Sports
2011: Another Year Of Disappointment For Nigerian Sports
There is no doubt that the year 2011 has slipped into the pages of history. But a glance across the landscape of Nigeria’s Sports would reveal a litany of woes and disappointments that have certainly raised more questions than answers.
From football, the nation’s ring of sports to the tracks, field events and other team sports, it was lamentations all over.
Off the field, it was also a case of poor performances by the authorities in charge of be Sports in the country.
Perhaps, most Nigerians would have passed dire judgment and termed him a prophet of doom if anybody had predicted that the nations Sports would have slided so low in the out gone year.
However, only a few events brought smiles and celebrations to Nigerians, the majority were indeed going tales of woes and agonies.
Among those that brought positive vibes to the nation included the triumph of the national U-20 team, flying Eagles in South Africa during the African youth championship, the delightful performance and final appearance of the national women’s youth team, falconets at the FIFA U-19 Women World Cup in Germany, where they lost to Germany after a gallant performance in the championship match.
Coach John Obuh and his Flying Eagles ruled Africa after warring a record sixth AYC title but fell short of expectation at the global stage. They rode on the back of the victory to the FIFA U-20 World Cup on Colombia only to falter at the quarter final stage, losing 3-2 to France. They were able to impress Nigerian fans and beyond with their emergy and style at the tournament.
The memorable 17th National Sports Festival, NSF hosted by the Rivers State government remained one of the shining lights of national sports events in the year under review.
The Garden City Games 2011 will no doubt linger in the minds of many Nigerians and others who beheld the spectacle that surrounded its arganisation, for a long time to come.
Over 15,000 athletes and officials from the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were believed to have featured in the two-week sports fiesta which began on June 27 and ended on July 11.
Apart from delivery an ultramodern Sports Stadium names, Adoriye Amilsimaka Stadium Complex, the 17th NSF brought the razzmatazz and panache associated with computer age sports events.
With the successful hosting f the Festival by the Rivers State government and the triumph of her athletes, the state has set the pace in the standard of hosting the National Sports festival, regarded as the biggest sporting event in the country.
Also, the third place finish of the country’s contingent to the 10th All Africa Games in Maputo, Mazambique behind winners, South Africa and Egypt was part of the positive notes of 2011. The country after a sluggish start only lost second position to Egypt by just a gold medal lose than the north Africans.
Among other sports that gave little to cheer include the Nigeria Basketball federation, NBBF, Athletic Federation of Nigeria, AFN and the Nigeria Scrabble Federation.
These federation managed to keep their heads above waters by devising means of keeping their athletes active and successful.
That is as far as the cheerful news goes while the bad and the ugly far out weigh the positives.
The biggest Catastrophe was in football where Nigeria’s Super Eagles, Super Falcons, Under 23 Olympic team and the administrators, especially, the Nigeria football federation and the Nigeria premier league board conspired to take the game several steps back into oblivion.
In one of the worst years of Nigerian football, the national teams stumbled from one defeat to another, especially, in the hands of eternal rivals, Ghana, who ended our hopes of participating in the football events of the forthcoming London Olympics and the All Africa Games.
The Ghanaians also stopped the falcons from being part of the 10th All Africa Games in Maputo.
Even the much heralded Samson Siasia, who was popularly engage in November 2010 as Super Eagle Coach amid huge expectations failed to qualify Nigeria for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. He and his team failed to beat Ethiopia and Guinea and ensured that the Eagles will not be part of the African Mundial for the first time in 25 years.
Siasia was to be clamed by his failure in October after his employers decided to sack him.
The nationals U-23 team fared no better than their senior counterparts. Against huge expectations from Nigerians, the team and their handler, Austine Eguawen put up a poor performance at the inaugural CAF.
U-23 championship in Morocco to crash out of the London 2012 Olympic Games football event in November.
The Falcons had earlier blown their own chances in Yaounde, Cameroon when they failed to hold their nerve in a crucial Olympic qualifier against their Cameroon counterpart. It was the first time the Nigerian women will not be going to the Olympics.
Also in the year under review, Nigerian club performed poor in continental competitions. Though, two time African champions, Enyimba International FC and CAF confederation Cup debutants, Sunshine stars of Akure deserve some commendations for reaching the semi final stage of the CAF champions league and the confederation cup.
