Sports
Agent Charges Nigeria On Sports Dev
A top football agent in Sage Sports Consult (SSC), Rajih Rahman, yesterday said that Nigeria could only lay claim to meaningful success in grassroot football development through the number of its exports.
Rahman told newsmen in Lagos that it was true that the nation was blessed with abundant talents but it had yet to be seen more in the international circuit.
“The truth is that we have so many grassroot sports programmes with little to show for it. The ones we have are not developmental; no monitoring of the progress of the footballers.
“The young players we have at the grassroot are amazing but they needed the right exposure in terms of exports which will be the best way to measure our performances.
“Other countries send their young ones to European countries at mind-boggling prices, and they earn good from their exports.
“Our country can also earn it big from exporting our products, especially our footballers. The developmental programmes from our grassroot are inconclusive without export,’’ he said.
Rahman, urged the various agencies of government and other organisations responsible for the grassroot sports development to come out with all-inconclusive programmes for the project
“I am not satisfied with the various grassroot developmental programmes we have in Nigeria because it is always half done. No room for monitoring of the players progress.
“The players discovered from the grassroot need to be properly monitored so as to get the required knowledge to excel; the habit of leading them out and dumping them halfway is not right.
“All the grassroot developmental agencies should evolve a way of making sure that their labours are not in vain by monitoring players they discovered which is where the profit is.
“We have more of Kelechi Iheanacho at the grassroot, some of them were discovered but not provided the opportunity to excel, while wasting our resources and time on them?’’
Rahman said that the aim of his outfit was to give the players discovered at the grassroot opportunity they were looking for which was to ply their trade overseas.
“What Sage Consult is all about is providing the opportunity for the young players from 15 to 17 years to play professionally in countries of their dreams.
“It is not just about discovering them but giving them the right exposure because opportunities abound all over the world for quality players that are abundant in Nigeria.
“Exporting them is the greatest and the pinnacle of their careers, so, we will strive to achieve that,’’ he said.
Tidesports gathered that Sage Sports Consult in partnerships with the Dubai-based Variant Sports, a grassroots developmental agency is responsible for training young footballers between ages 15 and 17.
The developmental sports outfit is currently conducting an open trial at the Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, with the motive to export those to be selected to Europe.
The trials have more than 75 players drawn from across the country participating.
Sports
Nigeria Cricket Federation Re-Elects Akpata President

Akpata emerged unopposed during the federation’s annual general meeting and board elections, which ended in Abuja on Saturday.
The election was decided by 37 delegates, with 12 other board members also emerging, to steer the affairs of the federation for the next four years.
Former Kwara State stalwart, Wale Obalola, emerged as the vice president at the election.
Representative of the South-West on the NCF board, Tayo Atoloye, also returned for another term, while team manager of the Junior Female Yellow Greens, Femi John, was elected as the representative of the South-South on the board.
Other zonal representatives are Chika Okoro (South-East), Ladan Usman (North-West), Dare Aimola (North-Central), and Zainab Adamu (North-East).
Former captain of the men’s national team, Endurance Ofem, secured 30 of the 37 votes to beat another ex-player, Chimezie Onwuzulike, for the players’ representative seat.
Olumide Akinkokun emerged as the technical representative, Prof Mariam Suleiman will represent the National Association of Women in Sports, Chuma Anosike as the sponsors’ representative, while the military and paramilitary will be represented on the board by Major Monica Wabulla.
The president, Akpata, was first elected in 2021 and has driven the growth of Nigerian cricket in the last four years.
Part of his notable achievements include the heavy investment in infrastructure and high-performance, national grassroots development programmes, as well as the introduction of professional contracts for Nigerian players.
Earlier this year, the women’s U-19 team finished sixth at the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in Malaysia, after the senior team had won a historic bronze medal at the last edition of the African Games in Ghana in 2024.
Nigeria has also bagged several International Cricket Council awards in recognition of the country’s strides towards growing the game, especially for women.
Sports
Nathaniel hopes to inspire young Nigerians after feat

The 22-year-old ran a scorching 47.11 seconds in Friday’s final, smashing his previous national record of 47.31 seconds set earlier this year and becoming only the second Nigerian since Henry Amike in 1987 to reach the 400m hurdles final at the World Championships.
“I hope this performance will inspire young Nigerian athletes,” Nathaniel said after the dramatic final
“This is a great opportunity to learn from the world’s best athletes.”
The race saw American Rai Benjamin storm to victory in 46.52 seconds to finally clinch his first world championship gold medal after two silvers and a bronze, but not without drama.
Benjamin was initially disqualified for crashing into the final hurdle and affecting other athletes, briefly elevating Nathaniel to bronze position. However, the American’s appeal was quickly upheld and he was restored to the top of the timesheet.
Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos claimed silver in 46.84 seconds, while Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba took bronze in 47.06 seconds, leaving Nathaniel agonisingly close to Nigeria’s second medal of the championships.
Despite the near-miss, Nathaniel remained philosophical about the disqualification reversal.
It’s a fair call,” the Nigerian said.
“He put in a lot of work to get that medal and if they are trying to rip off from that, I don’t think that’s fair. He didn’t deliberately knock over the hurdle, that could happen to anyone.”
The former 800m runner, who competes for Baylor University in Texas, expressed satisfaction with his performance and hinted at greater things to come saying, “I still have a lot of potential. I am pleased because I did my best and I ran a personal record. I have it in me and just need to wait for the right time. For now, I am enjoying the process.”
Nathaniel’s rapid rise in the event has been remarkable. Born in 2003, he broke a decades-old Nigerian record set by Henry Amike when he ran 48.42 seconds at the Big 12 Conference meet in 2022 as a freshman.
His progress accelerated dramatically this year. In June, he won the NCAA Outdoor Championships title in Eugene, Oregon, clocking 47.49 seconds – the third fastest time in NCAA history. He also became the first man in NCAA history to run a sub-48-second time in the 400m hurdles semifinal, recording 47.86 seconds.
The Tokyo performance adds another chapter to what has been an exceptional year for the young hurdler, who has now established himself among the world’s elite quarter-mile hurdlers.
While Nathaniel’s fourth-place finish matches Amike’s result from the 1987 World Championships in Rome, his national record performance signals a bright future for Nigerian athletics in the event.
Nigeria’s campaign in Tokyo concluded with Tobi Amusan as the country’s only medallist, though this still represented an improvement over the Budapest World Championships where Team Nigeria ended empty-handed.
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