Sports
NSF In Search Of More Glamour
The 17th National Sports Festival, christened the “Garden City Games”, has no doubt, raised the stakes in the hosting and organisation of the fiesta.
The innovative creations, the prize money, the colourful opening and closing ceremonies were very unique aspects of the festival that have had very little precedent in the fiesta’s history.
At the close of the games, the host, Rivers State, came first with 135 gold, 79 silver and 85 bronze medals, while the defending champion, Delta came second with 82 gold, 89 silver and 81 bronze medals. Edo placed third with 46 gold, 41 silver and 43 bronze medals.
No doubt, Rivers State entered the record book as one of the few states which have hosted the games twice, its first being in 1988.
Demonstrably, Rivers State had yearned for the opportunity to host the games again and when it came, it was with unrivalled zest and showmanship that it hosted the games.
Against this backdrop, it is understandable why the glamour that attended the 17th national fiesta has elicited from Nigerians, a clamour to rebrand the sports festival, with a view to making it a money-spinning ground for athletes and the nation.
President Goodluck Jonathan may have himself set the pace of such advocacy, when, during the opening ceremony, he announced cash prizes for the winners of the newly introduced trophies at the fiesta, in honour of Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Chief Jerry Enyeazu and NojeemMayegun.
Sports analysts recall that it was Gowon, as the nation’s military head of state, who introduced the games in 1973, partly to enhance national unity in a nation that had just gone through a civil war, as well as enhance the physical wellbeing of the nation’s youth.
Enyeazu on his part was the first director of sports to organise the national sports festival, while Mayegun was the first Nigerian to win an Olympic medal.
The trophies were donated by the Plateau, Abia and Lagos State governments.
As the curtain closed on the 17th edition of the games, Rivers state won the N20 million prize money and the “Gowon trophy” that goes with the first place position, while Delta carted home N15 million and the “Enyeazu trophy” for the second placement. Edo won the “Maiyegun trophy” to go home with the third prize money of N10million.
Sports analysts predict that greater awards may well be available in the future, especially as President Jonathan pledged that the prize monies would be reviewed upwards to make the games more competitive.
Invariably, the federal government’s gesture has opened up calls for the general rebranding of the games.
Such calls have been diverse and varied, though they seemed to tally with trends in the world’s major games such as the All-African Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympic Games.
Mr Patrick Ukah, the President of Nigerian Hockey Federation and a marketing consultant, said that it was obvious that the “Garden City Games” had raised the bar for the nation’s sports fiesta hosting.
“I want a situation where other games will be made attractive for participating states and athletes. Corporate bodies and organisations could come in and sponsor the trophies donated for the various sports.
“If for instance, the winner of the Gowon trophy is given N500 million, the Enyeazu trophy – N300 million and Mayegun trophy – N25 0million; such will go a long way towards getting the best out of our athletes.
“In addition, it is also possible for states to get sponsorship from corporate bodies for the games,’’ he said.
With the benefit of hindsight, Ukah said that the sponsorship of the Garden City Games by some companies was good but believed that more could still be done.
Retired Brig-Gen Emmanuel Okaro, a sports administrator and Chairman of the Games Services Committee, shared similar viewpoints with Ukah and stressed that the nation’s athletes would be the major beneficiaries of the re-branding.
“Just as it is being done in major games like the All-African Games, Commonwealth and Olympic games, we stand to benefit more if the National Sports Festival is given enough sponsorship.
“Take for instance, the opening and closing ceremonies of the Garden City Games; it was a spectacular scene like we normally see in other countries of the world.
“With this kind of show, glamour was obviously added to the games and if more money is added to the trophies, our athletes will strive to do better at the games,’’ he said.
Chief AdokiyeAmiesimaka, former Green Eagles winger, also shared same sentiments with Ukah and Okaro, and stressed that the games deserved more glamour and greater competitiveness.
“Apart from acting as an avenue for our youths to meet and for new talents to be discovered, the festival will get more value with good sponsorship. I believe that our sportsmen and women will get busier preparing to compete in every festival’’ he said.
Amiesimaka, after whom the magnificent complex for the games was named, advised that conscious efforts should be made to improve on the value and status of future games, especially as the Rivers State government had raised the bar very high.
As the nation prepares for the next edition of the games in Lagos, sports enthusiasts, athletes and officials are optimistic that greater heights will be attained at the games, in terms of competitiveness, financial benefits to athletes, as well as national prestige.
Mbonye writes from the News Agencye of Nigeria.
Mike Mbonye
The third edition of Naphtail Chess Open Championship which ended on Wednesday in Port Harcourt saw Rivers State born Queen Dan-Jumbo emerged best female player in the tournament following her impressive performance.
