Sports
Ekiti Athletes Lament N15,600 NSF Allowance
Ekiti State athletes have expressed their unhappiness with the Ekiti State Sports Council over the N15,600 allowance paid to them by the council for their participation in last month’s Abuja 2018 National Sports Festival.
The state finished 31st at the festival with two silver and four bronze medals. National junior table tennis champion Esther Oribamise led the state to win bronze in the women’s team and women’s doubles events in Abuja.
Oribamise said she rejected the N15,600 because the council agreed to pay her N100,000 for the competition.
The Ekiti State University student lamented that the state failed in their promise to her despite not giving her and her teammates the best preparations for the Games.
She said the state’s athletes were paid N15,600 each after their arrival in Ekiti from the festival, which she rejected.
Other athletes, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were unhappy with the way they were treated by the state but only collected the money because they had no option. Oribamise said, “Before the festival, I was approached by Rivers State to compete for them and we agreed that I would be paid N80,000 monthly for a year. Unfortunately, some officials of the Ekiti State Sports Council learnt of the proposal and urged me to drop the idea and stay with the state at the festival.
“I refused because since I first represented Ekiti in the festival at Eko 2012, I had been neglected by the state. Medal winners at the Eko festival were promised employment by the state government. Fortunately for me, I won bronze in the team event but while the other medallists were employed, I was told after Eko 2012 that I could not be given employment because I was too young – I was 12 years at the time.
“I pleaded with them to convert the employment to scholarship but no one listened to me and I was left alone until I secured admission into the Ekiti State University and the Vice-Chancellor gave me a scholarship.”
The former African junior champion added, “So when they came this year, I refused to represent Ekiti but the officials threatened me, my coach and my parents that my scholarship at the university would be withdrawn if I went to another state. After much plea and threats, I agreed to play for Ekiti but I told them that I would be paid N100,000 for participating and the officials agreed.
“What we went through before and during the festival are indescribable but we came back with some medals. When we reached Ekiti, each athlete was given N15,600, which I refused. I have told them to pay me the agreed N100,000 but no one is attending to me again. “Ekiti has been unfair to athletes and they want us to remain faithful to the state after neglecting us.” Another athlete, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, “What we experienced at the festival was not encouraging. Although we weren’t camped while preparing for the event, which was why we didn’t get any allowance, we still prepared, spent our money and time. All we got for being among the few that participated in the festival was N15,600.
“Nobody was happy with it, but we collected it due to our economic situation. The poor treatment was the reason for the dismal performance of Ekiti State in the competition. We could have won at least six gold medals. I do not blame those who did not win. How could anyone have won under that condition?
“Many of us trained, but only a few were selected to participate. Some went to the event on their own, some coaches volunteered their allowances, some athletes, who sponsored themselves, were told not to expect any allowance”.
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.