Sports
Suffer Frustration In Abuja
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has apologised to players and officials of the women’s national side, the Super Falcons, after they suffered extensive airport delays on their return to the capital.
The nine-time African champions arrived at Abuja’s international airport in the early hours of yesterday from a qualifying game in Ivory Coast, where they sealed a spot at the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, only to end up being held for four hours.
Coach Randy Waldrum and Europe-based duo of Francisca Ordega and Rasheedat Ajibade voiced their frustrations after Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and airport officials prevented them from leaving because of issues with Covid-19 tests.
American Waldrum said the situation, which followed a two-hour flight, was “very frustrating”.
But the NFF has absolved itself of any blame, describing the incident as “unfortunate”.
“We had our protocol officers on ground at the airport and they did [what was necessary] before the team arrived,” NFF general secretary Mohammed Sanusi said in a statement.
“We are a responsible organisation and the various national teams have been going out and returning to Nigeria since these Covid-19 protocols, procedures and guidelines started. We have never been caught napping.
“We had no control over how things would be approached by the officials in charge at the airport each time. In this particular case, we fulfilled our part of the requirements.”
The Super Falcons are the continent’s most successful national side, with nine Nations Cup titles, and remain the only African team to have played at all eight Women’s World Cup finals since 1991.
The Falcons have won the past three continental titles, and will defend their crown in Morocco from 2-23 July.
However, the squad has had to stage public protests or voice their dissatisfaction in the media over poor treatments.
The team’s run at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France was marred by a sit-in protest at their hotel over unpaid bonuses and allowances following a last-16 defeat by Germany.
It was not the first time they had protested over unpaid bonuses. After winning the Nations Cup in 2016 the squad staged a public demonstration in Abuja, while in 2004, they sat for three days in their hotel after winning the African title until allowances were paid.
The NFF says this latest embarrassment is an isolated incident.
“Some other group of individuals arrived at the same time as the Super Falcons’ contingent and were bent on circumventing the process, and this compelled the health officials to adopt stern measures and even lock up some of their offices,” Sanusi added.
“It was beyond us, but we have already apologised to our players and officials over this incident.”
Nigeria’s best performance on the global stage came in the USA in 1999 when they reached the World Cup quarter-finals.
Local media, women’s football experts and some of the players believe they have failed to translate their continental dominance on the world stage because the NFF prioritise their male counterparts.
Sports
CAA Wants Ghana To Host 2026 Athletics Champions
The Confederation of African Athletics has invited Ghana to bid for the hosting rights of the 2026 African Athletics Championships, following a successful athletics event at the just concluded 2023 African Games.
President of Ghana Athletics, Bawa Fuseini, stated this and expressed confidence in the transformative potential of the Legon Stadium for athletes and Ghana’s bid to host international competitions.
With a capacity of 11,000, the Legon Stadium played a pivotal role in the recent African Games, hosting both the opening and closing ceremonies as well as various sporting events including athletics, football, and rugby.
Fuseini highlighted the success of the athletics events held at the stadium, which contributed to Ghana winning six medals.
“We have already started getting requests from the Confederation of African Athletics to bid for the 2026 African Athletics Championships.
“When they came and saw what we have put in place and the level of organisation, they told me that for the last 20 years, they’ve never seen any organisation like this before. We did three official courses. And the last one, we had 110, all of them passed. We had a lot of officials and equipment.”
Since its establishment in 1979, Ghana has never hosted the African Athletics Championships, with Nigeria being the host country twice, in 1989 and 2018.
This year, Cameroon will take the reins as the host nation, with the event set to be held at the Olembe Stadium.
Sports
‘I’m Not Under Pressure To Coach Eagles’
Finidi George, head coach of the Nigeria Premier Football Leagues side, Enyimba, has stated that he is not losing any sleep over getting the Super Eagles job on a permanent basis.
Early this month, the Nigeria Football Federation declared the position of the Super Eagles’ head coach vacant, following the exit of Portuguese Jose Peseiro, who led the side to a second-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup Nations in Ivory Coast in February.
In an advertisement on its website calling for applications with a March 13 deadline, the football governing body stated that the prospective Eagles coach “must have proven experience at the elite level of football.”
The former Ajax man, who also applied for the job, was appointed Eagles interim coach for the international window with the former winger picking a win and suffering a defeat.
In an interview with Tidesports source, the 52-year-old tactician said he was not desperate for the job permanently.
“I felt really good when I was told to take charge of the team. I have been with the team for almost two years, I know all the players, their strengths, and their weaknesses but I am only here to serve Nigeria the way I know how to do stuff.
“I will just take these two games and go back to my club. Whatever the decision is taken after, so be it. I’m not under pressure to say I must get the role permanently.”
Sports
‘Reasons Why Eagles Lost To Mali’
The friendly games against Ghana and Mali were to serve as an audition for George Finidi, who was in charge of the team on an interim basis, but the Eagles’ lacklustre display in those friendlies has called for his further evaluation.
Finidi kept faith with ex-coach Jose Peseiro’s defensive formation against Mali on the back of his first win (against Ghana) in charge of the team four days earlier.
But this time, his defence was punished following a combination of defensive errors and poor passes.
The Eagles struggled to play out of defence due to the high pressing of the Malians and it was no surprise that the first goal by Les Aigles was a direct result of their aggression.
Chidozie Awaziem, who started on the right of the back three alongside Kenneth Omeruo and Semi Ajayi, lacked composure and was pressured into making a pass across his box straight at Bilal Toure, who made no mistake in getting the ball past Stanley Nwabali. They missed the calming presence of injured William Troost-Ekong.
Vice captain, Kenneth Omeruo, was also culpable of misplaced passes and was beaten for pace when Kamory Doumbia ran past him to seal Mali’s first win in over four decades, firing his shot past a helpless Nwabali, who stood no chance.
Eagles wing backs, Bright Osayi-Samuel and Jamilu Collins also did not do enough to support the team in attack when they had the chance to.
Lack of creativity
Finidi paired Raphael Onyedika and Wilfred Ndidi in a double pivot in midfield. Both players are naturally anchor men and neither is a box-to-box midfielder.
They both do not possess the offensive capability to drive the team’s attack forward, which left the Eagles once again craving for a natural creative midfielder.
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