Sports
Groom Young Athletes, Gora Tasks Sports Administrators
Elias Gora, a retired sports administrator says gro-oming young athletes is necessary for the country to regain its top position in sports in the comity of nations.
Gora, a former Secretary General, Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) said this when he spoke with newsmen in Lagos, yesterday.
“Often time sports administrators tend to ignore the aspect of grooming athletes. We have said it times without number, deliberate thoughts and action need to be taken.
“Since the likes of Blessing Okagbare, tell me one athlete that is as formidable as she was when she was younger, this is what happens when we fail to train, dearth of professional athletes.
“Before Coronavirus came, check our performances in London and Rio de Janeiro, we honestly can’t keep hoping on God for miracles without putting in the hard work.
“Now with the pandemic, I honestly don’t know what to expect in 2021 Tokyo; it is only the wrestling federation and taekwondo that I hear of their training programmes, that have been consistent,” he said.
Gora, who was Nigeria’s Chef de’ Mission at the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games said that the best outing the country ever had at the Olympics was in Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000.
“Till tomorrow our best performance was during the Atlanta Games and Sydney, since then what have we got to show for our participation at the Olympics.
“Look at Canada and Australia, when their performance wasn’t at Par with their expectations; they went back to the drawing board and decided to focus on some sports; one of it is swimming and till tomorrow they rake in medals for their country in this events,’’ Gora said.
He said that sentiments and nepotism should be put aside in order to get out the best in terms of selection of athletes and coaches for the country.
“As long as we keep looking beyond, tribe, religion and what have you, I believe a lot will fall into place.
“Sport administrators should always bare it in mind that at the end of the day, result is all that matters,’’ he said.
The Kenya Football Federation (FKF) has launched an investigation into allegations that goalkeeper Patrick Matasi has been involved in match manipulation.
The 37-year-old, who plays for Kenyan Premier League club Kakamega Homeboyz, has won over 30 international caps.
His most recent appearance for the Harambee Stars came in October last year, in a qualifier for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
An undated video posted online appears to show Matasi agreeing a deal to influence the outcome of a league game.
“I have spoken to him. He was also shocked at what he was seeing in the video and he told me he doesn’t know about match-fixing,” Homeboyz owner Cleophas Shimanyula told Tidesports source .
The FKF said it would work with world governing body Fifa, the Confederation of African Football and other “relevant authorities” during its investigation.
“We reaffirm our zero-tolerance policy on match manipulation and are committed to safeguarding the credibility of our competitions,” a statement added.
“This investigation will adhere to FKF’s anti-match manipulation regulations and Fifa guidelines, ensuring a fair, transparent, and thorough process.
“The rights of the player and his club will be respected, and appropriate action will be taken based on the findings.”
Shimanyula backed Matasi, pointing to the fact the veteran has kept three clean sheets in as many games since joining the club a month ago.
“When we watched this video, we found that Matasi has not wronged the club,” he said.
“In a video there can misinterpretations and false narratives and we cannot trust everything.
“He will keep playing for us because there’s no wrongdoing on his part as far as we are concerned – unless there’s evidence or the FKF writes to us to say they are suspecting the player of some wrongdoing.
“He is innocent until proven guilty and then we will act.”
The FKF has called on anyone with credible information to assist its investigation, with any reports to be handled with strict confidentiality.
Shimanyula also challenged the Kenyan footballing community to provide evidence against Matasi.
“Kakamega Homeboyz is against any form of match manipulation,” he said.
Uefa has opened an investigation into allegations of indecent conduct by four Real Madrid players during their Champions League last-16 win against Atletico Madrid.
Antonio Rudiger, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Dani Ceballos allegedly made gestures towards the home fans after Real Madrid beat their city rivals on penalties to book their place in the quarter-finals.
TV pictures showed German defender Rudiger appearing to make a throat-slitting motion, apparently towards the crowd after the shootout victory, while Mbappe was shown seemingly making a crotch-grabbing gesture.
Spanish media said Atletico reported the actions to Uefa last week.
The players could be at risk of suspension but there is no guarantee the case will be heard before their quarter-final with Arsenal. The first leg for that tie is at Emirates Stadium on 8 April and the return leg a week later.
In a statement, Uefa said: “[An] ethics and disciplinary inspector has been appointed to investigate allegations of indecent conduct” made by the four Real Madrid players.
“Further information regarding this matter will be made available in due course.”
The Premier League has announced it will have two transfer windows this summer to allow Manchester City and Chelsea to sign players before the Club World Cup.
The window will open between Sunday, 1 June and Tuesday, 10 June, then close for five days before running again from Monday, 16 June until Monday, 1 September.
This summer features the first expanded Fifa Club World Cup, which involves 32 teams and adopts the format of the regular World Cup of the past few years.
Chelsea and Manchester City are the Premier League teams in the tournament which takes place in the United States from Sunday, 15 June.
But the Premier League can only have 12 weeks of a summer window – hence the five-day break in order to run it until 1 September.
Fifa has allowed new players to be registered for the Club World Cup from 1-10 June, and again from 27 June-3 July for the knockout stage.
This is happening firstly, to bring order to the global registration system, world governing body Fifa only permits the transfer window in any individual country to be open for 16 weeks in any calendar year.
In Europe, precedent dictates four of those weeks are for the winter window, leaving 12 in the summer. In 2024, the Premier League transfer window opened on 14 June and closed on 30 August.