Domestically, the Nigeria premier league entered the record books as the 2010/2011 season dragged on for almost two years, following rancour and court proceedings by the NFF and NPL big wigs.
Dolphins FC eventually emerged champions, beating Sunshine Stars to the title on the last day.
But it is on record that the season ran without prize money and referees owed back log of indemnities.
Even the worries league was still without a title sponsor and prizes.
The year 2011, apart from being a very bad one for the country also claimed some of her illustrious athletes and personalities. The AFN, lost its technical Director, Mr. Sunday Bada, on Monday, December 12. Late Bada was a superintendent of the Nigeria police force and an Olympic Silver Medalist.
Earlier in April, the nation had mourned the tragic death of Super Eagles Olubaya Adefemi who died in an accident while on his way to Nigeria to finalise his wedding.
The nation also lost one of its stout administrators in the person of Alhaji Jamiu Tunde Ojulari, President, Youths Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON) after a brief illness.
While, every true Nigerian Sports lower will want to wish that the woeful performances and agonies of 2011 are not witnessed again in the country, it is time for the sports administrator at every level to wake up. Learn from the past and work toward making 2012 and beyond more positive and successful.
Francisco Conceicao and Lois Openda ended their goal droughts as Juventus beat Roma to move within a point of the Serie A top four.
Conceicao finished off a slick move to put Juventus ahead just before half-time, before Openda tapped into an empty net in the 70th minute, but Tommaso Baldanzi halved the deficit to set up a nervy final 15 minutes.
Roma began the day with the best defensive record in Serie A having conceded just eight goals in 15 games, but there was nothing goalkeeper Mile Svilar could do about either Juventus goal.
Conceicao ended his nine-game goalless streak when he ran on to Andrea Cambiaso’s clever flick-on and drilled a low shot into the far corner.
Openda was on hand to convert from Weston McKennie’s selfless ball across the face of goal for his first strike in Serie A since joining Juventus on loan from RB Leipzig in the summer.
Roma finally found their cutting edge in the 76th minute when Baldanzi pounced after Michele di Gregorio had palmed Evan Ferguson’s low strike into danger.
Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz sought an instant response but saw his vicious strike cannon back off the post.
Roma have scored just 17 goals in 16 league games this season, so it came as no surprise that Gian Piero Gasperini’s side could not find a second goal.
Juventus remain fifth in the table but are just a point behind Roma in fourth, and have now won six of their past seven games in all competitions under Luciano Spalletti.
Roma would have gone joint-top of the table with Inter Milan had they won, but remain three points behind the leaders having played one game more.
In Germany, Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to beat RB Leipzig and leapfrog their opponents into third place in the Bundesliga table.
Goals from Martin Terrier and Patrik Schick cancelled out Xaver Schlager’s opener as an entertaining first half ended with three goals in nine minutes, before Montrell Culbreath wrapped up victory in second half injury-time.
The Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) will be held every four years from 2028, Confederation of African Football president Patrice Motsepe has announced.
The tournament has taken place every two years since 1968, with a one-year gap between the 2012 and 2013 editions.
But it will switch to a four-year cycle after the 2027 Afcon in East Africa and a 2028 edition.
Motsepe has instead announced the creation of an African Nations League which will take place annually from 2029.
“We have the most exciting new structure for African football,” Motsepe said.
“I do what is in the interests of Africa. The global calendar has to be significantly more synchronised and harmonised.”
Meanwhile, Caf has increased the prize money for the winners of Afcon from $7m (£5.2m) to $10m (£7.5m).
The surprise announcement about the future of Afcon was made by Motsepe after a meeting of Caf’s executive committee in Morocco before the start of the 2025 finals in Rabat yesterday.
The biennial hosting of Afcon has long caused issues with the football calendar, with the vast majority of recent tournaments held midway through the European club season.
However, Caf remained committed to scheduling the tournament every two years, not least as it needs the revenue raised from the finals to reinvest in the game on the continent.
Caf had made a resolution for Afcon to be held in a June-July slot from 2019 onwards and began its new plan in Egypt that year.
But the Covid-19 pandemic and weather conditions in host nations in Central and West Africa meant the 2021 and 2023 editions in Cameroon and Ivory Coast respectively were staged in January and February instead.
