Sports
Era Of Poor Officiating In Nigerian Leagues Is Over – Irabor
The newly appointed Chairman of the Referees Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Faith Irabor, has promised to do her best to ensure that more Nigerian referees distinguish themselves to earn the ticket to officiate at international level.
Over the years, the issue of poor officiating had been the talking point both in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) and the lower divisions. Such ‘corrupt’ practices had denied Nigerian referees chances of officiating in competitions organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and World football governing body, FIFA.
To change the situation for good, NFF President, Ibrahim Gusau, decided to name Irabor, a retired referee as head of the Referee Committee. She is the first Nigerian woman to occupy the position.
Speaking with Tidesports source on Monday, Irabor, who retired in 2010 after many years of running around in the football pitch with male and female players, said that she would do everything possible to make her appointment a blessing for the nation’s football.
“I am excited about this unique opportunity that will enable me to bring my wealth of experience and knowledge to bear,” she said. “I am grateful to the NFF President, who is trying to bring in changes that will move our football forward. I have been in the field of refereeing for years. As a retired FIFA referee and a one-time CAF instructor, I have seen it all. One thing I will do is to try as much as possible to encourage those who will take their job serious. It won’t be business as usual, and I won’t tolerate anything that will damage the image of our football.
“As I said, those who are disciplined on the field will get my support because this present NFF board is ready to back our referees to the highest level. It is only those who proved themselves as good ambassadors inside the pitch that will merit such opportunity,” she stated.
Speaking further, Irabor recalls some of her memorable journey as a referee. “As a woman, I won’t forget the day FIFA picked me among referees for the first time. That was in 1995. And I was also among the first eight CAF instructors.
“And in the Nigeria Referees Association, I am also the first woman to be first vice president. I have been in the league with men, and was once the best Referee of the Year. I will do this job and bring a lot of reforms in appreciation of the confidence reposed in me by the NFF President. He wants to follow FIFA and CAF regulations, and we can see that everything is moving in the right direction. I won’t let Nigerians down.”
Sports
Nigeria Cricket Federation Re-Elects Akpata President

Akpata emerged unopposed during the federation’s annual general meeting and board elections, which ended in Abuja on Saturday.
The election was decided by 37 delegates, with 12 other board members also emerging, to steer the affairs of the federation for the next four years.
Former Kwara State stalwart, Wale Obalola, emerged as the vice president at the election.
Representative of the South-West on the NCF board, Tayo Atoloye, also returned for another term, while team manager of the Junior Female Yellow Greens, Femi John, was elected as the representative of the South-South on the board.
Other zonal representatives are Chika Okoro (South-East), Ladan Usman (North-West), Dare Aimola (North-Central), and Zainab Adamu (North-East).
Former captain of the men’s national team, Endurance Ofem, secured 30 of the 37 votes to beat another ex-player, Chimezie Onwuzulike, for the players’ representative seat.
Olumide Akinkokun emerged as the technical representative, Prof Mariam Suleiman will represent the National Association of Women in Sports, Chuma Anosike as the sponsors’ representative, while the military and paramilitary will be represented on the board by Major Monica Wabulla.
The president, Akpata, was first elected in 2021 and has driven the growth of Nigerian cricket in the last four years.
Part of his notable achievements include the heavy investment in infrastructure and high-performance, national grassroots development programmes, as well as the introduction of professional contracts for Nigerian players.
Earlier this year, the women’s U-19 team finished sixth at the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in Malaysia, after the senior team had won a historic bronze medal at the last edition of the African Games in Ghana in 2024.
Nigeria has also bagged several International Cricket Council awards in recognition of the country’s strides towards growing the game, especially for women.
Sports
Nathaniel hopes to inspire young Nigerians after feat

The 22-year-old ran a scorching 47.11 seconds in Friday’s final, smashing his previous national record of 47.31 seconds set earlier this year and becoming only the second Nigerian since Henry Amike in 1987 to reach the 400m hurdles final at the World Championships.
“I hope this performance will inspire young Nigerian athletes,” Nathaniel said after the dramatic final
“This is a great opportunity to learn from the world’s best athletes.”
The race saw American Rai Benjamin storm to victory in 46.52 seconds to finally clinch his first world championship gold medal after two silvers and a bronze, but not without drama.
Benjamin was initially disqualified for crashing into the final hurdle and affecting other athletes, briefly elevating Nathaniel to bronze position. However, the American’s appeal was quickly upheld and he was restored to the top of the timesheet.
Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos claimed silver in 46.84 seconds, while Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba took bronze in 47.06 seconds, leaving Nathaniel agonisingly close to Nigeria’s second medal of the championships.
Despite the near-miss, Nathaniel remained philosophical about the disqualification reversal.
It’s a fair call,” the Nigerian said.
“He put in a lot of work to get that medal and if they are trying to rip off from that, I don’t think that’s fair. He didn’t deliberately knock over the hurdle, that could happen to anyone.”
The former 800m runner, who competes for Baylor University in Texas, expressed satisfaction with his performance and hinted at greater things to come saying, “I still have a lot of potential. I am pleased because I did my best and I ran a personal record. I have it in me and just need to wait for the right time. For now, I am enjoying the process.”
Nathaniel’s rapid rise in the event has been remarkable. Born in 2003, he broke a decades-old Nigerian record set by Henry Amike when he ran 48.42 seconds at the Big 12 Conference meet in 2022 as a freshman.
His progress accelerated dramatically this year. In June, he won the NCAA Outdoor Championships title in Eugene, Oregon, clocking 47.49 seconds – the third fastest time in NCAA history. He also became the first man in NCAA history to run a sub-48-second time in the 400m hurdles semifinal, recording 47.86 seconds.
The Tokyo performance adds another chapter to what has been an exceptional year for the young hurdler, who has now established himself among the world’s elite quarter-mile hurdlers.
While Nathaniel’s fourth-place finish matches Amike’s result from the 1987 World Championships in Rome, his national record performance signals a bright future for Nigerian athletics in the event.
Nigeria’s campaign in Tokyo concluded with Tobi Amusan as the country’s only medallist, though this still represented an improvement over the Budapest World Championships where Team Nigeria ended empty-handed.
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