Sports
Otache Wants Sponsors To Flood Nigeria’s Women’s League
As reactions continue trailing last Saturday’s finals in the male and female versions of the rebranded President Federation Cup, a female football promoter, Peter Otache has called for more sponsors of the women’s league.
Otache took a closer look at the organisation and standard of play witnessed on Saturday at Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos, and declared that he was impressed by what he saw in both matches.
He then singled out the women’s final, in which Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt beat Naija Ratels of FCT 1-0, and stressed that it was a worthy climax to the season.
The female football enthusiast and developer, however, interjected that a lot still has to be done to take the Nigerian Women Football League (NWFL) up to global standards.
Otache said, “I will summarise the season by saying it’s been a gruesome one. In as much as all the clubs are involved in both the league and the FA Cup, they had a busy programme, in which they all gave their best.
“It’s been a long run that ended on an exciting note today. At a point in time, there was a break, and we were not sure if the league would sail smoothly.
“So, we are happy that we have come this far. For me, it’s been a fantastic season, ending with the President Federation Cup in Lagos.”
He went on to provide an incisive assessment of the NWFL and the quality of Nigerian football in general, to which he opined that more effort is needed to improve all facets of the game.
“Overall, the league is improving. I will say, ‘Yes,’ female football is developing fast in Nigeria.
“Compared to what we used to have, maybe five, ten years back. Now they are more organised, but we need more sponsors.
“We need more people to come on board in all aspects of support for the league; so that there will be a more conducive platform for the women to show their best.
“All said, I am much more encouraged by what the grassroots teams are doing, in terms of feeding the major clubs with players all around Nigeria,” Otache posited.
Other stakeholders and spectators in the stands at the Onikan Waterfront also echoed the need for NWFL’s officials to reach out during this off-season and hook sponsors for various aspects of the league.
They were unanimous in a verdict that the presence of corporate and individual sponsors would motivate the clubs and their players to do even better.
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