May 25.


'We were informed about the theft the following day and officers investigated. The suspects were cleaners at the hotel. They were arrested at the hotel and are being held in custody.
'It appears it was an inside job.'
The theft allegation is likely to be seen as a major embarrassment to South Africa so close to the start of the tournament.
South Africa's Times newspaper named the pair as Lucky Mahlatsi, 25, and Jeanet Mashimbyi, 29, from neighbouring Lesotho.
They will reappear in court next week.
Charges against a third woman were dropped because of lack of evidence.
The Colombian national team, who did not qualify to play in the World Cup, arrived in South Africa on Monday.
Last night they lost 2 - 1 in a friendly against the tournament hosts at the flagship Soccer City stadium.
The Hyde Park Southern Sun will host England's group stage rivals Slovenia during the tournament.
The eastern European squad is expected to arrive in South Africa on June 7.
Some of the 31 visiting nations have already arrived in Johannesburg and other teams are expected over the weekend..
Organisers have repeatedly stated their confidence in the ability of the police to protect players' and fans during the tournament.
But last year officers were called to investigate theft charges against the Egyptian national team during their stay in South Africa.
The players lost around £1,600 in U.S. dollars after being targeted at their Johannesburg hotel during the Confederations Cup.
Today a Fifa spokesman declined to comment on the robbery but said the security arrangements in place for the Colombian team's visit were not the same as those that had been arranged for World Cup teams.

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Biggest soccer Ball in the world sets football record

Posted by 9jabook.com on May 18, 2010 at 7:00pm
The excitement over the 2010 World Cup taking place in South Africa rose yesterday in Lagos with the unveiling of the world’s biggest ball by MTN, sponsors of the global football fiesta. At 36 feet high, it is officially the biggest ball on the planet. Emblazoned on the ball, which is made in the yellow colour of the sponsors, are the words MTN and Guinness World Records to signify that it is without question the biggest ball in the world at the moment.

The unveiling, which took place at the grounds of the Lagos Polo Club in Ikoyi, attracted a motley crowd of businessmen, artists, footballers and sundry other people.

It was a colourful event, made memorable by the performance of Nigerian Pop star TuFace Idibia, who performed the World Cup theme song composed by American singer, Kelly Rowland. Also on hand to spice up the event were two former Super Eagles, Austin “Jay Jay” Okocha and Daniel Amokachi, as well as current Eagles vice-captain, Joseph Yobo.

Biggest event, biggest ball

On hand to steer guests round at the event was Bola Akingbade, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer of MTN who said the programme formed part of his organisation’s build up to the World Cup also said about 133 MTN subscribers who were successful in the company’s World Cup promo will be taken to South Africa to watch first round matches of the tournament. He disclosed that an addition 300 high profile Nigerians will also be watching the games on the bill of MTN. He added that as part of his firm’s World Cup programme, a United African Club of supporters would be formed to give support to all African teams at the tournament.

Asked about the rationale behind the decision to design the biggest ball in the world, Akingbade said:

“The World Cup is the biggest football event in the world; as sponsors of the event we felt that nothing would be more fitting than to kick off our official countdown to the tournament with a huge ball, the kind of which you have seen tonight”.

The official unveiling of the ball was conducted by Lagos State Commissioner for youth, Sports and social Development, Demola Adeniji-Adele who represented the governor of Lagos State. He was accompanied on by Al-Hassan Yakmut Saleh, executive secretary of the Nigeria Premier League, who represented the Minister of Sports, Ibrahim Bio as well as Mr Okocha, Mr Amokachi and Mr Yobo.

Bisi Taiwo, a guest at the event who was enthralled by the spectacle of the huge ball dominating its surrounding, gushed: “This is just so wonderful. I have not seen a ball this size before; without doubt it has got to be the biggest ball there is.”

The 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa will feature 32 teams battling for the ultimate prize, an 18-carat gold trophy. Nigeria has been placed in group B alongside Argentina, Greece and Korea and will kick off its World cup campaign on June 12 with a match against Argentina at the Ellis park stadium in Johannesburg.
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Sudan:Naija football player to get 40 lashes for drunk driving

Posted by Choochoo Sports Book on November 14, 2009 at 1:21am
A Nigerian football star on Thursday said he had been sentenced to 40 lashes in Sudan after being wrongly convicted of drunk driving in Khartoum.advertisement
NEWSBLOGSTODAY..NAIJA POLITICS TODAY
lagos..Port-Harcourt..Abuja..Kaduna.. Owerri..Edo.. AkwaIbom..Ibadan..Enugu
Stephen Worgu, who signed a reported multi-million dollar contract with Omdurman Club, Al Merreikh, last year, said he was innocent and determined to win an appeal against the sentence."I am not guilty of this crime...I can't imagine myself being flogged," he told reporters in his Khartoum flat.It was the latest in a series of high-profile cases where Sudan's brand of Islamic law has come under the spotlight. A British teacher was jailed after letting her class name a teddy bear Mohammad in 2007 and a Sudanese journalist was imprisoned in September after being convicted of indecency for wearing trousers. Both women had faced a maximum sentence of flogging.Drinking alcohol is banned under the sharia law enforced in Muslim north Sudan. Men found guilty are routinely beaten in public outside court rooms, while women are generally punished in private.Worgu, 20, said he was stopped by police driving home late from dinner at a friend's house in August.He said he was taken to a police station and briefly questioned, then later told to attend court this week."I was trying to make myself heard to the judge ... saying he (the policeman) didn't make any medical test. He didn't find me with any drink."He said the officers told the court they had smelled the home-brewed spirit aragi on his breath, but insisted he had never heard of the drink. "My lawyer was saying, 'This guy, he makes good money. How can he drink aragi? Aragi is sold for one pound."
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