Sports
Basketball Excels Amidst Crisis
Despite the leadership crisis that engulfed Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) after the elections that held in June 2017, the country still excelled in the year under review.
The basketball family was fractionalized because of Tijani Umar’s refusal to acknowledge the result of the election that held in Abuja, a day after he organized an orchestrated election in Kano that returned him to power.
With the Sports Ministry and the Nigeria Olympic Committee recognizing the Abuja election, all the shenanigans at the instance of Umar faction fell flat when FIBA acknowledged in a letter affirming the Abuja election won by Musa Kida.
The letter affirmation letter became inevitable when the NOC electoral committee contented that none of the factions would be recognized at the NOC election that held last week in Yola.
FIBA in a letter dated December 18, 2018 and addressed to the Secretary General of the Nigeria Olympics Committee (NOC), Chief Tunde Popoola, who had written FIBA on the need to name the “eligible representative of the NBBF, who will be at the NOC elective Annual General Meeting (AGM) and to vote” in Yola, Adamawa State.
FIBA Secretary General, Andreas Zaglis, replied, “FIBA has communicated with the board of Kida concerning the affairs of the NBBF since July 2017 and has organized FIBA events with the same board’s assistance.
“Besides, FIBA notes that good progress is being made in regularizing fully the NBBF-FIBA relationship, which remains an internal matter of the basketball family, since the NBBF is not suspended and enjoy full rights as a member,” FIBA continued.
FIBA explained that having earlier received a letter from the NOC recognizing the board elected on the 13th of June 2017 in Abuja and the recent memo of the Federal Ministry of Youth Sports Development revalidating Kida and his board, the international body has deemed it fit to accord the board all the necessary recognition.
The latest letter, put paid to insinuations in different quarters over who is in charge of basketball administration in Nigeria expressly named Kida who recently bagged a Doctorate Degree in Credit Management as president.
The letter granting Kida (or a validly nominated delegate of his) therefore nullified the earlier erroneous pronouncement of the NOC electoral committee chaired by Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima that no board had been recognized by FIBA as the legitimate basketball federation.
With FIBA’s position clearly stated on who is in charge of basketball administration in Nigeria, Musa Kida called on all basketball stakeholders to join hands and contribute meaningfully to basketball growth.
He said despite the recent landmark achievements recorded by the board since its assumption of office, more ground could have been covered especially at the home front if not the incessant distractions.
The year began with the Commonwealth Basketball event in Australia. A home based team represented the country at the Commonwealth losing all games as expected. The team finished the competition with four straight losses. D’Tigers scored 248 points but conceded 355; with the team’s captain, Ikechukwu Diogu, posting 84 points. Nigeria however placed sixth at the end of the Games.
However, Kida desired to take the game to the next level ensured that the team got all the support needed in their bid to qualify for the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China.
D’Tigers became the first Africa team to qualify for the FIBA Men’s World Cup after winning their first two qualifying tournaments in style.
However, D’t igress participation at the FIBA Women’s Championship was the icing in the cake in a year the country recorded excellent successes internationally.
At the Women’s World Cup, Nigeria became the first African team reached the quarterfinal of any FIBA tournament and were also the first African team to win more than one game in a single World Cup tournament.
Before the tournament, D’Tigress ranked 34th now emerged as the 2nd best team in Africa, replacing Angola.
Head Coach, Hughley Otis Jr. guided the team to a record of 3-4; including straight wins over Turkey, Argentina and Greece.
D’Tigress progress did not go unnoticed by FIBA president, Horacio Muratore.
In an interview granted to the official FIBA blog, Muratore spoke among others, on the performance of Nigeria and Senegal, paying glowing tributes to the D’Tigress, especially.
“One of the best story lines of this Women’s World Cup without a doubt will be that Africa proved it has some very good teams in Nigeria and Senegal.
“These are teams that can play against anyone and I congratulate both of them for their campaigns.
“Senegal had a historic win (against Latvia) and a great game against Spain (in quarterfinal qualifications). They made the tournament hosts tremble a bit. It would have been amazing for both African teams to reach the quarterfinals.
“Nigeria outplayed the USA – the reigning world champions – in the first half of their quarterfinal and got wins over Turkey, Argentina and Greece.
“This is extremely positive for African basketball and for the sport in general.”
At the club level, Rivers Hoopers, Nigeria champions, described the year as the best ever in the history of the club.
Hoopers for the first time won the FIBA Africa Zone 3 Championship early in December in Cotonou finishing with a 5-0 record.
Looking back on 2018, Ifie Ozaka, General Manager of the club labelled it a bitter-sweet experience for the Zone 3 Champions who played only two games all year, before the competition in Cotonou.
“I will describe 2018 as turbulent for the team. We didn’t play any competitive basketball till November where we had only two competitive matches, which qualified us for the FIBA qualifiers in Zone 3. From the turbulence of 2018 we are ending the season on a high. A turbulent season turned out to be our best season and highest point ever in the history of the club.”
Ozaka continued, “Playing a long league where players have to play many matches, where players get more allowances, where the fans of the team come out and watch the team play week in, week out that’s what I would have loved to do this season.
