Sports
‘NBBF Not Doing Enough For Basketballers’
Players at the Zenith Bank Female Basketball League finals in Lagos have urged the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) to attach more importance to their welfare.
Some of the players in separate interviews said that the federation should carry out an upward review of their allowances to boost their morale.
Chika Ogboke of Sunshine Angels of Akure complained that the allowances’ being paid to them by the NBBF was not commensurate to the amount of work the players put in.
She called on the federation to package its programme in a manner that would entice viable investors to boost the profile of the game in the country.
“If only the federation would take the necessary steps to repackage the sport, basketball would be more attractive to investors.
“The reorganisation must start with player’s welfare because they are the ones doing the hardwork,” she said.
Queen Nwaigwu of FCT Angels attributed the three successive defeats the team had suffered to lack of funds.
“We could not make it to the competition early enough because of money and had to pay the price,” Nwaigwu said.
She added that if the NBBF had been up and doing, teams would not suffer from undue logistical inadequacies.
Nwaigwu stressed the need for adequate compensation for players plying their trade in the league in order to reduce the recurring incidence of players travelling out of the country to seek greener pastures.
Reacting in a similar manner, Helen Akindele of AHIP Queens of Kano complained that the NBBF was not doing enough for clubs in the league.
Akindele said that the reason why the likes of Angola and Senegal remain the leading basketball countries in Africa was because they invested so much in their players and coaches.
“And to whom much is given much is expected as a result their players would not have any cause to complain,” Akindele said.
Bolum Ogoh of Delta Force of Asaba also said the federation should rebrand the league so that teams could reap the attendant benefits.
“I can’t wait to see our story changing, where a basketball player could boast of N50, 000 match allowances.
“With such an incentive in place, those who still want to improve on their education could still go back to school,” she said.
England captain Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to guide Bayern Munich to an impressive victory against Stuttgart.
Kane’s goals, plus one from Kingsley Coman, helped Bayern end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
They faced a tough task against a Stuttgart side who sat back and limited their chances, leading Vincent Kompany’s side to enter the break frustrated and with the deadlock unbroken.
Bayern eventually found a way past Stuttgart’s steely defence when Kane drilled a low effort into the bottom corner from around 30 yards out after Joshua Kimmich overturned possession.
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor
