Sports
How is the Nigerian striker taking the EPL by storm?
Watford player Emmanuel Dennis moved to England from Germany’s Cologne last season, reports site Beton.ng. The Nigerian has shown a high level of play and is his team’s top scorer. True, Watford are not very confident in the English league. In a recent match this team lost to Man City with a score of 1:5. The experts of bookmaker Melbet NG gave a low odds of 1.25 to win Man City. It is clear that Man City was considered the favorite, but Melbet bookmaker didn’t believe that Dennis’ team would be able to compete and fight for at least a draw.
As for Emmanuel Dennis himself, he has 10 goals and 6 assists in thirty-one matches in the English championship. His partner is Moussa Sissoko. Previously he was a midfielder for Tottenham, but in the summer he became a player for Watford. The 31-year-old Frenchman signed a two-year contract with Watford. At this team, Sissoko performs under number 19 on the back.
Watford is fighting for survival in the English championship and planned to strengthen the team’s defense this winter. Watford made an attempt during the winter transfer window to acquire Manchester United defender Phil Jones. The team’s head coach Roy Hodgson is a big fan of the English footballer’s game, but the club failed to make a deal, Football Insider reports.
In early January, Jones took part in the English Premier League’s 21st round match against Wolverhampton. Before that, his last game for the club was the 1/16 final match of the FA Cup with Tranmere Rovers (6-0), which took place in September 2020. The reason for the long absence of the defender was a severe knee injury. According to the Transfermarkt portal, the cost of the defender is € 4 million. Phil Jones’ contract with MJ expires in 2023.
Watford have instead signed defender Hassan Kamara from club Nice. The 27-year-old has signed a contract with the APL club until June 2025. Kamara has experience of playing for the national team of Cote d’Ivoire. He has played more than 50 matches for Nice in all competitions.
Also Watford tried to buy another Manchester United player. It is about goalkeeper Dean Henderson. Hodgson’s club wanted to sign the player before the transfer window closed, but the Mancunians blocked the transfer. Henderson has played only 2 matches for United in all competitions this season.
Watford also had attempts to buy the Liverpool player. Perhaps the club will try to make this transfer in the summer. We are talking about Liverpool defender Nathaniel Phillips, who is in the sphere of interest of Watford. The English player is expected to leave Anfield in the winter transfer window, with Liverpool asking €14 million for Phillips, Football Insider reports.
Phillips, 24, has been in the English club’s structure since 2016, transferring from Bolton. This season, the English defender has spent 224 minutes on the field in four games in all tournaments. Phillips’ contract expires in 2025, Transfermarkt values the player at €8 million.
Sports
We’ll use Sports to Promote Peace, create Wealth in Tai…Chairman.
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.
Sports
NBA train youths, coaches in Nigeria
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.
Sports
BFN Hold Clinic to Empower Coaches
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.