Sports
South Africa Considers 2020 Olympic Bid
South Africa may have become the first World Cup hosts to be eliminated after the first round but that does not appear to have dampened enthusiasm for the tournament there.
In fact, so buoyed is President Jacob Zuma by the way the event is going, he said on Thursday that the success of the World Cup should be used as the springboard for a bid to host the Olympics in 2020.
“We have got the facilities,” said Zuma. “Those who take decisions have seen how South Africa is. I’m sure we could do it.”
Zuma’s comments are a clear sign that Bafana Bafana’s exit has not diminished in any way the country’s huge pride at staging the tournament.
As one newspaper columnist put it,: “No one has beaten our record as a small nation hosting the biggest World Cup.”
So could a South African city stage the Olympics?
With its stunning location at the foot of Table Mountain, Cape Town would be the obvious candidate. The city bid for the 2004 Games but was well beaten by Athens.
Johannesburg’s Soccer City would also make a magnificent Olympic stadium but altitude would be a factor.
Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium has already got a running track and the city on the Indian Ocean is already talking about a bid.
For the Olympic movement, taking the Games to Africa for the first time would be an even bigger statement than Fifa’s decision to award the World Cup to the continent after a wait of 80 years.
In many ways, the two events are on a similar scale now. However, the Olympic pressure is felt by one city alone whereas a World Cup is spread over a number of host cities.
And while the World Cup involves 64 matches and an intense group phase with three or four matches every day, the Olympic Games involves a far greater logistical challenge, with 26 simultaneous world championships taking place over a much shorter period – just 16 days.
Any potential host city would need a range of world-class facilities, not just one or two football or rugby stadiums. It would also need to accommodate more than 10,000 athletes and the same number of media, with all the strain those figures put on transport and security.
But taking the Olympics to Africa – and realistically South Africa is the only country that could host the Games – would send such a strong message to the continent.
The International Olympic Committee has already shown it is not afraid of making bold decisions, as it demonstrated by taking the summer Games to Beijing in 2008 and to South America for the first time with Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
And IOC President Jacques Rogge said last week that he would love to have a credible African candidate for the next Olympics, namely 2020.
South Africa certainly has the resources and the will to put on the Games – and would do a terrific job if the warmth of the people is anything to go by.
The success of African athletes – particularly in middle and long distance running – makes it even harder to ignore calls to take the Games to this continent.
Should that dream become a reality and England win the right to host the World Cup in 2018, it raises the prospect of just three countries – Britain, Brazil and South Africa – dominating the next decade’s showpiece sporting events.
And that would represent not only a significant change in the sporting landscape but a major geopolitical and sporting shift, too.
The Nigeria Football Federation has defended the recent quarter-finals draw for the 2025 President Federation Cup, saying it was conducted in line with best global practices.
A member of the NFF Executive Committee Board, George Aluo, stated that criticism over venues for the quarterfinals was unfortunate.
Going by the fixtures released on Saturday by the football body, Abakaliki FC will take on Nasarawa United in Benin, Wikki Tourists will clash with Ikorodu City in Bwari, Abuja, Akwa United and Kwara United will fight it out in Enugu, just as Area 3, Abuja, will host the encounter between Rangers International and Plateau United. All matches are scheduled for May 3rd for the emergence of semifinalists in a leg affair.
However, there have been criticisms over the Ikorodu United vs Wikki Tourist tie billed for Abuja, with a section of the press saying the venue is skewed in favour of the Bauchi team.
Aluo, also the Chairman of the Nigeria National League (NNL), said: “Some of our media men need better education, and newsmen should not be like the fans out there on the streets. In the English FA Cup, it is always a one-legged pairing that can see a club like Arsenal host Manchester United at home”.
A new contract that will see Act Sports Di Oyibo Limited managing the career of Nigerian teqball specialist, Victor Oyemade, has been signed in Lagos.
The deal gives exclusive rights to Act Sports to manage, and exercise power of attorney over issues relating to the player’s welfare as it concerns his transactions, engagement for professional, promotional, sponsorships, endorsements, and exhibition purposes.
In signing the document, both parties also agreed that proper safeguards would be put in place to protect and promote the player’s interest at all times.
Director of Act Sports, Di Oyibo Limited, Pastor Samuel Robinson Oyibo, excited about the deal, said it would benefit both parties in the area of spreading the message of the sport, as well as laying a firm foundation for his new client’s future.
“Teqball is one of the world’s fastest-growing ball sports, and Victor Oyemade is the face of the sport here in Nigeria and Africa. That is why we are excited about this partnership that gives Act Sports official authorisation to manage his career, just as it will lay the foundation for its rapid growth in our country,” Pastor Oyibo said.
Oyemade was no less excited about the deal, saying it would help his growth in the sport.
Coaches of Nigeria’s U-18 and U-20 women’s handball teams have released their final lists of 14 players ahead of the IHF Women’s Trophy Zonal Phase, which will be held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, that commenced yesterday to end 24th of this month.
The two teams have been training at the Rowe Park Sports Centre, Yaba, Lagos, for close to two weeks and departed for the competition on Thursday.
Coach John Uzor of the national U-18 team has included Omole Joy of Defender Babes and her sister Omole Shola alongside Ojie Princess of Funad Academy alongside right back Faisat Balogun in the mix while Success Duru, Chetachi Ngaodurubie of COAS Babes and Sharon Okonkwo make the cut, amongst other players.
In the U-20 team, Coach Shittu Agboola has largely stuck with the players he has been grooming since their U-18 days. The team is led by Captain Chidera Ogbusimba alongside, her Rima Queens teammates the Samuel Sisters, Amina Mohammed and Joy Peters.
Israel-based Rahima Bello, Kehinde Babatunde of ASPAC HBC of Benin Republic and Esther Mathew, who is also based in Benin Republic, keep their places.
Coach Shittu believes his team will make Nigeria proud just as they did previously at the U-18 level.
“I am really upset that Taiwo Babatunde will not be part of the team for this competition as her school, Yaba College of Technology, insisted that they will not release her for national service because of examinations.
“We did everything humanly possible to secure her release and they didn’t care that it is a national service for the interest of Nigeria and the growth of sports. We have other players who are also students and they got a release from their schools but for no tangible reason, Yabatech refused to release Taiwo despite the fact that we did everything possible to secure her release. It’s sad and I hope the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Sports Commission will work in tandem so that schools will support our goal in making Nigeria proud in sporting events”.