Fifa’s expanded 32-team Club World Cup was held in June and July this year, forcing Caf to opt for mid-season dates once again.
As a result this year’s Afcon in Morocco is taking place over Christmas and the New Year for the first time, with the final on 18 January.
The dates for the finals in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in 2027 are yet to be announced, and that will be swiftly followed by another Afcon in 2028, with the hosts of that edition yet to be decided.
After that, the continent’s biggest tournament will become a quadrennial tournament taking place in the same year as the European Championships.
Motsepe said the decision had been made in conjunction with Fifa president Gianni Infantino and the world governing body’s general secretary Mattias Grafstrom, and that Caf “have to compromise”.
Motsepe also announced the creation of the African Nations League, which will take place in September, October and November every year from 2029.
The competition will see all 54 member associates split into four zones, with six nations in the Northern zone and 16 nations in the Eastern, Western and Central and Southern zones.
Matches will be played in September and October, with the champions from each region meeting in November to then decide an overall winner.
Motsepe said the new competition will be “the equivalent of an Afcon every year” and will be held in partnership with Fifa in order to attract top-class sponsors.
“Every year in Africa, the best African players who play in Europe will be with us on the continent,” Motsepe added.
“Every year we will have a competition with 54 African nations with all the best players coming here to play.
“We are going to have a world-class competition every year.”
Anthony Joshua did what he was meant to do on Friday night in Miami: he lay waste to Jake Paul’s bravest and most controversial experiment in boxing with a destructive victory that felt less like a sporting result than the restoration of sanity.
In their scheduled eight-round heavyweight bout at the Kaseya Center, streamed globally to Netflix’s roughly 300 million subscribers, the former twice unified heavyweight champion scored four knockdowns before stopping the YouTuber-turned-boxer in the sixth round of a mismatch that had prompted weeks of safety fears and moral hand-wringing. Joshua’s triumph, on a night purpose-built as much for memes as for punches, served as a reminder that boxing still adheres to its elemental laws and that power and pedigree eventually reassert themselves.
From the opening bell, the shape of the fight was unmistakable. Joshua took the centre of the ring uncontested while Paul circled him, moving laterally from left to right and back again. The first round was extremely low volume, punctuated by a smattering of boos from the audience. Paul landed a brief double jab to the body before darting back to safety. Joshua threw an overhand right that appeared to glance off a retreating target making full use of the 22ft ring. It was tentative, but Joshua’s control of space earned him the round.
The second followed a similar pattern. Joshua swung and missed early as Paul continued to run, using lateral movement to frustrate the bigger man. Joshua began to cut off the ring more effectively, but Paul clinched whenever distance closed, drawing louder boos from the near-capacity crowd. A brief clash of heads halted momentum, and though Joshua hinted at body work, he continued to headhunt. It was a round defined by inertia: Joshua doing little, Paul doing less.
By the third, Joshua’s patience began to pay off. Paul briefly stepped into the pocket and attempted an uppercut, catching only leather. Joshua responded by throwing more power shots, narrowly missing but drawing audible gasps from the crowd. Late in the round, a right hand to the ribs appeared to buckle Paul, the first clear sign of damage. Again, Joshua did not land much cleanly, but he was the only fighter attempting to win rather than merely survive.
The fight deteriorated toward farce in the fourth. Paul went into full retreat as Joshua struggled to corner him, wrapping up at every opportunity. The crowd grew increasingly hostile. Matters continued southward when Paul went down claiming a low blow, prompting a prolonged stoppage by the referee Chris Young that gave him valuable recovery time. It did little to help. Paul went down again, then again, clearly exhausted and buying time. Despite the repeated delays, the referee issued no point deduction, drawing sustained jeers from the stands.
By the fifth, the contest had crossed from mismatch into embarrassment. Paul flopped once more before finally being dropped by a clean right hand. He beat the count but looked close to collapsing. A second knockdown followed moments later, again from a right, and Joshua closed the round trapping Paul in the corner and unloading unanswered shots. Somehow Paul survived to the bell, though the proceedings had ceased to resemble a competitive sporting event.
The end came early in the sixth. Paul went down almost immediately, dragged himself upright, then fell again under sustained pressure. This time he could not beat the count. Young waved it off at the 1:31 mark, finally ending a bout that had long outlived its threadbare justification.
