Sports
LMC Approves Gabros Takeover, Change Of Name
The League Management
Company (LMC) at the Weekend said it had approved the takeover of Gabros Interrnational FC of Nnewi by businessman and Chairman/CEO of Capital Oil Limited, Ifeanyi Ubah.
This was contained in a statement by Harry Iwuala, the LMC said the approval was because Ubah had completed the takeover of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side.
“This followed an approval granted by the LMC and conveyed in a letter signed by Shehu Dikko, the LMC Chairman and Second Vice-President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
“By the approval, the club formerly known as Gabros International FC will now be known and addressed as FC Ifeanyi Ubah,’’ the statement said.
It added in the letter that Dikko said the approval has been granted consequent on the verification of Ifeanyi Ubah Limited’s compliance with requirements for takeover of clubs and change of name.
The LMC said the change of name therefore takes effect from Match Day 11 and all points accumulated by Gabros International FC has been transferred to FC IfeanyiUbah.
“After submitting to the very rigorous process put in place to ensure that only serious business-minded persons and corporate groups are admitted to club ownership,
“The LMC is satisfied that Ifeanyi Ubah has substantially met the requirement and has been granted approval to take over Gabros International FC”.
Dikko commended Ubah for patiently working to meet these requirements and said it demonstrated his commitment to operating and funding the club in line with the company’s Rules and Frame Work.
“The Rules and Frame Work, which have been designed to protect the institution of the league and also safeguard the interests of the players and other employees of clubs participating in the NPFL”.
The letter listed some of the conditions met to include but not limited to submission of the certificate of incorporation of the FC Ifeanyi Ubah as a limited liability company.
It said the company must be registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), submission of a quarterly Financial Performance Guarantee issued by Skye Bank and the club’s business strategic development plan.
“The Financial Performance Guarantee is not cash paid to the LMC but a bank’s undertaking to make available that amount of money to the LMC should the club either be proven to have defaulted in meeting its financial obligation to employees (playersa, coaches and other employees), another club or failed to remedy after appropriate notice.
“This is a safety net put in place by the LMC to address the problems of indebtedness, especially to players and coaches by clubs,’’ Dikko said.
“Others are a letter of Personal Performance Guarantee of the club by Ubah, a letter from Zenith Bank attesting to Ifeanyi Ubah’s good standing as the bank’s customer and a Personal Guarantee Deed of agreement of Ifeanyi Ubah in favour of the LMC for the value of N1.5 billon for three years, including investment in club infrastructure.
“The personal guarantee deed represents an undertaken by Ubah as the club promoter to guarantee and fund the participation and operations of FC Ifeanyi Ubah for a minimum period of three years in league football and compliance to all the NPFL and NFF rules and other extant football rules and regulations,’’ Dikko said.
The rest of the requirements fulfilled by FC Ifeanyi Ubah include a sponsorship agreement with Capital Oil Ltd for a three-year deal worth N5 billion to support the club.
It said “this included the provision of new infrastructure (mini stadium) and a letter of consent from the owners of Gabros International FC for the takeover and change of name of the club’’.
Dikko further remarked that the LMC is quite delighted to have a big private investor with huge passion for football taking over a club in the NPFL.
“I hope that this will set the stage for other serious businessmen and blue chip companies in Nigeria to take over clubs in the elite league, either as owners, investors and/or sponsors.’’
The LMC assured the existing and potential investors in the league that the LMC is always available to provide all the necessary support and advisory.
“This is a service to any qualified party interested in taking over in the league.
England captain Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to guide Bayern Munich to an impressive victory against Stuttgart.
Kane’s goals, plus one from Kingsley Coman, helped Bayern end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
They faced a tough task against a Stuttgart side who sat back and limited their chances, leading Vincent Kompany’s side to enter the break frustrated and with the deadlock unbroken.
Bayern eventually found a way past Stuttgart’s steely defence when Kane drilled a low effort into the bottom corner from around 30 yards out after Joshua Kimmich overturned possession.
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor