Sports
Ministry, Para-Athlete At War Over Commonwealth Games’ Money
The Ministry of Youth and Sports Develop-ment has said that it is not liable to pay para-table tennis athlete Temitope Ogunsanya’s claims of $8,000 profes-sional athlete grant for attending the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.
Tidesports gathered that the ministry’s position came after a committee was set up by the sports minister, Sunday Dare, to look into the athlete’s allegation of non-payment of his entitlement by the sports ministry.
The Netherlands-based Ogunsanya, who repre-sented Nigeria in the Men’s TT6-10 at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, said while other athletes received their payments, he was left out.
“The grant is meant to cover professional athletes’ training expenses before the competition. I represented Nigeria at the 2018 Gold Coast Games in Australia. There are some special packages, Professional Grant allowances, that the ministry gives to profes-sional athletes at interna-tional events. It depends on the events, at the Games they paid all professional athletes $8,000 each but excluded me,” Ogunsanya said.
“All my flight tickets were not paid in full. Out of $4,000, I was paid only $2,000 and I do not know why.
“I asked the former Permanent Secretary (sports ministry), Olusade Adesola, about the money several times but nothing came out of it, I have also interacted with the new Permanent secretary, Gabriel Aduda, on Twitter but nothing seems to be coming out of that too.
“I’ve been fighting it out so that they could pay me as soon as I returned from Australia, to no avail,” Ogunsanya added.
But the ministry, in a letter dated November 24, 2020, and signed by its Assistant Chief Administrative Officer, Benedict Ekanem, insisted they were not in a position to make further payments to the athlete, having earlier paid his allowances while in camp for the 2018 Games.
“According to the extant rules, only the sports minister and the Permanent Secretary are entitled to fly business class. Conse-quently, all athletes and officials were directed to comply by ensuring they flew economy (class) to and from the Commonwealth Games (Gold Coast 2018). You are hereby advised to always consult the ministry or your federation before purchasing flight tickets,” the ministry stated in the letter.
“In view of the above, I am directed to inform you that the ministry is not in a position to grant you any additional payment since you were already paid while camping in Nigeria, as it is a rule that any international athlete who participates at the local camp is not allowed to receive any international grant.”
Ogunsanya has, however, vowed to continue fighting his case.
“This is an unacceptable decision. I will still write to the minister and if that doesn’t work, I am ready to write to the Presidency. Others have been paid, I need to be paid too,” Ogunsanya added.
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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