Sports
Senate Passes Vote Of Confidence On Keshi
The Senate yesterday in Abuja passed a vote of confidence on Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, the team’s technical crew, and Nigerian coaches.
The senators gave the Super Eagles a standing ovation and congratulated them for making the country proud by winning the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The resolution was sequel to a motion on the country’s glorious outing at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) moved by the Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu.
The motion was unanimously supported by the senators, who spoke glowingly about the spectacular performance of the Super Eagles on their way to emerging as Africa’s champions.
Senate President David Mark said the exploits of indigenous sports talents must be appreciated and encouraged in order for the country to achieve more excellence.
Mark said the achievement of the current crop of Super Eagles’ players was enough for “our sports administrators to believe in our indigenous coaches and players’’.
“We need to have faith in ourselves, because if we don’t believe in ourselves, we cannot make progress.
“Even if we have all the facilities and the funds, if we don’t have faith in ourselves, we cannot make progress.
“Keshi has demonstrated the need for Nigerians to have faith in themselves both in our own coaches and in our players.
He advised sports administrators to desist from interfering with the work of coaches appointed to “handle our sport teams, because such attitude will not help the country’s sports development’’.
Mark said Keshi’s purported resignation was due to his opposition to plan by the Sports Ministry to hire a foreigner to head the Super Eagles’ technical crew.
He described the interference by sports administrators in the running of the national teams as “unhealthy and counter-productive’’ to the achievement of good results in international sports.
The Senate President urged the senators to prevail on Keshi not to resign his appointment at a time when the country needed his services most to nurture the array of talents under him.
“Stephen Keshi confirmed to me this morning that he actually said that he has resigned due to interference by administrators and plans to hire a foreign technical adviser.
“He said the reason was because there was too much interference and that even before the final match on Sunday, a lot of pressure was mounted on him to accept a foreign technical adviser.
“Keshi said he was opposed to the plan, because there were Nigerians, who could work with him, and that he did not see the gain in bringing foreigners,’’ Mark said.
“Once we give the team to him to manage, we should give him the free hand to manage it.
“Once we begin to meddle in the way he is going to run and manage the team, then, we cannot get results.
“Once we give him the task, we should give him the free hand to accomplish the task,’’ Mark added.
He also decried the over dependence on government for funding of sports, saying that it was inimical to the growth and progress of the sector.
“The procedure for getting fund out is not easy. It’s not straight forward. If government gives you fund, there will be middlemen, who will administer it,’’ the Senate president said.
Our correspondent reports that the Senate urged the Federal Government to reward the team and their handlers by conferring befitting national honours on them and naming streets after them in their states of origin.
It also urged Keshi not to resign his appointment as head coach of the Super Eagles.
Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has said that criticism that he and other players chased money by moving to Saudi Arabia is wide of the mark.
The 33-year-old left Chelsea for Al-Ahli in a £16m ($21.4m) deal in 2023, and in May the Africa Cup of Nations winner helped his Saudi club win the Asian Champions League, making him one of the few players to win both that competition and its European equivalent.
But, like many others, Mendy has been criticised for playing for money rather than prestige in the lucrative Saudi Pro League.
When asked about such criticism, Mendy told a Tidesports source, “Al-Ahli’s project came along and they made me feel I had a big role to play.
“Two years later, we won the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. So yes, that validates my choice. And I hope the coming years will validate it even more.”
He added: “Some people will quickly jump to conclusions and say the only reason is money. From the start, I always said that when I left Chelsea, I knew I was joining another team where I could win everything , which was no longer the case at Chelsea.”
The Blues have since won the Conference League, Europe’s third-tier club competition, under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
But it comes after the regime’s trophyless first two years, a period which has frustrated some supporters after the success enjoyed under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship in the previous 19 years.
Mendy has also been celebrating what he describes as a historical win with Senegal against England at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, but days earlier he had been in Dakar delivering a different kind of win.
He is the sponsor of Yakaar, a school in Keur Massar, which seeks to improve funding and access to digital learning tools for local children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Famously, as Mendy grew up in France, he was unemployed, aged 22, while struggling to find a club, with members of his family still living on the outskirts of Dakar.
That is why Yakaar, a word meaning “hope”, was chosen, a word Mendy has carried with him in his career.
“Hope is what kept me going. When I was without a club, it was the hope of getting that first professional contract.
“Then the hope of playing for the national team. The hope of making my family proud by doing the job I had always dreamed of.
“Indeed, hope is the best word to describe my career.”
Mendy was also asked whether the responsibility of being an African goalkeeper had weighed heavily on him.
“Of course. When I was in England, there weren’t many African goalkeepers in top clubs,” he admitted.
“Whether nationally or internationally, I had that responsibility. It’s the same for other African goalkeepers like Andre Onana [Manchester United] or Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal).”
The entire refereeing committee has been fired by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), with structural reforms soon set to follow.
According to sources, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has dismissed the entire refereeing committee in response to mounting pressure from clubs demanding structural reform. A major shake-up aimed at modernising Spanish refereeing from top to bottom has now been set in motion.
Head of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo and Head of VAR, Carlos Clos Gomez, have been removed from their positions. They are joined by several senior officials, including Antonio Rubinos Perez and three vice presidents, who are also stepping down. A new leadership model will be introduced, led by a CEO and a sporting director, aiming to overhaul how refereeing is managed covering assessments, promotions, and daily operations. While the leadership changes are sweeping, the current pool of referees in La Liga and the second tier will remain, ensuring continuity on the field during the transition.
Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a new two-year contract with Al-Nassr that means he will stay with the Saudi Pro League club until beyond his 42nd birthday.
The Portugal captain, 40, joined the Riyadh-based team in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United in acrimonious circumstances, having criticised the club and said he had no respect for manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr deal had been due to expire at the end of June and there was speculation he could leave, but that has now been quashed.
In a post on X, Ronaldo wrote: “A new chapter begins. Same passion, same dream. Let’s make history together.”
Although Al-Nassr have not added to their nine domestic titles during Ronaldo’s time at the club, they have benefited from a flood of goals from the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronaldo scored 35 times in 41 matches across all competitions last term and was the league’s top scorer for a second consecutive season.
He has managed 99 goals in appearances overall for Al-Nassr and is well on his way to reaching 1,000 senior goals in his career, with a current tally of 938 for club and country.
Having helped Portugal win the Uefa Nations League a little over two weeks ago, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, Sporting and Juventus forward will almost certainly now be targeting a sixth World Cup appearance next summer.
Only a month ago, Ronaldo posted on social media to say “the chapter is over”.
That came after the Saudi Pro League wrapped up with Al-Nassr finishing third and trophyless once again.
The comment fuelled rumours that Ronaldo was ready to leave the league where he reportedly became the best-paid player in football history with an annual salary of £177m when he joined.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino raised the prospect of Ronaldo joining a team involved in the Club World Cup after Al-Nassr failed to qualify for the extended tournament which is being held in the United States.
Ronaldo said he had received offers from participating teams but had turned them down.
The decision to stay until at least 2027, which is certain to be highly lucrative, appears to rule out any future prospect of Ronaldo returning to play at the highest level in Europe.