Sports
Fans Protest Death Sentence In Egypt
Rival football fans in Egypt have protested over sentences handed down over riots at a match in Port Said in February last year.
The court upheld 21 death sentences and handed down prison terms to other defendants over the violence, which claimed 74 lives.
Most victims were supporters of a Cairo team, and fans there criticised the sentencing for not going far enough.
In Port Said, fans of the local team accused the court of unfairness.
Many people believe police in the city stood by during the rioting in revenge for the role of football supporters in the unrest which toppled Hosni Mubarak as president a year before. Police deny the accusation.
Ahead of Saturday’s sentencing, the army assumed policing in Port Said, which saw fresh unrest last week.
Police in at least 10 of Egypt’s 29 provinces have been holding an unprecedented strike in protest at being used by the government of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to confront protesters.
Fans had surged through the streets to attend a rally at their stadium, and a police club and the Egyptian football federation building were set alight in the chaos.
Both buildings are close to the team’s stadium and a senior security official was quoted as saying by Tidesports source that some fans had stormed the club and torched it.
Confirming the capital punishment sentences, Judge Sobhi Abdel-Maguid specified “the death penalty by hanging”.
The court’s verdicts, broadcast live on TV, were initially cheered by fans of Cairo’s al-Ahly team, who are known as the Ultras.
“First we were happy when we heard the 21 death sentences,” one fan told AFP news agency.
“We were cheering and didn’t hear the rest of the verdict. Then we were very angry.”
Two demonstrators died on Saturday in Cairo in clashes with police, the head of the city’s ambulance service told the BBC. One was killed following inhalation of tear gas and the second by birdshot.
The clashes, near Tahrir Square, were originally thought to be connected to the football riot trial, but it later transpired to be unrelated. Unrest in the area flared up last week when police tried to open Tahrir Square to traffic.
In Port Said, fans of local team al-Masri were already angry that all of those sentenced to death were supporters of the team.
Two senior police officers were jailed but seven other security officials were acquitted, fuelling local resentment.
Some demonstrators tried to block the Suez Canal by untying speedboats and setting them adrift while others sought to interrupt car ferry traffic.
Military police recovered five of the speedboats and brought them back to shore, but two were still drifting, one witness told Reuters news agency.
However, the canal was protected by troops backed by tanks, and military helicopters hovered above the crowd.
Before Saturday, the canal, a global shipping route, was considered off-limits by protesters, correspondents say.
At least seven people – civilians and security officials – died earlier this week in unrest in the city.
The original death sentences imposed on the 21 defendants in January sparked a local revolt.
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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