Sports
CAFCC: Rivers United Hopes To Secure Quarter Final Ticket
Rivers United FC of Port Harcourt has given strong hope to Nigerians, mostly people of Rivers State that they will consecutively qualify for quarter final stage of the ongoing CAF Confederation Cup.
United 1-0 win against Club AfrIcain on Saturday, at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, seems to be the most important, this is a strong indication that the only club remaining club representing the country in the continent will qualify for the next stage.
Speaking shortly after the match the technical manager of Rivers United, Stanley Eguma has expressed joy over victory against Club Africain of Tunisia in the group C of the ongoing CAF Confederation Cup (CAFCC).
According to him, the win will serve as a morale booster to his players going into their next game and confirmed. that the game was a very technical one.
Eguma said this on Sunday in his post match interview shortly after they defeated Club Africain 1-0 in the CAF Confederation Cup at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium Uyo.
“It was a good and highly technical game. I gave kudos to my players for keeping up with their tactical discipline in this game. Club Africain is a good team, there’s no doubt as they played with a lot of tactics.
“All our tactical plans worked because the players were able to keep their heads down and adhere to instructions.Our opponents were very fast with the ball, and we tried to calm down the tempo of the game to our own pace. We dictates the tempo of the game until the later part of the first half when we got the goal.
“In the second half, we knew that they were almost getting tired, so we tried to keep possession but we discovered that they were now using long through balls transitions. That was where we had problems trying to curtail them. My players held their heads and did that perfectly until we got to the end of the game. We have strong teams in our group” Eguma said.
The technical manager further caution his players not to be carried away by the victory because there are more games to play to qualify for the next stage..
“Today, we’ve picked three points but it’s not yet time for celebration because we have other games to play. We will go back to Tunis and ensure we keep a clean slate and then face other challenges after now.
The Port Harcourt side travel will to Tunisia in ten days time for the return leg as Club AfrIcain tops the group with goal advantage.
By: Tonye Orabere/ Kiadum Edookor
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.