Sports
2014 AWC: Falcons Victory Excites Fans
Football fans in Ebonyi
have urged football authorities in the country to use Saturday’s Super Falcons’ African Women football Championship (AWC) victory to evolve lasting peace to the Nigerian Football Association (NFA).
The Falcons defeated Cameroun’s Les Lionnes 2- 0 in the final of the 9th edition of the competition played at the Sam Nujoma Stadium in Windoek, Namibia.
The victory, which was Nigeria’s seventh in the championship, has qualified the team for the FIFA Women World Cup in Canada in 2015.
Nigeria, Cameroun and Cote d’Ivoire, which placed third after defeating their South African opponents in the third-place match, will represent Africa at the world cup.
Some of the fans who spoke with Tidsports source on Sunday in Abakaliki called on all interests in the NFA crisis to use the victory of the female team to come together and move the nation’s football forward.
Former Commissioner for Sports in the state, Chief Nicodemus Omenka, while congratulating the players for the victory, said that women in particular, had always brought honour to Nigeria in sports.
“The Falconets nearly won the last FIFA U-20 World Cup and that was at the height of the NFA crisis.
“The Falcons have replicated that effort by winning the AWC at a time a High Court judgment dashed all hopes of truce in the NFA crisis by sacking the Pinick Amaju-led new board,” he said.
He, however, said that the team’s victory would provide the “tonic” for the resolution of the crisis “so that football in the country will have a focus.”
A retired permanent secretary in the state, Mrs Judith Okoh, attributed the falcons’ victory at the tournament, to the “seamless team-selection” by Coach Edwin Okon.
According to her, the coach displayed a high level of technical competence by effectively merging youth with experience in making the team’s selection.
“This covered the lapses of late preparation by the team as the players blended well with established players, including old war-horse, Perpetua Nkwocha,” she said.
On his part, Bredan Nwankwo, the coach of Galaxy Football Club of Abakaliki, appealed to Mr Chris Giwa to withdraw all suits against the incumbent NFA leadership “for the good of Nigeria’s football.”
“I appeal to him and members of his faction to consider the future of Nigerian football by withdrawing the suit to allow us to savour the falcons’ victory.
“I urge relevant stakeholders such as President of the Senate, David Mark, to intervene in the crisis and ensure that Giwa and his men were adequately pacified,” he said.
Another fan, Mrs Gloria Asokuh, a civil servant, urged all stakeholders, including the Federal Government, to address the NFA issue before it festered further.
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.