Sports
No Going Back On Foreign Coach – NFA
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said yesterday in Abuja that there was no going back on its plan to hire a foreign technical director for the national teams.
Mr Emaka Inyama, a board member and Chairman of NFA Media and Publicity Committee, said there had not been any rebuttal to the arrangement since Musa Amadu, the General Secretary of the NFA, disclosed the plan in 2012.
Inyama, who was fielding questions from journalists at news conference, said that the idea was to have a template for football development in the country.
“There has not been any rebuttal since the general secretary said so; so, we are going ahead with the plan.
“What we have always said is that there is a need for us to develop a structure and a template for football development in this country.
“That is the beauty of a technical director. He doesn’t coach the teams but he will be able to say this is the mode of scouting, equipment and so on.
“Every federation in the world has it; even at club level, they do it (employ technical director) and I don’t think there is anything wrong with it,’’ Inyama said.
The NFA board member, who is also the chairman of the Nigerian National League (NNL), said there was no need for the hues and cries by Nigerians on the matter, as it would not interfere with the job of any coach.
On Keshi’s resignation saga, Inyama explained that his job as the Super Eagles’ Head Coach was intact.
“The programme we gave to you was submitted by Keshi, if we have plans to do away with him, we will not ask him to submit his programme for 2014 and the World Cup.
“If Keshi was to go, will you pay him ahead to motivate him without holding back?
“If there are issues, can’t they be resolved. Should they be a national issue after we won the trophy?
According to him, the NFA should be commended for the feat achieved by the Super Eagles’ rather than being criticised.
Inyama, however, advised Nigerians to criticise the board constructively, adding that the Eagles’ excelled in South Africa because of the enabling environment provided by the NFF for it to succeed.
Keshi has expressed concern over the plan by the NFA to hire a foreign technical director for the national team.
There are also fears that the foreigner can usurp the job of the coach.
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.
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