Sports
Fans Urge AFN To Monitor Athletes’ Dev
Female basketballers in contests during a past national compoetition
Some athletics fans have
urged the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN) to monitor the development of the athletes who won the 12th African Junior Athletics Championships recently.
The championships held from March 4 to March 8 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
For Nigeria to retain its title as champions of the continent which it secured in 2014, the athletes topped the medals table with 12 gold, eight silver and seven bronze medals.
South Africa was second with nine gold, seven silver and seven bronze medals, while hosts, Ethiopia came third with six gold, 12 silver and10 bronze medals.
Egypt was fourth with five gold, five silver and three bronze medals.
The fans told newsmen that the country’s 34 athletes were worthy of commendation, saying that Nigeria was blessed with talents.
Deji Aliu, a 100m gold medalist at the 1994 World Junior Championships in Portugal, said he was impressed with the athletes’ performance, saying there should be a follow-up on the athletes.
“I am impressed with the performance of the athletes, the fact remains that they did well. But it usually ends there, that is the problem we have in this country.
“There should be follow-up these athletes, I hope that when the athletes return to their base, it won’t end there. They should be monitored, tutored to see how they have improved.
“There are abundant talents, there is no doubt we were going to win in Africa but how do we continue to groom them to become world class,’’ he said.
Christian Aiyegbeni, who took part in relays at the African Junior Athletics Championships in 1997, said the athletes were worthy to be praised, urging that they should be groomed to international level.
Aiyegbeni said the athletes if properly managed they would be ranked top at international events, stressing that the nation was blessed with a lot of talents.
“These young athletes have really done the country proud, they deserve all the praise they are given.
“With their performance and retaining title as Africa’s champions, proper grooming will push them to international standards,’’ he said.
AFN’s Technical Director, Commodore Omatseye Nesiama, expressed joy at the athletes’ performance, noting that they surpassed their past record of nine gold, seven silver and three bronze medals.
“I am happy with their performance, they have represented the country with so much hope, focus and determination and it worked for them,’’ he said.
Nesiama also said that the AFN would take fresh steps to improve on the men’s pole vault and heptathlon.
“We are making fresh moves into events like the heptathlon as well as the men’s pole vault to see how we can improve and win medals in the future,’’ he said.
Sporting have not received an offer for striker Viktor Gyokeres and there is no gentleman’s agreement for him to leave for £59million, says club president Frederico Varandas.
Sweden international Gyokeres, 27, has been heavily linked with Manchester United and Arsenal after scoring 97 goals in 102 matches during two seasons in Portugal.
He has a 100m euro (£85m) release clause in his contract.
It has been widely reported that, after staying at Sporting last summer, Gyokeres and Sporting agreed he could leave for 70m euros (£59m) this summer.
However, Varandas said the club’s only promise to Gyokeres was that they would not demand his full release clause.
“I can guarantee that Viktor Gyokeres will not leave for 60m euros plus 10m euros because I never promised that,” Varandas said.
“To this day Sporting has not had an offer for Gyokeres, neither today nor last season.”
Gyokeres spent three seasons with Coventry City in the Championship before joining Sporting under Ruben Amorim.
Manchester City director of football Hugo Viana was sporting director at Sporting last summer, when Gyokeres’ agent sought assurances about his leaving if a suitable offer arrived.
“One of the agent’s biggest concerns was whether we would demand the termination clause,” said Varandas.
“He wanted to guarantee certain things. And what was agreed? That Sporting would not demand a release clause now.
“For one reason: he was going to be 27 years old and no player leaves Portugal at 27 for 100m eurors or 90m euros.
“In that same meeting the agent wanted to anchor the exit to a value. I said this sentence: ‘It’s not worth us setting a value because I don’t know what will happen in a year’s time. I don’t know if it will be 40m euros, 60m euros or 80m euros. What I can guarantee is that I will not demand 100 million euros.’”
Concacaf President Victor Montagliani has criticised a proposal to expand the 2030 men’s World Cup to 64 teams.
The plans, put forward by South American governing body Conmebol, have also drawn opposition from Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The tournament will be hosted by Spain, Morocco and Portugal, after the opening matches are held in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The 2026 World Cup, which will take place across the United States, Mexico and Canada, has already been expanded from 32 to 48 teams.
But Conmebol said it wanted to add more participants to mark the competition’s 100-year anniversary.
“I don’t believe expanding the men’s World Cup to 64 teams is the right move for the tournament itself and the broader football ecosystem, from national teams to club competitions, leagues, and players,” Montagliani told Tidesports source
“We haven’t even kicked off the new 48-team World Cup yet, so personally, I don’t think that expanding to 64 teams should even be on the table.”
Concacaf is the governing body of football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
The decision to expand the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams was taken in 2017 following a unanimous vote at a Fifa congress.
Fifa’s 75th congress will be held in Paraguay on 15 May, when Conmebol’s proposal could be discussed.
If the proposal is accepted, the 2030 edition would consist of 128 matches, double the number played under the 64-game format used from 1998 and 2022.
In March, Ceferin described the proposal as a “bad idea” while AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa said it would cause “chaos”.
“If the issue remains open to change, then the door will not only be open to expanding the tournament to 64 teams,” said Salman.
“But someone might come along and demand raising the number to 132 teams. Where would we end up then? It would become chaos.”
Brazil qualified for the 2026 World Cup this week with a 1-0 win against Paraguay in South American qualifying to give Carlo Ancelotti his first win as manager.
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jnr scored from close range in the second half, finishing after fine work from Manchester United-bound playmaker Matheus Cunha.
The victory, Ancelotti’s first after a 0-0 draw against Ecuador on his debut last week, means Brazil has now qualified for every edition of the World Cup.
“We needed to win and qualify for the World Cup,” said Vinicius Jr.
“Now the coach will have more time to work. Of course today wasn’t one of our best performances, but the important thing is always to win.
“Now it’s time to celebrate qualifying.”
Elsewhere, World Cup holders Argentina played out an entertaining 1-1 draw with Colombia in Buenos Aires.
Liverpool winger Luis Diaz opened the scoring with a fine individual goal, dancing through three defenders before finishing past Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Argentina was reduced to 10 men with 20 minutes remaining when Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez was sent off for a high-boot challenge on Colombia’s Kevin Castano.
But Lionel Messi’s side found an equaliser nine minutes from the end through Lyon’s Thiago Almada, leaving Colombia four points clear of seventh-placed Venezuela.
Ecuador, Argentina’s nearest challengers, booked their spot at next summer’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States after a 0-0 draw away at Peru.