Sports
LMC Chairman Commends MFM FC Fans
The Chairman, League Management Company (LMC), Shehu Dikko, on Friday praised the fans of the Lagos-based MFM FC for the spirit of sportsmanship they exhibited when their club was defeated by the visiting Remo Stars.
Tidesports source reports that the opening match of Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) between home-based MFM FC and Remo Stars ended 2-0 in favour of the visiting Sky Blue Stars.
The match played at the newly refurbished Mobolaji Johnson Arena, formerly Onikan Stadium, saw both teams playing a high intensity and entertaining match.
Both goals of the match were scored in the second half of the game.
Qudus Akanni scored the first goal in the 55th minute after capitalising on a defensive error while Andy Okpe put the icing on the cake for the visitors in added time.
He tapped in a loose ball from the corner after the MFM FC’s defenders failed to clear their lines.
Although the opening fixtures did not go the way of the MFM FC fans, they kept their cool in the face of the boisterous Remo Stars fans who trooped to the stadium to cheer their club.
Commenting on the fair play on the part of the Olukoya Boys fans, Dikko, who was a special guest, said that such spirit was what the league needed to sustain the competition.
“The fans should continue with what they want to do for their teams, we want to see them supporting their clubs in the right way.
“Others should emulate the fans of MFM FC, they lost their game at home, but they still kept their cool, no violence or crowd troubles.
“This is how football should be played, anybody who claims to love NPFL and want it sustained should allow the spirit of sportsmanship to prevail,” he said.
Dikko, the 2nd Vice Chairman of Nigeria Football Federation, also disclosed that the league would have started earlier but was delayed to enable more sponsors to come on board.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.