Sports
Rivers United’s Players Hope To Be Honoured

There are expectations from players of Rivers United Football Club of Port Harcourt that the Rivers State Government would host the team following its impressive performance, which saw it placed on second position on the 2019/2020 Nigeria Professional Football League ( NPFL) table.
Tidesports gathered that the players were filled with high hopes and expectations that the sports loving governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, will honour them at the appropriate time.
United was effectively fighting for the NPFL titled with 45 points, four points behind the league winners, Plateau United of Jos, before the impromptu stoppage of the league, occasioned by the novel Coronavirus (Covid19) pandemic.
They maintained their position after Points Per Game (PPG) formula used by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to end the League with 13 matches left.
The captain of the club, Festus Austin, said their intention was to lift the league trophy for the governor, but the league was stopped half way.
Austin made the assertion in an exclusive interview with Tidesports, yesterday, in Port Harcourt, saying that if not for the Covid19 pandemic,which ended the league suddenly his club would have won the league title.
“We thank God for everything, but our target was to win the league title for the governor, because that is the only way we can pay back the state government.
As a team, we are committed and determined to continue our impressive performance at the continental level,” Austin said.
The skipper further assured Rivers people that the club would bring glory to the state, as they are prepared to win trophies at all football competitions.
Tonye Orabere
Sports
Scholarships Up For Grabs For 10 Winners At MTN Champs
The grand finale of the MTN Champs will commence from today and end on Sunday at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja where 10 winners will bag scholarship and financial benefits.
MTN CHAMPS is a program in Nigeria that aims to unearth and foster athletics talent across the country.
It is modeled after the Jamaican High school CHAMPS and is poised to become the primary platform for identifying and nurturing promising athletes who could go on to represent Nigeria in prestigious international competitions such as the Olympics and World Championships.
Before the finals in Abuja, the track and field event was held in three different regions namely: Uyo, Benin and Ibadan where over 7,000 athletes have competed and 42 finalists emerged.
Speaking at the MTN Champs Press Conference held on Wednesday in Abuja, the General Secretary of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Rita Mosindi appealed for the introduction of anti-doping lectures for the young athletes.
“ I want to appeal for the introduction of anti-doping lectures for the kids to educate them on the side effects of taking dope substances.
“These are raw talents that we can manage and nurture them to stardom.
“My advice is to do seminars concerning this just as we have started doing as a federation to reduce doping cases in Nigeria.”
Founder and CEO of Making of Champions (MoC), Bambo Akanni, who is the brain behind the MTN Champs revealed that 10 young athletes from the championship will get special scholarship in the USA and Jamaica.
“MTN Champs involving Secondary School Championship is to discover future Olympians for the country, building youth to excel in sports and academics. This is in line with MTN history of supporting local athletes for global aspirations.
Sports
NBPL Final Four: Winning Tournament Excites Rivers Hoopers Player
Rivers Hoopers of Port Harcourt player Effiong Abel has expressed joy for winning the just concluded Nigeria Basketball Premier (NBPL) League Final Four in Port Harcourt.
According to him, the game was not an easy one, adding that they were going through a hard training before the competition.
Effiong disclosed his excitement last Saturday in an exclusive interview with Tidesports shortly after Rivers Hoopers defeated Nigeria Customs basketball team 77-57 in the final game of the four of the NBPL in Port Harcourt.
He stated that it was a team work that saw them through, adding that he was very happy winning the tournament in the front of his fans.
“ I feel very excited today for winning the Nigeria Basketball Premier League Final Four in Port Harcourt.
“ It was not an easy one because of the type of training we were undergoing to ensure we get victory in the tournament.
“I give kudos to my teammates and the coaching crew, they were awesome.
“ Also kudos to the fans, they came out in numbers to support us” Effiong said.
Effiong personally took charge at some point of the game delivering three pointers which eventually created a lee way for a sumptuous finale.
By: Kiadum Edookor
Sports
MOC Makes Appeal Over Age Cheats
Organisers of the ongoing school athletics competition, MTN Champs, Making of Champions (MoC), have appealed to all athletes who have participated in the three legs of the championship, as well as their schools, parents, coaches and everyone connected to them to support the body in its efforts to eradicate the systemic age cheating in Nigeria’s athletics by committing to use their real ages at the Abuja grand final and in future.
“MTN has provided a historic opportunity for Nigeria to finally tackle the pressures that our athletes have long faced to cut their ages,” MoC said in a statement made available to news men.
“Never in our nation’s history has there been a nationwide series of championships that has provided three age groups cutting across ages 11 to 19, to give everyone possible opportunity to compete fairly in their own age groups, and we have even relaxed the junior age group from U-20 to U-23.
The grand finale will hold in Abuja from December 1 to 3.
The MoC statement added: “Despite the fact that appropriate age groups have been provided for everyone, we have seen widespread age discrepancies across all three age categories – Cadet (U-14) and Youth (U-17) categories, which are strictly for secondary schools only and juniors (U-20), which is open to all other teenagers.
“For example, we have seen a systematic pattern of an unusually high number of SS2 and SS3 students claiming to be 13 and 14 years old respectively. We have seen athletes who were 14 in 2021 claiming to still be 14 now, 18-year-olds who have finished secondary school already claiming to be 13 so that they can run against the cadets, and we have seen many athletes competing for schools they are not part of and in the wrong age categories as well.
“One of such schools, which was biggest offender in this area, is currently in the process of being disqualified, which will be announced shortly.”
-
Niger Delta4 days ago
UNICAL Alumni President Lauds VC’s Development Strides
-
News2 days ago
80% Surge In Food Importation Alarming – FG
-
Focus1 day ago
Rivers State: Governance, Economy and the People
-
Featured4 days ago
Tinubu Presents 2024 Budget To National Assembly, Today …As NEC Okays $1bn Loan
-
Business4 days ago
Firm Urges FG To Attract Foreign Investment
-
News2 days ago
UNIBADAN Lecturer Wins Best Thesis Dollar Prize
-
Rivers4 days ago
NIMECHE Tasks Govt On Science, Technology Education
-
Politics4 days ago
NASS To Receive Tinubu’s 2024 Appropriation Bill, Today