Sports
Basketball Team Blames Loss On Poor Preparation
Coach Peter Ahmedu of
Mark Mentors basketball club of Abuja has blamed the club’s poor performance at the 2014 Africa Champions Cup for Men on bad preparations.
Ahmedu told newsmen in Abuja that the team had minimal preparations for the championship compared to other clubs who had better preparations.
Mark Mentors debuted in the championship held in Tunis, Tunisia from December 11 to 21 as Nigeria’s lone representatives.
The club won only two of their five preliminary group matches to place ninth among 12 clubs which participated in the championship, which was in its 29th edition.
“We came second in our local league to play in the championship and we felt that is how the level of the championship will be.
“But it was not so. The standard of the championship was high and we could not cope with the weather and the skills.
“This is because we didn’t have the best of preparations. We had local preparations, and we never went into a closed camp and we did not change environment to acclimatise.
“Besides, the level of commitment and motivation we needed from the club management was not there.
“But, in all, it was not a bad experience because we got exposed to what we have never seen before,’’ Ahmedu said.
He said the preparations the Nigerian club had was inferior to what other clubs had, and they could not do more than they did.
“When we got there, we realised that the championship is different from what we thought it would be.
“The standard was high and all the clubs which qualified were well prepared from what we saw.
“You could see in them that they went on training tours to acclimatise, because the weather was not a problem to them.
“Besides, they know the standard of the championship since they are not new to it. So, most of them have two or more foreign-based players in their team.
“They were well prepared and it showed in the way they played,’’ Ahmedu said.
Mark Mentors qualified to play in the continental championship after coming second in the FIBA Africa Zone 3 qualifiers, the sub-continental competition.
They had finished as runners-up in the 2013/2014 DSTV Men’s Premier Basketball League to qualify as one on Nigeria’s two representatives.
Sports
Former Spanish Football Boss Faces Jail Over W/Cup Kiss
Spanish prosecutors want the ex-head of the country’s football federation to be jailed for two-and-a-half years, after he kissed a female footballer against her will at Spain’s World Cup victory.
Luis Rubiales is facing charges of sexual assault and coercion after he grabbed Jenni Hermoso and kissed her on the mouth last August.
Ms Hermoso and her teammates said the kiss was unwanted and demeaning.
Mr Rubiales was forced to resign, but has denied any wrongdoing.
According to a court document seen by Tidesports source, prosecutor Marta Durantez charged Mr Rubiales with one count of sexual assault and one of coercion for his alleged actions in the aftermath of the kiss. The charges carry prison terms of one year and 18 months respectively.
Ms Durantez also accused the former coach of the women’s national team, Jorge Vilda, the team’s current sporting director, Albert Luque, and the federation’s head of marketing, Ruben Rivera, of coercing Ms Hermoso into saying the kiss was consensual.
The indictment said they harassed her through “constant and repeated acts of pressure”, including through her friends and family.
All three denied wrongdoing when they appeared before the court. Each could face up to 18 months in jail if convicted.
Ms Durantez also wants the four men to pay damages totalling €100,000 (£85,677; $108,000) to Ms Hermoso, and for Mr Rubiales to pay at least half of this amount.
She also requested a restraining order for Mr Rubiales, barring him from coming within 200 metres (656 feet) of Ms Hermoso and from communicating with her for the next seven-and-a-half years.
The scandal overshadowed a historic moment for Spain’s women’s team, which at the time was celebrating its first ever World Cup win.
During the trophy presentation ceremony, Mr Rubiales clasped Ms Hermoso’s head between his hands and planted a kiss on her lips.
He was also criticised for grabbing his crotch when celebrating the win, while standing next to Spain’s Queen Letizia and her daughter Princess Infanta Sofia.
The incident set off a wave of global anger at sexism at the highest levels of women’s sport and led to boycotts of the national team by Spain’s players as they called for changes to be made to women’s football in the country.
Mr Rubiales was initially suspended by world football’s governing body, FIFA, before he eventually stood down as both head of Spain’s football federation and vice-president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) in September.
In January, FIFA upheld a three-year ban from footballing activities for Mr Rubiales after he lodged an appeal.
Mr Vilda, the coach who led the women’s team to their World Cup victory and an ally of Mr Rubiales, was also sacked in September amid the fallout from the scandal, but was appointed head coach for Morocco’s women’s team in October.
Sports
Chelsea Coach Sues For End To Jeering By Fans
Chelsea manager, Mauricio Pochettino has said that it is important that the club’s fans and players move on after Raheem Sterling was booed by supporters recently.
Sterling faced criticism from sections of the Stamford Bridge crowd during Chelsea’s 4-2 win over Leicester City in the recent FA Cup quarter-final.
Pochettino was jeered for his decision to substitute Mykhailo Mudryk instead of Sterling in the 78th minute.
“We now need to move on. It will help if we do,” said Pochettino.
“What we cannot do is create bigger things from this now because we know fans love our players and I know they will support him and the rest of the team.
“Raheem is a spirited player and he understands it all.”
Pochettino’s Chelsea will have home advantage against lowly Burnley in the Premier League tomorrow, when supporters will expect another victory.
Sterling missed a first-half penalty against Leicester and blazed a free-kick well over the crossbar in the second half, which prompted jeers among the home crowd.
Before the match, Chelsea Supporters’ Trust had raised significant concerns about the club’s future in a lengthy letter to co-owners, Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.
It said there was growing concern that Chelsea are becoming a ‘laughing stock, both on and off the pitch”.
“We need to be careful in the way we talk and give our opinions because there needs to be a strong relationship between everyone,” said Pochettino.
“I just want our players to play really well. I was also suffering the anger of the fans and their disappointment; in fact, the whole team suffered in this situation.”
Sports
AFCON 2025: Chad, Eswatini, Others Make Group Stage Qualifiers
Chad, Eswatini, Liberia and South Sudan all progressed to the main stage of qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after winning their preliminary round ties this week.
The quartet will join the 44 highest-ranked sides on the continent in the main group-stage draw.
The Confederation of African Football is yet to announce the date of the qualifying draw or when the finals will be played in Morocco next year.
The staging of the expanded Fifa Club World Cup in June and July next year has thrown up a potential clash with the 2025 Nations Cup.
Eswatini, Liberia and South Sudan all avoided upsets against lower-ranked opponents while Chad beat Mauritius, who are four places above them in Fifa’s world rankings.
Eswatini had beaten Somalia 3-0 in the away leg and two quick goals early in the second half made the tie safe, although Somalia fought back for a 2-2 draw on the day in South Africa.
Chad travelled to Mauritius with a 1-0 advantage but the islanders levelled the tie on aggregate in first-half added time.
However, Chad equalised with 16 minutes to go and netted a winner deep into injury time to seal a 3-1 win on aggregate.
Liberia drew 0-0 with Djibouti, with their 2-0 victory from the first leg seeing the Lone Stars through.
South Sudan also progressed after a goalless second leg in their ‘home’ match against Sao Tome and Principe in Berkane, Morocco, with a 1-1 draw in the first meeting enough to go through on away goals.
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