Sports
Obi May Not Play For Nigeria …2012 Olympics Qualifiers
The national under-23 men
football
team is not likely to have the services of Inter Milan midfielder Joel Obi at
the upcoming 2012 Olympics qualifiers, a team official has disclosed.
Team head coach Austin Eguavoen, who
disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja, however said he was sure about the
availability of five other foreign-based players.
The Tidesports gathered reports that the
team also known as the Dream Team V is to play at the qualifiers dubbed the CAF
U-23 Championship.
The eight-nation championship is scheduled
for Morocco, from November 26 to December 10, 2011, with the top three sides
qualifying automatically for the Olympic Games in London.
“Obi won’t be available because his club’s
Technical Director discussed with me at length about their situation.
“However, while I can take the risk of
putting him in the team, it is certain that he will not be available for us in
the first one or two games which are important for us,” Eguavoen said.
The coach said the situation could only get
better if Inter’s position in both the UEFA Champions League and the Serie A
improves.
“If Inter qualifies on time, then they will
let him come but if they are struggling to qualify, then they won’t let him
come.
“But I can understand and see reasons with
them because this is the first time in many years that the club has found
itself in the lower side of their league table. So, we must understand.
“So, to me, he can either be included on
our final list or we can completely forget about him.
“While it’s not that we can’t do without
him, but it is also a fact that if we have him it’s going to be a plus for us,”
he said.
Tidesports reports that the Dream Team V
are in Group A of the championship, alongside Morocco, Algeria and Senegal,
with their opening game on Nov. 26 against the hosts.
Eguavoen who just returned from a trip to
four European countries to discuss the release of players for the team with the
players’ clubs was however optimistic on other players.
“Obiora Nwankwo, Ahmed Musa, Nnamdi
Oduamadi, Uchebo Okechukwu and Ekigho Ehiosun, are expected while Rabiu Ibrahim
is outrightly out because his club gave us their own reasons and we have to
respect that,” he said.
Eguavoen who said he was still optimistic
his team has a very bright chance of doing well in Morocco said his visit to
the European clubs was not a wasted trip.
“The need to sit across the table with the
clubs’ Technical Directors and coaches is very important. It’s not something
you do over the phone.
“Some may see it in either a positive or
negative way, but it was very necessary because we couldn’t have risked sending
e-mails or any other thing which would have made our request to be dropped in
the trash can,” he said.
On whether the Dream Team V had missed some
quality time of preparation while he was away, Eguavoen said his team had
missed nothing.
“If you look at it, we have the assistants,
who are the technical hands who handled this team when I was away. Moreover, it
was just about seven days. I don’t think we’ve lost anything.
“The coach has to be very proactive when
taking decisions such as this. The problem we have had were the dates of
availability.
“This is because we wanted them to come
earlier while some of the clubs are busy with the Champions League and some
other league competitions.
“Now all we have to do is to put our
preparations in shape by sending on time the letters for these players to be
released,” 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.