Sports
Commissioner Assures Rivers Angels Of Good Welfare Package
The Rivers State Commissioner of Sports, Hon Christopher Green, has assured players of Rivers Angels Football Club of better and improved welfare package under his administration.
Hon Green made this known when he paid a visit to the team at their camp in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
He urged them to ensure that they gave their best in the upcoming Nigeria Women Football League Premiership season as that would spur him to fulfil his promises to the team.
“I am here to assure you all that starting from today, you will see improvements in your welfare, but for this to happen, you have to work harder than you have been doing. The team Rivers Angels is a brand on its own and should always be at the top and not the bottom.
“It is the break of a new dawn and things will be done differently going forward. You failed to win the NWFL title last season but this coming season, you are going to win it and go back to represent the country.
“I also wish to commend my predecessor, Honorable Boma Iyaye, he did well in handling the affairs of the Ministry because it is not an easy job to start with,” said Green.
The Commissioner also tasked the team’s head coach, Edwin Okon, to go into the transfer market and get the best players he can get ahead of the 2022/2023 NWFL Premiership season.
“Get me the best in the country; I have given you everything you need so you have to go out there to get the best that we can have. I do not like to lose so you must give me your all,” he continued.
“If our rivals are paying 10,000 to a player, I will pay 20,000. I want you to get good results this season because I do not like losing. Rivers Angels is not a dumping ground for players that are not good enough. We only go for the best in the country.
“Before now, we were known as the best female team, I want that to continue in my administration. This team will continue to be the best and also produce the best players in Africa.
“My firm promise to you all today is that I will provide all your needs through the Executive Governor of the State. The same budget used for the boys will be applied to the girls. Yours is to get the result,” added Green.
In her reaction, Rivers Angels General Manager, Matilda Otuene-Onyiloha assured the Commissioner that her crew will start work immediately to ensure that the best legs are recruited for the team.
“You can see that smiles are beginning to come back to the faces of the girls, so I want to assure you that as you have given us your mandate, myself and the technical crew will go straight to work immediately and before next week, we will get the best of the legs in camp,” said Matilda
The 2022/2023 Nigeria Women Football League Premiership season is expected to commence on September 14 with Rivers Angels’ first game against reigning champions, Bayelsa Queens, in Yenagoa.
Isaako All Stars FC of Opuoko and Khana Khana AllStars Football all in Local Government Area of Rivers State will tomorrow engage in a friendly football match at Opuoko Mini Stadium.
Chatting with Tidesports in a telephone interview yesterday the Chairman of Khana All Stars Saro Tap-le said that the encounter is not going to be an easy game in spite it is an AllStars game.
He express his side readiness for the encounter stating that the opportunity as come for them to showcase their talents.
However, the chairman explained that AllStars game is not about winning but the excitement, love, unity and friendship it creates is more important.
” Tomorrow game is not going to be an easy one despite is a AllStars game. We are going there in a full force to do what we know how to do best and to showcase our talents.
“As Chairman of Khana All Stars I believes we have an edge over the Isaako All Stars be we are training so hard for the encounter” Tap-le said.
Also speaking the Chairman of Isaako All Stars Mina Zaasi Iloori sees the match as an opportunity to build relationships.
” My brother it is an AllStars friendly game I think winning is not important but the paramount thing is the relationship we are going to create among both teams and my community at large
” We are training hard because of the encounter because I will not be in my house and somebody will rob soap in my eyes.
” As I speak with you we are just coming from back training ground to ensure all my players are fit for the match.
” I am using this medium to call on football fans to come en mass to Opuoko Mini Stadium tomorrow and enjoy the best of round leather game.
I promise the game will be an exciting display of football talents and sportsmanship”, Iloori said.
Kiadum Edookor
Thierry Henry has called for the return of the away goals rule in the aftermath of the bombastic Champions League semi-final between Inter Milan and Barcelona.
The visitors at the Estadio Olimpic Lluis Companys came within milimeters of clinching the first leg of the final-four clash after former Arsenal star Henrikh Mkhitaryan netted late in the second-half.
But the linesman was quick to raise his flag, and semi-automated offside ruled out what would have been a thrilling conclusion to the high-octane 3-3 draw.
The hosts came from behind twice to share the spoils, chasing Inter Milan from the first minute of the game after Marcus Thuram stunned the Barcelona faithful into silence with his neatly flicked goal.
Denzel Dumfries doubled Inter’s lead 20 minutes later, but it took just three more for the Blaugrana to finally get on the scoresheet courtesy of a moment of magic from teenage starlet Lamine Yamal.
Ferran Torres drew Barcelona level ahead of the break, but Lamal was forced to play catch-up again in the second-half after Dumfries scored his second.
In light of the impressive effort from Inter, Henry wondered if the team should have got more from the fixture ahead of the second-leg at the San Siro.
‘I know it’s been like that for a very time, and we have to accept it,’ Henry said of the removal of the away goals rule, ‘But off air I was talking to Jamie (Carragher), and I was like, “how can you score three goals away from home and you don’t have an advantage?”
‘Away goals for me were massive, you score three goals away and you still don’t have an advantage 0-0 at home,’ Henry shrugged.
UEFA took the decision to scrap the rule which gave goals scored away from home the ability to act as a tiebreaker in the case of level scorelines ahead of the 2021-22 season.
Current FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsene Wenger claimed during his time as Arsenal manager in 2015 that the away goals rule ‘encouraged the team at home not to attack’ and that ‘the weight of the away goal (was) too big today’.
Without the rules, the tie at San Siro will go to extra time and penalties to decide which teams books their spot in the Champions League final.
But based on Wednesday evening’s performance, Henry seemed to give Inter a fighting chance against the newly minted Copa del Rey champions.
The 2025 London Marathon set a new world record for the number of finishers despite hot conditions on Sunday for its 45th edition.
A total of 56,640 runners crossed the finish line at the end of the 26.2-mile route, Guinness World Records has confirmed.
The number surpassed the previous record of 55,646 set by the New York Marathon in November.
Hugh Brasher, chief executive of London Marathon Events, said he hoped the high number of finishers inspired people to apply for the 2026 race ballot.
“The London Marathon was already the most popular in terms of ballot entries, with 840,318 people applying for the 2025 race,” he said.
“It is also the world’s largest annual one-day fundraising event with more than £1.3bn raised for charity since 1981.”
The number of people applying for the ballot to enter this year’s race broke the world record of 578,304 for the 2024 edition.
Of UK applicants 49% were female, while there was a 105% increase in applications from people aged between 20-29.
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa surged to victory in the elite women’s race in a world record for a women’s only field, while Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe triumphed in the men’s event.