Sports
Deputy Gov Rescues Ref From Angry Fans
The timely intervention of the Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, saved referee Abdullahi Shuabu from being attacked by angry Benin fans, who were mad at the official for disallowing a Bendel Insurance goal in added time, in their NPFL Match Day 10 clash against Rivers United at the University of Benin sports complex.
The home team took the lead in the 12th minute through Ugwu Michael before Rivers United’s Ossy Martins grabbed an equaliser in the 49th minute to silence the home fans.
Insurance however found the back of the net in added time after a goal-mouth struggle, and the home fans went into wild jubilation.
But their joy was cut short when the ref disallowed the goal. In anger, the fans trooped to the gate leading to the main bowl of the sports complex, in wait for Shuabu but the Edo Deputy Governor, sensing danger, formed a wall around the match officials with his security personnel, and escorted them to the dressing room.
Speaking after the match, an angry Shaibu threatened that the Benin Arsenal might stop competing in the Premier League if the management of the NPFL did not review the match video and correct what he termed “injustice.”
He said, “We are not happy. Kwara United came here, we scored a goal, and they disallowed the goal. The referee allowed the goal, but said the linesman (assistant ref) raised his flag, he disallowed it.
“Just last weekend, same scenario occurred, our goal was disallowed in Akure. Today, the same thing has happened. I think it is better we discontinue with the Premier League. We cannot continue to allow this kind of officiating to mar our games.
“We won the Kwara United game but they disallowed it (Insurance goal). When they reviewed the video, they saw that it was a goal. If they defeat us or they equalise, we don’t care, but not for them to make us lose points. We can’t continue like that.
“We have to discontinue with the league if LMC (League Management Company) does not probe the Kwara United match, Sunshine match and this one; we will discontinue with the league. We will write to them and we will not play the next match until our complaint is addressed.
“We are in the league and we are here to play according to the rules. You saw that we had to escort the referee out of the field so that the fans will not create a problem. We will continue to maintain discipline, but we will not maintain discipline at the instance of losing points at home and away.”
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