“Not playing a long league and not just the Kwese league wasn’t too good for my team and also fans of basketball in Port Harcourt.”
“I was very impressed with my boys. At the beginning of 2018 when we went out to recruit the couple of players we wanted I think we made very good choices in the transfer market.
“The players we brought in filled the gaps properly. I told them it’s been a long time I had a bunch of talented young men together as a team. A team I believe that can hold their own against any team in Nigeria so I was very impressed with their play judging that they have not had a long time together.
“They played a lot of physical sides and I say kudos to them and if we can keep them together for another season I am sure they will go on to do great things.”
Tonye Orabere
Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has said that criticism that he and other players chased money by moving to Saudi Arabia is wide of the mark.
The 33-year-old left Chelsea for Al-Ahli in a £16m ($21.4m) deal in 2023, and in May the Africa Cup of Nations winner helped his Saudi club win the Asian Champions League, making him one of the few players to win both that competition and its European equivalent.
But, like many others, Mendy has been criticised for playing for money rather than prestige in the lucrative Saudi Pro League.
When asked about such criticism, Mendy told a Tidesports source, “Al-Ahli’s project came along and they made me feel I had a big role to play.
“Two years later, we won the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. So yes, that validates my choice. And I hope the coming years will validate it even more.”
He added: “Some people will quickly jump to conclusions and say the only reason is money. From the start, I always said that when I left Chelsea, I knew I was joining another team where I could win everything , which was no longer the case at Chelsea.”
The Blues have since won the Conference League, Europe’s third-tier club competition, under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
But it comes after the regime’s trophyless first two years, a period which has frustrated some supporters after the success enjoyed under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship in the previous 19 years.
Mendy has also been celebrating what he describes as a historical win with Senegal against England at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, but days earlier he had been in Dakar delivering a different kind of win.
He is the sponsor of Yakaar, a school in Keur Massar, which seeks to improve funding and access to digital learning tools for local children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Famously, as Mendy grew up in France, he was unemployed, aged 22, while struggling to find a club, with members of his family still living on the outskirts of Dakar.
That is why Yakaar, a word meaning “hope”, was chosen, a word Mendy has carried with him in his career.
“Hope is what kept me going. When I was without a club, it was the hope of getting that first professional contract.
“Then the hope of playing for the national team. The hope of making my family proud by doing the job I had always dreamed of.
“Indeed, hope is the best word to describe my career.”
Mendy was also asked whether the responsibility of being an African goalkeeper had weighed heavily on him.
“Of course. When I was in England, there weren’t many African goalkeepers in top clubs,” he admitted.
“Whether nationally or internationally, I had that responsibility. It’s the same for other African goalkeepers like Andre Onana [Manchester United] or Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal).”
The entire refereeing committee has been fired by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), with structural reforms soon set to follow.
According to sources, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has dismissed the entire refereeing committee in response to mounting pressure from clubs demanding structural reform. A major shake-up aimed at modernising Spanish refereeing from top to bottom has now been set in motion.
Head of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo and Head of VAR, Carlos Clos Gomez, have been removed from their positions. They are joined by several senior officials, including Antonio Rubinos Perez and three vice presidents, who are also stepping down. A new leadership model will be introduced, led by a CEO and a sporting director, aiming to overhaul how refereeing is managed covering assessments, promotions, and daily operations. While the leadership changes are sweeping, the current pool of referees in La Liga and the second tier will remain, ensuring continuity on the field during the transition.
Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a new two-year contract with Al-Nassr that means he will stay with the Saudi Pro League club until beyond his 42nd birthday.
The Portugal captain, 40, joined the Riyadh-based team in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United in acrimonious circumstances, having criticised the club and said he had no respect for manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr deal had been due to expire at the end of June and there was speculation he could leave, but that has now been quashed.
In a post on X, Ronaldo wrote: “A new chapter begins. Same passion, same dream. Let’s make history together.”
Although Al-Nassr have not added to their nine domestic titles during Ronaldo’s time at the club, they have benefited from a flood of goals from the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronaldo scored 35 times in 41 matches across all competitions last term and was the league’s top scorer for a second consecutive season.
He has managed 99 goals in appearances overall for Al-Nassr and is well on his way to reaching 1,000 senior goals in his career, with a current tally of 938 for club and country.
Having helped Portugal win the Uefa Nations League a little over two weeks ago, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, Sporting and Juventus forward will almost certainly now be targeting a sixth World Cup appearance next summer.
Only a month ago, Ronaldo posted on social media to say “the chapter is over”.
That came after the Saudi Pro League wrapped up with Al-Nassr finishing third and trophyless once again.
The comment fuelled rumours that Ronaldo was ready to leave the league where he reportedly became the best-paid player in football history with an annual salary of £177m when he joined.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino raised the prospect of Ronaldo joining a team involved in the Club World Cup after Al-Nassr failed to qualify for the extended tournament which is being held in the United States.
Ronaldo said he had received offers from participating teams but had turned them down.
The decision to stay until at least 2027, which is certain to be highly lucrative, appears to rule out any future prospect of Ronaldo returning to play at the highest level in Europe.