Sports
Club Registration: Commissioner Calls For More Time
Rivers State Sports
commissioner, Fred Igwe has said that the conditions given by the League Management Company (LMC) to register for the league are not new to the teams involved
Igwe who was part of the inspection at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium told news men after the tour that the League Management Company, LMC should understand the situation in Nigeria as they insists on the rules and regulations
Igwe said most clubs are owned by government and for them to actualize the pre-registration conditions, they required at least one year to meet the conditions.
“These conditions are not new to us as they have always been there but you know we are government clubs and cannot do things without a budget which has already been passed.
“In government you wait for the budget cycle which is one year so if they give us that, I’m sure we can fulfil the conditions,” Igwe said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the League Management Company, Nduka Irabor has said that the company is still open to deal with clubs on the issue of stadium inspection but are yet to make an official stadium on the Liberation Stadium.
An LMC team led by Irabor himself inspected the Port Harcourt Liberation Stadium on Monday, home ground of Dolphins FC and says the time to make a statement is not now.
“We are still open to business. We are going to collate our findings sometime during the week and our verdict on the clubs will be known but so far so good, I believe we are open to business in the places we have been to,” Irabor said.
The League Management Company team inspected the playing pitch at the Liberation Stadium and also took a look at the referees’ dressing room as well as locker rooms of the home and away teams.
The LMC chairman asked to see the media tribune, the stadium generator as well as the toilets at the stadium and seemed impressed.
As an alternative measure, the LMC team also visited the new Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium at Omagwa and took notes.
Dolphins players trying to outsment Sharks players during a league match in Port Harcourt Rivers State recently.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.