Sports
… Suspends Adamu,Temarii Over Vote Claim
Fifa has provisionally suspended officials Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii over allegations of corruption.
The Fifa executive committee members are accused of offering to sell their votes in the contest to host the 2018 World Cup ahead of December’s ballot.
They were secretly filmed by Sunday Times reporters, who posed as lobbyists for a consortium of American companies that wanted the event to go to the US.
Fifa will meet again in mid-November to make a final decision.
At that meeting Fifa will also study alleged agreements between member associations and their bid committees in relation to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process.
The world governing body did not specify which countries could be under scrutiny.
Rumours of collusion between a 2018 bidder and a 2022 hopeful surfaced in September, prompting Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke to warn all countries that mutual voting deals are against Fifa rules.
England, Russia, Spain/Portugal and Netherlands/Belgium are competing to stage the 2018 World Cup, while the United States, Australia, Qatar, Japan and South Korea are all in the hunt for 2022.
Fifa’s 24-man executive committee will decide who wins both ballots on 2 December when they meet in Zurich to conduct a secret vote.
The US, the last remaining non-European bidder, pulled out of the running for 2018 on Friday to focus its efforts on 2022. On the same day, England pulled out of the bidding to host in 2022.
The allegations of vote selling have plunged the selection process into crisis and Fifa chief executive Sepp Blatter admitted “it was a sad day for football” before insisting “confidence will be restored”.
Nigerian Adamu, 57, allegedly said he wanted $800,000 (£500,000) to build four artificial football pitches. This would be against Fifa’s rules, appears to show him asking for money to be paid to him directly for endorsing a US bid.
Tahitian Temarii, 43, who played for French club Nantes during the 1980s, is alleged to have asked for a payment to finance a sports academy. He has already pleaded his innocence.
“I am 100 per cent convinced of my integrity.” “That’s why I have stayed on.”Temarii, head of Fifa’s technical and development committee said.
Temarii suggested his comments on the Sunday Times video had been taken out of context.
However Fifa ethics committee chairman Claudio Sulser explained that the decision to provisionally suspend Adamu and Temarii was “fully justified and should not be put in question”.
“It is crucial to protect the integrity of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process. We are determined to have zero tolerance for any breach of the code of ethics,” added Sulser, a former Switzerland international.
Four other Fifa officials – Slim Aloulou, Amadou Diakite, Ahongalu Fusimalohi and Ismail Bhamjee – have also been provisionally suspended.
The Nigeria Football Federation has defended the recent quarter-finals draw for the 2025 President Federation Cup, saying it was conducted in line with best global practices.
A member of the NFF Executive Committee Board, George Aluo, stated that criticism over venues for the quarterfinals was unfortunate.
Going by the fixtures released on Saturday by the football body, Abakaliki FC will take on Nasarawa United in Benin, Wikki Tourists will clash with Ikorodu City in Bwari, Abuja, Akwa United and Kwara United will fight it out in Enugu, just as Area 3, Abuja, will host the encounter between Rangers International and Plateau United. All matches are scheduled for May 3rd for the emergence of semifinalists in a leg affair.
However, there have been criticisms over the Ikorodu United vs Wikki Tourist tie billed for Abuja, with a section of the press saying the venue is skewed in favour of the Bauchi team.
Aluo, also the Chairman of the Nigeria National League (NNL), said: “Some of our media men need better education, and newsmen should not be like the fans out there on the streets. In the English FA Cup, it is always a one-legged pairing that can see a club like Arsenal host Manchester United at home”.
A new contract that will see Act Sports Di Oyibo Limited managing the career of Nigerian teqball specialist, Victor Oyemade, has been signed in Lagos.
The deal gives exclusive rights to Act Sports to manage, and exercise power of attorney over issues relating to the player’s welfare as it concerns his transactions, engagement for professional, promotional, sponsorships, endorsements, and exhibition purposes.
In signing the document, both parties also agreed that proper safeguards would be put in place to protect and promote the player’s interest at all times.
Director of Act Sports, Di Oyibo Limited, Pastor Samuel Robinson Oyibo, excited about the deal, said it would benefit both parties in the area of spreading the message of the sport, as well as laying a firm foundation for his new client’s future.
“Teqball is one of the world’s fastest-growing ball sports, and Victor Oyemade is the face of the sport here in Nigeria and Africa. That is why we are excited about this partnership that gives Act Sports official authorisation to manage his career, just as it will lay the foundation for its rapid growth in our country,” Pastor Oyibo said.
Oyemade was no less excited about the deal, saying it would help his growth in the sport.
Coaches of Nigeria’s U-18 and U-20 women’s handball teams have released their final lists of 14 players ahead of the IHF Women’s Trophy Zonal Phase, which will be held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, that commenced yesterday to end 24th of this month.
The two teams have been training at the Rowe Park Sports Centre, Yaba, Lagos, for close to two weeks and departed for the competition on Thursday.
Coach John Uzor of the national U-18 team has included Omole Joy of Defender Babes and her sister Omole Shola alongside Ojie Princess of Funad Academy alongside right back Faisat Balogun in the mix while Success Duru, Chetachi Ngaodurubie of COAS Babes and Sharon Okonkwo make the cut, amongst other players.
In the U-20 team, Coach Shittu Agboola has largely stuck with the players he has been grooming since their U-18 days. The team is led by Captain Chidera Ogbusimba alongside, her Rima Queens teammates the Samuel Sisters, Amina Mohammed and Joy Peters.
Israel-based Rahima Bello, Kehinde Babatunde of ASPAC HBC of Benin Republic and Esther Mathew, who is also based in Benin Republic, keep their places.
Coach Shittu believes his team will make Nigeria proud just as they did previously at the U-18 level.
“I am really upset that Taiwo Babatunde will not be part of the team for this competition as her school, Yaba College of Technology, insisted that they will not release her for national service because of examinations.
“We did everything humanly possible to secure her release and they didn’t care that it is a national service for the interest of Nigeria and the growth of sports. We have other players who are also students and they got a release from their schools but for no tangible reason, Yabatech refused to release Taiwo despite the fact that we did everything possible to secure her release. It’s sad and I hope the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Sports Commission will work in tandem so that schools will support our goal in making Nigeria proud in sporting events”.