Sports
Kaduna Utd Secures Away Points
Kaduna United endured an elongated five minutes added-on time last weekend in Kano to secure a 1-0 win over hosts Zamfara United to earn their first full points at away ground this season.
Siman Yusuf’s goal in 69th minute gave his side the victory.
Our correspondent reports that the Nigerian Premier League Week 10 match played at the Kano Pillars Stadium had always looked likely to go Kaduna United way.
They passed the ball better and had defended with more confidence, with Samson Auta dictating the pace in the middle, and in the second half, they got more adventurous.
After scoring and in spite of always looking the likelier side to score, Kaduna United were however the side under more pressure as referee Ajao Ibrahim from Kwara “dipped in quality’’.
After he sent off Kaduna United’s substitute Sani Aruwa for dissent in the 89th minute, the game kept all the spectators on the edge, as Zamfara United pressed forward in search of an equaliser. But, with referee Ibrahim’s added-on time of five minutes extending to nine minutes, the game wore on with tempers flaring both on the pitch and on the two teams’ substitutes’ benches.
However, Kaduna United held on stoically to move to 15 points from 10 matches, while Zamfara United remains in the relegation zone with nine points from 10 matches.
The losers’ head coach, Bello Garba, however, took the defeat in his stride, assuring that his team was going to quickly bounce back from the setback.
“That’s the nature of the game, and I am not totally disappointed.
“This kind of home loss is something we have not had for some time now, if you take into consideration the fact that we have not lost at home before now.
Kaduna United’s Technical Adviser, Maurice Cooreman, however, had harsh words for referee Ibrahim, saying he was “a surprise element’’ going by his decisions late in the game.
“I am not one to complain about referees, but the referee is a surprise element in view of the fact that his colleagues have performed excellently this season.
“He was a shame, with that red card and extended time. He really angered me, and he can only give himself a bad name because Nigerian referees have been doing well lately.
“What he failed to realise was that if we had continued the game till tomorrow, no other goal would have come.
“He is really a shame to this good pitch we played on and the performance of the two teams’ players,’’ he said.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.