Sports
AFN Golden League Home-Based Athletes Jostle For Honours
The Athletics Federation of
Nigeria (AFN) and the Anambra State Athletics Association are set to stage the maiden AFN/ Anambra Golden League, which would feature no fewer than 800 athletes.
The athletes include some 400 students from secondary schools across the state. The event has been scheduled to hold at the Rojenny Stadium, Oba tomorrow in the athletics-loving state.
Anambra is reputed to have in the past produced top world-class athletics beaters, the likes of Mary Onyali, Innocent Egbunike and Uche Emedolu.
Egbunike still remains the current African record holder in 400 metres. He posted 44.17 seconds at 1987 World Athletics Championship in Rome, which had still been standing 28 years after.
He also won a bronze in the 4X400 at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, hosted by the U.S., in addition to a series of gold medals from the Africa and the Commonwealth Games.
Onyali on the other hand, won multiple gold medals at the Africa Games. She was also a bronze medalist in the 4X100 metres at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
Sprinter, Emodolu won a World Cup in athletics at the 2002 World Cup in Madrid, Spain. He also won a bronze in the 4X100 metres, at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, among other medals he won at the Commonwealth and the Africa Games.
The Golden league event has on offer, not less than N1.5 million as jackpot.
The league would also offer opportunity for the home-based to prepare ahead of the AFN/CRS All Nigeria Athletics Championships, which would serve as trials for the Beijing 2015 IAAF World Championships.
The Championships are scheduled to hold from August 27 to August 30 at the Birds Nest in Beijing, China.
The league will also serve as trials for the selection of athletes to the 11th All Africa Games scheduled to run from September 4 to September 19 in Congo Brazzaville.
The question on the lips of many has been, will the home-based be able to withstand their foreign-based counterparts when they troop down to jostle for places in the team for the Africa Games and the World Championships.
According to Kayode Thomas, the spokesman of the AFN, Kayode Thomas in a statement, the Golden League was designed to help the home-based to raise their performances to be able to give their foreign-based counterparts a run for their money at the trials.
The Technical Director of the AFN, Omatseye Nesiama said athletes must score a minimum of 1,070 points in the track sprints events and 1,050 in other track events to be able to make it to the trials.
He added that in the jumps, athletes must score a minimum of 1,050 points and score a minimum of 900 points in the throws events to be considered for the trials.
In Walk Race event, athletes must score a minimum of 700 and 350 points by the men and women respectively to be at the trials.
Nesiama said not less than 20 events would feature at Golden league competition.
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.