Sports
I Thought My Career was Over – Obodo
Christian Obodo has stated that he feared he would never play football again during what he describes as the dark period of his injury torment.
Obodo, 27, tore his anterior cruciate ligament in April 2007 and spent over two years out of football.
“That was the worst time of my life. “Some days I would wake up in the middle of the night fearing that I would never play football again.
“It was so bad that I could not even bear to watch football. I kept thinking, if I can’t play, how can I watch.
“It was a dark period for me, but I thank God that I was able to overcome it”
The midfielder was training with Udinese for a midweek fixture against Empoli when tragedy struck.
“It was our last training session on that Tuesday. Our captain passed the ball to me and I was just running to control it when I heard something pop as I put my foot on the ground and then I felt the kind of pain that I cannot describe.
“We went for the check up immediately and they said it was a tear”.
That injury kept him out for about 8 months.
On his return in December 2008, he featured in just one game, the final match before the winter break against AC Milan before suffering a relapse.
“I was playing and just felt some pain. After the game against Milan, I had to go for a check up. It was there that they told me they had to re-open it and scrape it again.
“That was like doing the surgery all over again.”
Again, he was out for about another eight months, only to suffer more injury woes when he was kicked from behind in a pre-season game friendly against Ascoli in July, 2009.
“It was the last day of pre-season and we were playing against Ascoli. I went up to control the ball, and as I landed, one defender kicked me from behind, in the same place where I had the operation.
“As soon as it happened, I knew I was going away again.
“I felt really bad about this one because at that time, I had a lot of offers coming in. some were from England, one was from Spain and there was even one from AC Milan.
“But Udinese put a price of 20 million Euros and I had to even beg them myself to come down on it because that was too high for a player just coming back from injury”.
“Times like this show you the people who really care about you and I thank all the fans and the club fore standing by me”.
Eventually, the injury rendered that situation academic.
Obodo eventually returned full fit in January 2010 and played four months without injury with Uddinese before he was loaned to Serie B side Torino that summer.
This season, he has had again gone out on loan, this time to Lecce in Serie A. As he enjoys a career revival, Obodo said that fear of an early retirement haunted, then pushed him.
“It was like a nightmare. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Sometimes, I was even scared to touch the ball because I was thinking I would get injured again.
“But I had to encourage myself because football is in my blood. It is the talent that God has blessed me with and I told myself that I can’t allow my talent to waste without trying.
“So I pushed myself during my therapy and I made sure I did everything they told me to do”.
The fierce defiance paid off. Since joining Lecce, the midfielder has started and lasted all 90 minutes of the club’s Serio camping, and although they have only managed to glean 4 points from seven, the Nigeria is basking in his rejuvenation.
“Every day I play, I discover how much I missed football. I always want the ball, and all the old things I used to do with it are coming back to me, and I am even trying some new ones.
“I am just like a little child that has discovered something new to play with.”
Obodo, who lost his father during that trying period, said his family was a rock behind him.
“My family always encouraged me. My mother kept telling me not to give up, and they were all behind me.”
Even the Udinese fans stood behind their injured player. “I got so many cards and letters from the fans of Udinese that I couldn’t believe it. Even when they saw me on the streets, they would wish me well.
“Times like this show you the people who really care about you and I thank all the fans and the club for standing by me.
“I think they are the best fans in the world.”
The silky midfielder now hopes to help Lecce stay in Serie A, and was heart-broken when they surrendered a 3-0 lead to lose 4-3 to AC Milan on Sunday.
“Milan are a big team, and even when you are leading 3-0, you have to keep your concentration. We did not, and they punished us for it.
“But that is behind us now. Our focus is to stay in Serie A, and we will do it.”
Obodo last played for Nigeria in a World Cup qualifier against Sierra Leone, scoring in a 4-1 rout, but says his focus is to maintain a consistent club run.
“It is sad what is happening to our national team. I could not believe it when I heard we did not qualify for the Nations Cup.
“But I think what is important for me is to continue to play well for Lecce.
“Whatever will happen, will happen.”
The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria ( SWAN) Rivers State Chapter has set up five standing working committees on Tuesday, in its general congress.
At the playoff held at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, the team of Canice Abua, Michael Emmanuel, Daniel Adeleye, and Abubakar Yusuf was majestic as they restored Nigeria’s hope in a sport that once gave the country so much joy.
Speaking after the final game, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) President, Victor Ochei, said the Davis Cup feat is the stepping stone to better days in the sport, adding that the federation has set up programmes that will help the budding talents across the country play at the same level as their counterparts in other tennis-developed countries.
Ochei said: “The whole aim of having this new board is to lift the sport to the level we used to be. I tell you, tennis is taking a new shape in Nigeria. We are putting everything and anything to make that work happen.”
Ochei said that the NTF has looked at sponsorships and how to get the emerging players compete at the same level with their peers elsewhere, adding that the federation is working on organising local competitions and helping the players to compete in international championships.
“We believe that with what we are doing now, sponsors will come to us to organise new competitions. But beyond that, there’s a strategic growth development plan, a 10-year development plan, which the board is working on.
“The programme will ensure that we catch them young. This is because we believe that to create champions, we must start grooming them early. The champions you are seeing today were those groomed yesterday.”
“The process of building new champions will include building the coaches, the players, the infrastructure and sensitising the parents so that we can start catching them as young as age five to six.
“By the time that we groom them through 10 years of training, at age 15, 16, you will see fantastic professional players.”
To achieve the federation’s plans, Ochei admits that the NTF needs a lot of investment, adding that the board is working at realising the funds quietly and tenaciously.
The NTF president acknowledged the contributions of former international stars like Nduka Odizor and Sadiq Abdullahi to the bid to rejuvenate Nigerian tennis, adding that NTF is open to collaborating with former players who know what it takes to play at the highest level of the sport.
He said, “Nduka Odizor is around as one of our VIP personalities. He has been psyching up the boys in the battle with Uzbekistan. He will not enter the court to play, but his mere presence is enough motivation to the boys, who will want to be like him in the future.
“You see, the type of support the Odizors, the Imonities and the Abdullahis got in their time is no longer there, but we are revamping it with the support of our stakeholders in the Diaspora.
“It will appear to take us some time, but I can tell you that the Diaspora support is massive.”
In its bid to get good results in this year’s Commonwealth Games, the National Sports Commission (NSC) has disbursed N200 million as training grants to 26 athletes.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow, Scotland.
The NSC stated that the grants were disbursed through its Elite and Podium Board, noting that N200 million was allocated to select top-performing athletes.
The beneficiaries are both foreign-based and home-based, the NSC said, adding that it will cater for their training and preparation expenses.
According to the NSC, the recipients span several sports, including athletics, wrestling, weightlifting, and para-sports, in line with the Commission’s mandate to prioritise athletes’ welfare and high-performance development.
The Commission added that the disbursement follows the establishment of the Elite and Podium Board, created to implement a scientific and institutionalised support system aimed at sustaining peak performances by Nigerian athletes at major international competitions.
NSC Director General, Bukola Olopade, said the Commission, under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was established to restore confidence and provide renewed hope for Nigerian sportsmen and women by placing strong emphasis on athlete welfare.
“The training grants disbursed to 26 athletes across different sports followed a careful and professional selection process by the Yusuf Ali-led Elite and Podium Board. This is our way of reassuring our athletes that their welfare remains our utmost priority,” he said.
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