Sports
There’s No Political Will To Fix National Stadium -Dare
There is now a departure from the previous neglect and lack of political will to fix the abandoned National Stadium all over the country, the Minister of Youths and Sports, Sunday Dare, said at the weekend, noting that the facilities would now enjoy political will.
The minister, who paid a one-day working visit to the National Stadium, Lagos, said that the stadium’s reinstatement was among his three point agenda as a minister.
According to newsmen, the minister in the company of the Chairman, Nigeria Women League, Aisha Falode and other directors in the ministry of sports visited the stadium that has suffered neglect for over 16 years.
Dare said that the ministry’s agenda for sports development in Nigeria would be in three key areas which includes, facilities maintenance, upgrade and management.
“I am on a working visit to the National Stadium, Lagos today, but I have visited MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja, Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna and Daura Township Stadium.
“I visited Daura Township Stadium because there is also a plan for grassroots development of sports in our agenda.
“For us in the Youth Ministry, we will focus, on three major things which includes, facility maintenance, upgrade and management.
“What I have seen here is because we have not done 100 per cent management and upgrade of the stadium over the years,” he said.
Dare said that his working visit to the stadium was not for ritual sake, but to have an holistic assessment of the stadium with a strong political will to fix it.
“Let me say that my coming here is not for ritual sake, I came with a renewed instruction from the President Muhammadu Buhari who gave the assignment.
“There is political will on the part of the president this time to make sure that national monuments like this are not neglected.
“For this, we will find out an option at which we can restore back to glory Nigeria as a football nation.
“We should have up to 10 or 12 international standard stadium and pitches up top FIFA standard. So, there is a renewed political will to restore the stadium,” he said.
Dare disclosed that a Public Private Partnership to bring back the stadium would not be jettisoned, adding that holistic assessment would be given to the facilities.
“A process is in place before I came in as minister and I cannot truncate that. The president has made a decision on the facility.
“My work is to inspect and provide the right advice from a professional standpoint. I will be working in conjunction with experts form the Nigeria Football Federation and the youth ministry.
“I hope that the arrangement with the Federal Government and Lagos state Government will come and we are also looking at Public Private Partnership for a model to evolve and put the facility back.
“As I have said before I will not be only the Minister of Football, but sports. Nigeria has excelled in many sports; we have about 12 sports which we have competitive edge,” he said.
Sports
CAA Wants Ghana To Host 2026 Athletics Champions
The Confederation of African Athletics has invited Ghana to bid for the hosting rights of the 2026 African Athletics Championships, following a successful athletics event at the just concluded 2023 African Games.
President of Ghana Athletics, Bawa Fuseini, stated this and expressed confidence in the transformative potential of the Legon Stadium for athletes and Ghana’s bid to host international competitions.
With a capacity of 11,000, the Legon Stadium played a pivotal role in the recent African Games, hosting both the opening and closing ceremonies as well as various sporting events including athletics, football, and rugby.
Fuseini highlighted the success of the athletics events held at the stadium, which contributed to Ghana winning six medals.
“We have already started getting requests from the Confederation of African Athletics to bid for the 2026 African Athletics Championships.
“When they came and saw what we have put in place and the level of organisation, they told me that for the last 20 years, they’ve never seen any organisation like this before. We did three official courses. And the last one, we had 110, all of them passed. We had a lot of officials and equipment.”
Since its establishment in 1979, Ghana has never hosted the African Athletics Championships, with Nigeria being the host country twice, in 1989 and 2018.
This year, Cameroon will take the reins as the host nation, with the event set to be held at the Olembe Stadium.
Sports
‘I’m Not Under Pressure To Coach Eagles’
Finidi George, head coach of the Nigeria Premier Football Leagues side, Enyimba, has stated that he is not losing any sleep over getting the Super Eagles job on a permanent basis.
Early this month, the Nigeria Football Federation declared the position of the Super Eagles’ head coach vacant, following the exit of Portuguese Jose Peseiro, who led the side to a second-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup Nations in Ivory Coast in February.
In an advertisement on its website calling for applications with a March 13 deadline, the football governing body stated that the prospective Eagles coach “must have proven experience at the elite level of football.”
The former Ajax man, who also applied for the job, was appointed Eagles interim coach for the international window with the former winger picking a win and suffering a defeat.
In an interview with Tidesports source, the 52-year-old tactician said he was not desperate for the job permanently.
“I felt really good when I was told to take charge of the team. I have been with the team for almost two years, I know all the players, their strengths, and their weaknesses but I am only here to serve Nigeria the way I know how to do stuff.
“I will just take these two games and go back to my club. Whatever the decision is taken after, so be it. I’m not under pressure to say I must get the role permanently.”
Sports
‘Reasons Why Eagles Lost To Mali’
The friendly games against Ghana and Mali were to serve as an audition for George Finidi, who was in charge of the team on an interim basis, but the Eagles’ lacklustre display in those friendlies has called for his further evaluation.
Finidi kept faith with ex-coach Jose Peseiro’s defensive formation against Mali on the back of his first win (against Ghana) in charge of the team four days earlier.
But this time, his defence was punished following a combination of defensive errors and poor passes.
The Eagles struggled to play out of defence due to the high pressing of the Malians and it was no surprise that the first goal by Les Aigles was a direct result of their aggression.
Chidozie Awaziem, who started on the right of the back three alongside Kenneth Omeruo and Semi Ajayi, lacked composure and was pressured into making a pass across his box straight at Bilal Toure, who made no mistake in getting the ball past Stanley Nwabali. They missed the calming presence of injured William Troost-Ekong.
Vice captain, Kenneth Omeruo, was also culpable of misplaced passes and was beaten for pace when Kamory Doumbia ran past him to seal Mali’s first win in over four decades, firing his shot past a helpless Nwabali, who stood no chance.
Eagles wing backs, Bright Osayi-Samuel and Jamilu Collins also did not do enough to support the team in attack when they had the chance to.
Lack of creativity
Finidi paired Raphael Onyedika and Wilfred Ndidi in a double pivot in midfield. Both players are naturally anchor men and neither is a box-to-box midfielder.
They both do not possess the offensive capability to drive the team’s attack forward, which left the Eagles once again craving for a natural creative midfielder.
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