Sports

No Going Back On Foreign Coach – NFA

Published

14 years ago

February 15, 2013

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said yesterday in Abuja that there was no going back on its plan to hire a foreign technical director for the national teams.

Mr Emaka Inyama, a board member and Chairman of NFA Media and Publicity Committee, said there had not been any rebuttal to the arrangement since Musa Amadu, the General Secretary of the NFA, disclosed the plan in 2012.

Inyama, who was fielding questions from journalists at news conference, said that the idea was to have a template for football development in the country.

“There has not been any rebuttal since the general secretary said so; so, we are going ahead with the plan.

“What we have always said is that there is a need for us to develop a structure and a template for football development in this country.

“That is the beauty of a technical director. He doesn’t coach the teams but he will be able to say this is the mode of scouting, equipment and so on.

“Every federation in the world has it; even at club level, they do it (employ technical director) and I don’t think there is anything wrong with it,’’ Inyama said.

The NFA board member, who is also the chairman of the Nigerian National League (NNL), said there was no need for the hues and cries by Nigerians on the matter, as it would not interfere with the job of any coach.

On Keshi’s resignation saga, Inyama explained that his job as the Super Eagles’ Head Coach was intact.

“The programme we gave to you was submitted by Keshi, if we have plans to do away with him, we will not ask him to submit his programme for 2014 and the World Cup.

“If Keshi was to go, will you pay him ahead to motivate him without holding back?

“If there are issues, can’t they be resolved. Should they be a national issue after we won the trophy?

According to him, the NFA should be commended for the feat achieved by the Super Eagles’ rather than being criticised.

Inyama, however, advised Nigerians to criticise the board constructively, adding that the Eagles’ excelled in South Africa because of the enabling environment provided by the NFF for it to succeed.

Keshi has expressed concern over the plan by the NFA to hire a foreign technical director for the national team.

There are also fears that the foreigner can usurp the job of the coach.

Sports

Veteran Sportsman Calls For Civic Center Reconstruction

Published

1 hour ago

September 21, 2026

The Tide

The president of the Life Youth Sports Development Initiative (LYSDI) in Nigeria,

Odikibo Solomon Odikibo has called on the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, through the Ministry of Sports to reconstruct the Alfred Diete Spiff Sports Complex (Civic Center) with the view to providing track and field facilities.

He stated the state has abundant talents in track and field events but limited facilities to train with to improve themselves.

Odikibo, who won several medals in long jump and high jump for the state, made this call in an exclusive interview with Tidesports shortly after conducting a training session with young athletes under his tutelage, at the weekend in Port Harcourt.

According to him, with what is going on with track and field events in the state, the disciplines could soon go extinct, especially,as track and field athletes are currently growing old without adequate replacement in sight to replace themand it appears that relevant authorities do not care to discover and groom athletes.

” I am passionately appealing to the state government to reconstruct the Civic Center to accommodate track and field facilities as it was before.

“Young athletes are eager to do sports but have no facilities to train with. We all know that without training facilities, no athlete will improve, so there’s a need to bring the Civic Center back to her original state, Odikibo said.

He explained that the organization is a grassroots sports initiative designed to discover young athletes from secondary schools, and that it was established out of passion to discover hidden talents from secondary schools. “It is self-sponsored with the intention to catch them young.

“In my days of active sports, there were lots of secondary school sports competitions and tournaments; it was there they used to discover athletes. It was from school sports that I was also discovered. I did high jump, long jump, and hurdle” he stated.

Tonye Orabere

Sports

Shooting stars edge CS Sfaxien 1-0 in CAF confederation cup

Published

2 weeks ago

September 7, 2026

The Tide

Shooting Stars of Ibadan secured a 1-0 victory over Tunisian side CS Sfaxien in their CAF Confederation Cup encounter at the MKO Abiola Sports Arena, Abeokuta, on Saturday.

Lucky Emmanuel scored the decisive goal in the 25th minute to give the Nigerian side a deserved lead before the break.

CS Sfaxien came out strongly in the second half, piling pressure on Shooting Stars in search of an equaliser, but the goal keeper was too good to let in any goal.

The Shooting Stars defence remained resolute, frustrating the Tunisian side and preventing them from finding a way through.

Shooting Stars had opportunities to extend their lead towards the end of the match but failed to convert the chances.

The victory gave Shooting Stars an important advantage ahead of the second leg of their CAF Confederation Cup campaign this weekend.

Sports

African V’Ball: Amaka Paul Emerges 4th Best Scorer

Published

2 weeks ago

September 7, 2026

The Tide

Nigeria volleyball player Christiana Amaka Paul has finished as the fourth-best scorer at the just concluded 2026 African Senior Women’s Volleyball Nations Championship in Kenya on Friday.

Amaka scored 94 points, including 76 successful attacks, to rank fourth among the tournament’s top scorers as Nigeria finished in ninth place at the tournament.

The Nigerian Opposite Hitter expressed her appreciation to the coaching crew led by Head coach Elishama Elam and her teammates for their support throughout the competition.

She said the encouragement and guidance from the coaching staff and her teammates played an important role in her performance at the championship.

Amaka said: “I want to sincerely thank our coach, Elishama Elam, and the entire coaching crew for their support, guidance and belief in us throughout the tournament.

“I also appreciate my teammates and everyone who supported us. Their encouragement gave me the confidence to keep fighting and giving my best for Nigeria. I will not forget to appreciate the Kenyans for their love and support too.

“This statistics will encourage me to give my best and improve in my performance when we return to Nigeria for the second phase of the 2026 CGC Volleyball Premier League.”

Nigeria captain Ijeoma Ukpabi also finished among the tournament’s top scorers, ranking eighth with 86 points and 75 successful attacks.

Meanwhile, Maryam Ibrahim completed Nigeria’s representation in the top 10, finishing as the 10th-best scorer with 74 points, including 68 successful attacks.