Sports
Giwa Increases Sharks’ Woes In Abuja
Shuaibu Ibrahim has in
Abuja scored a brace to hand Giwa Football Club of Jos a vital 2-1 win against Sharks FC of Port Harcourt.
The match was a 2013/2014 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) rescheduled Week 33 match.
The game was rescheduled after Giwa FC was found guilty of failing to control their fans on October 16.
The fans had seen the match officials beaten up and a Sharks player injured at the Rwang Pam Stadium in Jos.
As a result, Giwa FC were ordered to play their next three home matches in Abuja and ordered to pay the sum of N200,000 to the assaulted centre referee, Samuel Akinwale.
In the rescheduled match at the FIFA Goal Project pitch, Sharks FC started the game on the front foot and they created a lot of scoring opportunities.
Salawu Ibrahim could have put Sharks ahead as early as in the 7th minute.
But he squandered the chance, with the Giwa FC goalkeeper, James Aiyeyemi, left stranded and an empty post at his mercy.
Fortune Omoniwari also wasted another lovely goalscoring opportunity in the 15th minute as his shot struck the post with only Aiyeyemi to beat.
Sharks were then left to rue their chances when a lovely cross from the left met Ibrahim of Giwa FC who wasted no time to stab home from close range in the 39th minute.
Omoniwari made up for his earlier miss after he scored through a powerful header for the equaliser, with barely three minutes later.
Ibrahim however got his brace and the winning goal for Giwa FC in the 60th minute with a clever chip which left Sharks FC goalkeeper dumbfounded.
Sharks FC had a rare opportunity to at least get a point from the game in the 90th minute, but it was another wasteful effort from Stowe Thompson.
Aminu Musa, the coach of Giwa FC, however told newsmen that his charges ably deserved their hard-earned victory against Sharks.
“We played as if we were playing on our home ground. Indeed the feeling of playing here today (Wednesday) was like playing home away from home,’’ he said.
The coach said they were looking forward to their next game against Nasarawa United after the League Management Company (LMC) ordered the two clubs to replay the game on Thursday.
“Our boys are not scared of Nasarawa United and by the grace of God we will get the deserved result to secure our continental ticket,’’ he said.
The Head Coach of Sharks FC, Gbenga Ogunbote, on his part said the result was not good for his side’s continental ambitions.
“Sometimes you cannot explain when you lose such a game, but my boys did their best under the condition which they played.
“You are aware that the team had been on strike for about eight days without training due to the non-payment of their allowances.
“This result may not be too good for us, but sometimes the situation cannot be helped,’’ he said.
Sharks are currently placed 11th on the NPFL log with 53 points from 37 matches, while Giwa FC are 9th with 54 points from 36 games.
Sharks FC in one of their Premier League games
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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