Sports
Globacom Threatens Legal Action Against NFF
Globacom have denied claims by the Nigeria Football Federation that they have defaulted in the payment of their sponsorship fees for the year, and have threatened legal action against the Glass House.
On Sunday, Idris Adama, the NFF’s Head of Marketing, told Tidesports’ source that the telecommunications company, who sponsor all the national teams to the tune of N150 million, were eleven months behind in their payment for 2009.
But Omodele Sarafa-Yusuf, the company’s Head of Sponsored Assets, described the statement as ‘a cheap lie calculated at diminishing Globacom’s investment in the nation’s football.’
Sarafa-Yusuf, in a statement on Tuesday, said: “Globacom has adhered strictly to the payment terms as specified in Clause 4.1-2 on page 4 of the contract signed in 2004.
“We urge the NFF to carefully study the letters of the section under reference. The clause stipulates that the 90 per cent cash component of the rights fee be paid in two installments at six months interval.”
The statement also reminded the NFF that in adherence to this clause and in response to the NFF demand letter of April 23, 2009, Globacom had through a letter dated May 8, 2009, paid N80 million to the Federation, representing over 50 per cent of the total sponsorship fee remitted through an Equitorial Trust Bank (ETB) cheque Number 00364518.
Furthermore, the company asked the NFF not only to retract the statement, but also to ‘caution the erring officer for the embarrassment caused the company’.
The company went on to catalogue what it described as ‘deliberate and consistent serial breaches of its rights to brand the National Teams’ training jerseys, exclusive branding of ball boys and escorts during National Teams’ matches and sector exclusivity by the federation and its agents’.
The statement said while these breaches have been brought to the attention of successive boards of the NFF since 2006, “we have not received any joy by way of actions to remedy the violations. Instead, agents of rival brands have been encouraged to ambush our rights even when we have fulfilled all obligations to the federation”.
“Globacom is the single highest financial corporate supporter of football at all levels in Nigeria since 2003 with over N6 billion committed to the development of the National teams and the Nigeria Premier League. We therefore find the recent statement from an NFF official to be in bad taste and a calculated falsehood aimed at diminishing our years of investment in football.”
The statement added that the company ‘may seek redress in court if the federation fails to retract the statement.’
The Kenya Football Federation (FKF) has launched an investigation into allegations that goalkeeper Patrick Matasi has been involved in match manipulation.
The 37-year-old, who plays for Kenyan Premier League club Kakamega Homeboyz, has won over 30 international caps.
His most recent appearance for the Harambee Stars came in October last year, in a qualifier for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
An undated video posted online appears to show Matasi agreeing a deal to influence the outcome of a league game.
“I have spoken to him. He was also shocked at what he was seeing in the video and he told me he doesn’t know about match-fixing,” Homeboyz owner Cleophas Shimanyula told Tidesports source .
The FKF said it would work with world governing body Fifa, the Confederation of African Football and other “relevant authorities” during its investigation.
“We reaffirm our zero-tolerance policy on match manipulation and are committed to safeguarding the credibility of our competitions,” a statement added.
“This investigation will adhere to FKF’s anti-match manipulation regulations and Fifa guidelines, ensuring a fair, transparent, and thorough process.
“The rights of the player and his club will be respected, and appropriate action will be taken based on the findings.”
Shimanyula backed Matasi, pointing to the fact the veteran has kept three clean sheets in as many games since joining the club a month ago.
“When we watched this video, we found that Matasi has not wronged the club,” he said.
“In a video there can misinterpretations and false narratives and we cannot trust everything.
“He will keep playing for us because there’s no wrongdoing on his part as far as we are concerned – unless there’s evidence or the FKF writes to us to say they are suspecting the player of some wrongdoing.
“He is innocent until proven guilty and then we will act.”
The FKF has called on anyone with credible information to assist its investigation, with any reports to be handled with strict confidentiality.
Shimanyula also challenged the Kenyan footballing community to provide evidence against Matasi.
“Kakamega Homeboyz is against any form of match manipulation,” he said.
Uefa has opened an investigation into allegations of indecent conduct by four Real Madrid players during their Champions League last-16 win against Atletico Madrid.
Antonio Rudiger, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Dani Ceballos allegedly made gestures towards the home fans after Real Madrid beat their city rivals on penalties to book their place in the quarter-finals.
TV pictures showed German defender Rudiger appearing to make a throat-slitting motion, apparently towards the crowd after the shootout victory, while Mbappe was shown seemingly making a crotch-grabbing gesture.
Spanish media said Atletico reported the actions to Uefa last week.
The players could be at risk of suspension but there is no guarantee the case will be heard before their quarter-final with Arsenal. The first leg for that tie is at Emirates Stadium on 8 April and the return leg a week later.
In a statement, Uefa said: “[An] ethics and disciplinary inspector has been appointed to investigate allegations of indecent conduct” made by the four Real Madrid players.
“Further information regarding this matter will be made available in due course.”
The Premier League has announced it will have two transfer windows this summer to allow Manchester City and Chelsea to sign players before the Club World Cup.
The window will open between Sunday, 1 June and Tuesday, 10 June, then close for five days before running again from Monday, 16 June until Monday, 1 September.
This summer features the first expanded Fifa Club World Cup, which involves 32 teams and adopts the format of the regular World Cup of the past few years.
Chelsea and Manchester City are the Premier League teams in the tournament which takes place in the United States from Sunday, 15 June.
But the Premier League can only have 12 weeks of a summer window – hence the five-day break in order to run it until 1 September.
Fifa has allowed new players to be registered for the Club World Cup from 1-10 June, and again from 27 June-3 July for the knockout stage.
This is happening firstly, to bring order to the global registration system, world governing body Fifa only permits the transfer window in any individual country to be open for 16 weeks in any calendar year.
In Europe, precedent dictates four of those weeks are for the winter window, leaving 12 in the summer. In 2024, the Premier League transfer window opened on 14 June and closed on 30 August.