It was clash of the Titans as top Chess players in Nigeria gathered to chase honours.
The three days competition was held at Vee Hotel, Trans Amadi ,in Port Harcourt and over 80 players in Nigeria registered for the tournament this championship was recognised by International Chess Federation (FIDE).
Speaking with Tidesports in an exclusive interview on Saturday, Dan-Jumbo said her dream was to become Grand Master in Chess worldwide.
According to her, she started playing Chess at the age of 15 but went into it professionally in 2009 as she represented Rivers State in National Sports Festival (NSF) in Kaduna, the same year.
“I started playing Chess in the early 2000s. I picked the interest through my my elder brother as him and his friends always play Chess in our compound so I began to learn it.
” In 2009 I went to National Sports festival in Kaduna represented Rivers State and I won a silver medal on my board.
“In 2011 and 2012 NSFs I won two Gold medals each hosted by Rivers and Lagos States respectively. While in Edo NSF I won bronze medal” Dan-Jumbo said.
The Asari-Toru, in Rivers State born Chess player use the forum to advice upcoming Chess players to be focus, saying losing a game is part of every competition but the most important thing was that you don’t lose hope.
“My advice for upcoming chess players was that don’t lose focus. Even when you lose, find a way to adjust and get back out”, she added.
Tonye Orabere
Former Super Eagles Coach, Samson Siasia says the Nigeria Football Federation supported FIFA to have him banned for alleged involvement in match-fixing in August 2019.
In a recent interview with Athlist, the 56-year-old, whose ban ends in a few months, said the NFF not only refused to support him but also carried out FIFA’s instruction not to let him know he was under investigation by the world football body.
“Nigeria abandoned me at that time of need; that’s my own take on how this thing played out,” the former Eagles striker and member of the 1994 AFCON-winning squad, said.
“It’s an allegation; they said bribery. What is bribery? Is it not when money changes hands? Was there any proof of that? There were none.
“I spoke with someone who was trying to hire me as a coach in Australia. I didn’t know the guy was a match-fixer, but FIFA knew this guy. Why would they allow him to be around any FIFA tournament?
“So, when they found out through emails, our correspondence about how this guy would take me to Australia, I played in Australia, so I felt it would be nice to go back there.
“We talked about how much salaries, transfers, bonuses, and sign-on fees were, and that was all.
“When FIFA was looking for me, I didn’t even know. I am not affiliated with FIFA; their affiliation is with the NFF. So, they went to the NFF and told them not to let me know that they were investigating me. But if they didn’t tell me, how was I supposed to defend my self Siasia added, “Then they sent me a letter, but it went to my spam. It was two days before the ban that I found out that FIFA was looking for me.
Siasia added, “Then they sent me a letter, but it went to my spam. It was two days before the ban that I found out that FIFA was looking for me.
“Then we started to see how we could communicate with them to see how I could have a hearing. But they said the time had elapsed and I should go to the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport).
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will launch an independent review after 23 Chinese swimmers were cleared to compete at the Tokyo Olympics despite testing positive for a banned substance.
WADA has said it was not in a position to disprove an assertion from the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) that contamination was the source of the heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) for which the swimmers tested positive.
Findings of the independent investigation, led by Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier, are expected to be delivered within two months.
“WADA’s integrity and reputation is under attack,” said Wada president Witold Banka.
“WADA has been unfairly accused of bias in favour of China by not appealing the CHINADA case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“We continue to reject the false accusations and we are pleased to be able to put these questions into the hands of an experienced, respected and independent prosecutor.”
United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) Chief Executive Travis Tygart said WADA and CHINADA had swept these positives under the carpet, claims WADA described as completely false and defamatory while adding that it had referred the comments to its lawyers.
Aquatics GB said it was extremely concerned by the allegations, which it said threatened “potential loss of trust and reputational damage to sport”.
WADA was notified of CHINADA’s decision in June 2021, ahead of the delayed Games, and said it had no evidence to challenge China’s findings and that external counsel had advised against appealing.
In addition to the independent investigation, WADA said it will send a compliance audit team to assess the state of China’s anti-doping programme and invite independent auditors “from the broader anti-doping community” to join the trip.
WADA director general Olivier Niggli said: “While not one shred of evidence has been presented to support any of the allegations made against WADA, we wish to deal with the matter as quickly and as comprehensively as possible so that the matter is appropriately handled in advance of the upcoming Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
Details of the positive tests were revealed by the New York Times, which shared reporting with German broadcaster ARD.
China won six swimming medals at the Tokyo Olympics, including three golds.
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