Sports
Chelsea, Arsenal Held To Draw …Champions League
Chelsea and Arsenal both had to settle for a point on matchday four, meaning they still have work to do to reach the knockout stage of this season’s UEFA Champions League.
The Blues were left to rue missed opportunities on the road, while the Gunners failed to trouble the scorers on home soil.
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas was looking for a positive response from his side following their 5-3 derby defeat to Arsenal on Saturday, but was posed further questions in a 1-1 stalemate with Genk.
The Blues hammered their Belgian opponents 5-0 in their last European outing, but found the going a lot tougher away from home.
Ramires was the only man to find the target on this occasion, with the Brazilian combining well with Fernando Torres on 25 minutes before drilling across goal and into the corner of the net.
Raul Meireles then hit the bar for the visitors, before David Luiz spurned a golden opportunity to double their lead.
Thomas Buffel was adjudged to have deliberately handled a Florent Malouda cross inside the box, but Luiz saw his spot kick saved by Laszlo Koteles.
He was made to pay for that mistake on 61 minutes when Fabien Camus’ inviting cross was turned in by Jelle Vossen.
Chelsea are only three points clear of third-placed Valencia with two games to go after the Spaniards saw off Bayer Leverkusen 3-1.
Los Che took the lead inside 12 seconds as Oliveira Jonas returned the ball with interest following a terrible clearance by Bernd Leno, but Leverkusen levelled on 31 minutes when Michael Ballack, sporting a face mask to protest his broken nose, crossed for Stefan Kiessling to head home.
The hosts, aware that they desperately needed to win to keep their European dream alive, grabbed a second on 65 minutes when Roberto Soldado expertly flicked the ball past Leno and they put Leverkusen out of sight 15 minutes from time when Adil Rami nodded in from a corner.
There was to be no repeat of the late drama which saw Arsenal snatch three points off Marseille last time out when the two teams were reacquainted at the Emirates, with a goalless draw, a fair reflection on an even contest.
Didier Deschamps had vowed to attack the Gunners prior to kick-off and it was the French side that made most of the early running, with Loic Remy causing plenty of problems.
Arsene Wenger’s men came into the game as the first half wore on but, despite knocking on the door, they were unable to unlock Marseille’s dogged defence.
With the scores level, the visitors were never out of the game and they gave Arsenal a few nervy moments before the curtain came down on an uninspiring encounter.
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.