Sports
Burundi Set To Face Nigeria In Women’s AFCON
Head Coach of Burundi’s senior women’s team, Gustave Niyonkuru, has said that his team will be ready to face giants Nigeria when the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations takes place in Morocco in July 2022.
Niyonkuru made this assertion following the draws held in Morocco on Friday.
The draw was conducted by the CAF Director of Competitions, Samson Adamu and assisted by Moroccan Nawal El Moutawakel and Cameroonian Ajara Njoya.
The competition, which is billed to hold from July 2 to 23, will serve as a qualification for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in July of 2023.
The Super Falcons were paired in the same group with rivals South Africa, Burundi, and Botswana.
Burundi will be making their first appearance in the tournament and Niyonkuru said they would ensure they trained hard and be ready for the tournament when it begins.
“Facing Nigeria who has won 11 titles will be a good experience for my players,”
“We are going to prepare well for the tournament.”
The 2022 edition of the competition sees the tournament expand from eight to 12 teams and the Burundi’s former U-20 men’s national team coach added that it was a great honour to be among the 12 nations that will be participating at the tournament.
“First, it is an honour to be among the countries that will participate in the tournament. I know that for us this is the first time, but we shall try our best to perform well,” he added.
Niyonkuru also made it clear that preparations are in top gear, and hopes to play some international friendly matches before heading to Morocco.
“We have the CECAFA Senior Women’s Championship in Uganda next month which will also help us prepare well and the players to get good match practice,” he added.
Nigeria begins her title defence against Botswana in their first game of the competition before squaring up against Burundi while their final group game will be against South Africa.
Nigerian Afrobeats star Ayodeji Balogun, popularly known as Wizkid, has expressed his satisfaction with the Super Eagles’ preparation ahead of their 2026 World Cup qualifier against Rwanda in Kigali.
The team, now under the leadership of newly appointed head coach Eric Chelle, held its first training session on Tuesday afternoon.
Reacting to the new squad, Wizkid took to his X handle on Wednesday, writing, “New Super Eagles team! (I) love the energy,” he wrote.
The crucial qualifier is set to take place at the Amahoro Stadium in Rwanda on Friday, March 21, with kickoff scheduled for 5 pm Nigerian time.
Following the match, Nigeria will return home to face Zimbabwe in Uyo on Tuesday.
The Super Eagles must secure maximum points from both fixtures to strengthen their chances of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Nigeria’s current squad features several in-form players, including Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen, Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman, Genk’s Tolu Arokodare and Fulham’s Calvin Bassey.
The match against Rwanda will be Chelle’s first game in charge of the three-time African champions, who are desperate for a positive result to keep their World Cup qualification hopes alive.
The Super Eagles last played at the Amahoro Stadium in September 2024, where they were held to a goalless draw by Rwanda.
The Nationwide League One (NLO) has mandated the clubs that make up the Division One and U19 Youth League to complete their players’ facial verification process.
The Secretariat of the nation’s third-tier league regulatory body via its media department gave reasons on the essence of exercise as the March 30th players’ registration deadline draws near.
According to the NLO, clubs must complete facial verification for each player during registration to prevent duplicate registrations.
As regards players that have already been registered, the NLO explained that if a player fails verification (already registered with another club), the holding club must release the player. The NLO Admin will confirm the release and allow the verification of such a player for the new club.
The NLO stressed the importance of the release documentation and Registration Window Closure.
Releasing clubs must upload the player’s release document. This document will be reviewed and verified by the NLO Admin.
After the registration window closes, clubs cannot sign new players.
With the introduction of the new facial recognition technology, all clubs must register both their existing and new players.
These updates ensure a fair and transparent registration system. For assistance, clubs should contact NLO support.
Nigeria table tennis star, Quadri Aruna, will contest in the maiden WTT Contender Chennai in India after he was picked as a replacement for German star, Dimitrij Ovtcharov.
The WTT Contender Chennai is the fifth WTT event of the year and marks the first staging of the series in the City.
The event which has a prize purse of $270,000 will be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai, India from March 25 to 30.
Aruna and nine other players have been confirmed for the men’s singles including his African rival, Egypt’s Omar Assar.3.
Other players confirmed so far include Denmark’s Jonathan Groth (17), Hugo Calderano of Brazil (6) and world number four Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan.
The 36-year-old has played in two WTT events this year.
In January, he made it as far as the semi-finals in the WTT Star Contender in Doha where he lost in straight sets to Japanese sensation Tomokazu Harimoto.
Last Wednesday, the world number 19 crashed out of the WTT Champions Chongqing 2025 after suffering a comprehensive 3-0 defeat to world number two Wang Chuqin of China in their round of 32 clash.
Aruna will hope to put up a more commanding show in India, as he has been tipped to shine by the world body.
“Stay tuned. There’s more to come from Quadri Aruna in India,” WTT captioned Aruna’s video on Monday after announcing his participation.
WTT Executive Director of Events Mounir Bessah also said the competition is a bold step forward as they expect Aruna and other players to deliver a memorable spectacle.
“Chennai’s inclusion in the WTT Series calendar underscores our mission to expand the reach of table tennis globally while honouring the sport’s passionate fanbase in India. With a venue like the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium and the support of Tamil Nadu’s government, we are ready to deliver an unforgettable spectacle for players and fans.”
