Sports
NFF Sets Up Committee On Rangers, Warri Wolves’ Dispute
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Monday in Abuja inaugurated a committee to liaise with the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) to ascertain between Enugu Rangers and Warri Wolves the true owners of Super Eagles duo, Sunday Mba and Chigozie Agbim.
The two clubs have been fighting over the ownership of the players, whose ratings blossomed with their participation in the just concluded South Africa 2013 CAF Nations Cup.
Disclosing the inauguration of the committee to journalists in Abuja, NFF President, Aminu Maigari said the decision to find out the true owners of the players became necessary because the federation would not sit down and allow the two clubs ruin the future of the two players.
He revealed that the committee, which is expected to commence work today, would work with officials of the NPL to examine the claims of the two clubs on the players.
“We believe the NPL is part of the whole case because it deals directly with the two clubs and the players as well. We expect them to tell us the true position. The committee will commence work tomorrow (today) because I just inaugurated them to start up the process,” he said.
Meanwhile, Maigari has reminded the board of the Nigeria Nationwide League of the task ahead of it as it begins its congress in Abuja to herald the kick of the 2012/2013 NNWL season.
While insisting that NNWL can put its house in order to produce more stars for the various clubs and national teams, the NFF president, however, reminded the board that the league would not succeed if it failed to attract sponsors for its programmes.
“This is just to draw your attention to the many challenges your league has. Of course, you are the greatest league that we have in Nigeria, considering the number of clubs that are involved in the Nationwide League. With over 300 clubs in Nigeria, your expectations will be high. So we want to challenge you to discover and produce stars for the use of the higher leagues in the country and beyond.
“We want to see you produce more Sunday Mbas, Oboabonas, Omeruos, Ogenyi Onazis and quite a number of them. We at the NFF will never relent in supporting you.
“Let me also urge you to touch a few areas, like money. Money does not come easily to football. It cannot come while you are folding our arms. You have to be up and doing, you must collaborate with the NFF to support you in driving the process of sponsorship.
“The respect, which Nigeria enjoys today in football worldwide is because we have the products of the Nationwide League that have matured into the bigger leagues in the country and other countries.
“ We have the opportunity to produce more stars from the Nationwide League and be proud to say these are the stars we have produced from the various leagues,” Maigari charged the board.
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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