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‘Change In Season’s Timing Can Help Bafana’

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14 years ago

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South African FA president Kirsten Nematandani believes the proposed change to the timing of the country’s football season can aid Bafana Bafana.

Changes may see the season switch from August-to-May to a calendar year.

This is to assist local clubs in African competition, but Nematandani says it can also help the national team at the Africa Cup of Nations finals.

“The players will be able to focus on the national team since they are on a break from the league,” he said.

South Africa’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) is considering making the switch in 2014, as it tries to find a way to improve the performances of local clubs in African competition.

Stanley Matthews, the CEO of the PSL, says South Africans teams are weakened by having to register players for Caf competitions in mid-January, which is in the middle of the local season.

“Our clubs are seriously disadvantaged because by the time they get to the group stages of the continental competitions, there are two (transfer) window periods that would have passed where some players have left,” he told Tidesports source.

Even though no South African side has reached the group stages of the African Champions League since Orlando Pirates in 2006, the view is shared by a coach who has won four PSL championships.

“The proposed timing switch will certainly help our teams with their campaigns in the African club competitions,” Moroka Swallows coach Gordon Igesund said.

“We’ve had problems in the past with registering new signings and having to replace players who leave during the off-season.”

Igesund also believes that playing the season through the winter rather than the summer months will benefit local players.

“Playing in the summer months where temperatures in places like Durban and Polokwane, for example, can reach up to 40 degrees is also dangerous and the water breaks we have during each half doesn’t really help,” he said.

“In many cases the players can’t play at their optimum level because it’s simply too hot to do so but that problem could be alleviated by starting games a few hours later,” he added.

Meanwhile, Nematandani was swift to dismiss concerns that it would be too cold to attend many games during the winter months, as many fans found while watching the 2010 World Cup.

For many matches at the first World Cup on African soil, visiting fans complained of being bitterly cold.

“It won’t be an issue. During the World Cup, we went to matches in the night but in the PSL, the games will be played in the day (which is warmer),” Nematandani said Sport.

While the South African FA chief believes finishing the season at the end of a calendar year can help the national side, PSL organisers have other reasons for changing the timing.

They believe that the league is disrupted by the six-week break which comes about every two years as a number of players leave to take part in the competition.

Igesund is not perturbed by the break, one which is scheduled to next take place in 2013 as South Africa itself hosts the finals.

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New W.W. Whyte Tournament Focuses On Talent Discovery – Engr. Alabere

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2 days ago

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November 19, 2025

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The Chairman of Grassroots Initiative, Engr. Promise Alabere has reiterated that the New W.W. Whyte Secondary Football Tournament was to discover hidden players from the grassroots and groom them to stardom.

He stated that the his organisation is partnering with the Niger Delta Development Commission ( NDDC) for the football tournament, adding that in the first edition 32 players were discovered and NDDC, and his organisation are to fixing them into various clubs.

Engr. Alabere said this while briefing sports journalists last Tuesday, in Port Harcourt, and expressed optimism that the second edition which have 22 secondary schools participating would be exciting and impressive.

” The essence of this tournament is to catch them young because in the 1980s and 1990s most of the players that played for NNPC, Sharks and other big clubs in the country were discovered through this competition.

” Even me I was a product of the W.W. Whyte tournament, as I started playing for the Nigerian Police football club when I was in class four. But this competition stopped about 20 years when two schools resort to bloody clash during one of their games.

According to him the second edition expanded to schools in six Local Government Areas, saying that it will be better than the previous in terms of organisation and others.

“We want to make this edition more exciting and beneficial to all participating schools because the first edition was on experiment but this edition is no longer an experiment” he stated.

The Chairman of Grassroots Initiative,used the forum to advice all participating schools to conduct themselves in a good manner and adhere to rules of the competition.

He equally thanked NDDC for being its major sponsor of the tournament.

 

Tonye Orabere

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Hoopers Ready For NPBL Title Defence – Captain

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2 days ago

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November 18, 2025

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Rivers Hoopers captain Victor Anthony Koko has said that his team is mentally ready for the challenge of retaining their Nigeria Premier Basketball League title when the 2025 season Final Four phase holds from November 21 – 23 in Port Harcourt, Tidesports source  reports.
The Kings Men, who won back-to-back NPBL titles in 2023 and 2024 unbeaten, are chasing their seventh title.
They will be up against Lagos Legends, Gboko City Chiefs, and Nigeria Customs, as they hope to retain the title they won last year and also pick the ticket to next year’s Basketball Africa League.
Following the conclusion of the Final Eight earlier this month, the KingsMen have had time to fine-tune preparations ahead of their title defence at the Final Four, with the skipper stating that he and his teammates are fully prepared to retain the championship.
“This time around, everyone is ready; everyone is mentally ready. We understand what is at stake, so we need to go all out. And right now, with the level of energy I’ve seen from my team during practice, I don’t think we’re going to be a team that just wants to have fun [on the court]. We’re a championship-winning team, and we want to retain that championship,” he stressed.
Koko has won the league seven times in his career, and he is looking to help the Port Harcourt club reach its height.
“I want us to win the 2025 NPBL title. It’s on my mind, day and night: Hoopers Champions. And I’m assuring our fans that we’re not going to let them down. It’s happening here in Port Harcourt, and we’re going to make them proud.”

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Barau Beat Rangers To Move Out Of Relegation Zone

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2 days ago

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November 18, 2025

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Nigeria Premier Football League newcomers, Barau FC have zoomed out of the drop zone after they defeated Rangers International FC 2-0 on Sunday in a rescheduled tie played in Kano.
The Maliya Boys got their goals through  Muhammed Umar and Joseph Kemin in the 26th  and 76th  minutes to record their third win of the season
They have moved to the 16th spot with 13 points from 12 games but the loss by the Flying Antelopes see them slid to the seventh spot with 19 points from 13 games.
The home win is no doubt a relief to Barau FC head coach, Ladan Bosso who has seen his job brought under scrutiny following the Maliya Boys impressive start to the season.

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