Sports
NFSC Demands Yekini’s Immortalisation …As Ogun Donates N2m
The Chairman, Nigeria Football Supporters Club (NFSC), Yisau Olatunde, has called on the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to immortalise the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola and the late Rashidi Yekini.
Olatunde made the call in Ibadan in an interview with newsmen on the sidelines of a novelty match to mark the 40-day Fidau prayer for the late Yekini.
Olatunde, who also urged ex-Super Eagles players to come together to honour Abiola and Yekini, noted that both men had contributed immensely to the growth of football in Nigeria.
The chairman said that great sports administrators like the late Abiola, the Pillar of Sports in Africa, should not be forgotten by CAF for his immense contributions to football and the organisation.
He added that great footballer such as Yekini should not also be forgotten by CAF and the Super Eagles for his superb soccer display that had attracted many youths to football.
According to him, the issue of immortalising Abiola, the acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993 election, has been greatly politicised.
He said that Abiola deserved a federal sports complex to be named after him in Nigeria, to further buttress his contributions to the growth of football in particular and sports generally.
The chairman added that the Federal Government should also accord similar honour to other late sportsmen such as Sam Okwaraji.
He said Yekini and Okwaraji left a legacy of honouring national calls without gratification, adding that they were gentlemen to the core.
The chairman said that the late Yekini had on several occasions donated to the growth of the Supporters Club.
“He will be missed a lot. We members of the Supporters Club sympathise with his family while we also prayed that God gives them the fortitude to bear the loss,” Olatunde said.
According to him, the NFSC will institute scholarship fund for Yekini’s children and will also honour him with a posthumous award during the next GLO CAF awards.
Mr Gboyega Okegbenro, General Manager, Gateway Football Club, at the event donated N2 million to the family of the late Yekini on behalf of the Ogun government.
“Rashidi represents a major loss to us and Nigeria as a whole,’’ Okegbenro said.
The match played at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Ibadan, ended 1-0 in favour of Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan against Gateway FC of Abeokuta.
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
