Sports
Mazembe Aims To Conquer Africa
It may be too early to start counting their chickens but Democratic Republic of Congo giants TP Mazembe look like a team that will yet again pose a threat in this year’s African Champions League.
The four-time African club champions have recruited one Ugandan, a Zambian, five Ghanaian and three Malian players as they aim to conquer the continent again this year.
The overhauling of the squad has seen new arrivals in almost every department, except the goalkeeping area that will still be anchored by Congolese international Muteba Kidiaba.
Ghanaian defenders Yaw Frimpong and Richard Boateng have taken up the space left by Congolese Pamphile Mihayo and Kasongo Ngandu who have been dispatched to the coaching bench of Mazembe’s sister club Don Bosco.
In the middle of the park, Congolese midfielder Guy Lusadisu retired and new recruits Malian Alou Bagayoko, Ghanaians Gladson Awoko and Daniel Adje Nii and Uganda Mike Mutyaba will compete for places.
The striking department has seen the arrival of Zambian Jonas Sakuwaha, Malians Diarra Boubacar and Ousmane Cisse and Salomon Asante from Ghana.
However, some of the new recruits have been loaned to Don Bosco.
“Defensively, TP now has more options”, club owner Moise Katumbi told Tidesports source.
“On the right and left flanks, Kasusula (jean) and Nkulukuta (Eric) are both over 30 years and the team needed some players who could play straight away hence the arrival of the Ghanaians.
“In the middle we needed
more variationa nd creativity, while up front we lacked height, so we have brought in new players to offer us aerial threat and physical stature”.
Katumbi believes that with the new recruits Mazembe can now effectivly rotate their squad to cope witht he demands of local and international fixtures.
It is a statement of intent that is already bearing fruit for a team that reached the semi-final stage of the competition last year.
Mazembe, who are based in the mineral-rich Katanga province, last weekend demolished Botswana side Mochudi Centre Chiefs 6-0 to qualify to the next round of the competition via a 7-0 age gregate victory.
“We are re-building the team”, added Katumbi.
“Building a team sometimes takes a long time but we hope we can get better and better.
“I am somebody who doesn’t get carried away easily with the result of a match.
We still have a lot of work to do”.
“The competition is good and we think we cna win the Chamions League this year”, says Zambian striker Given Singuluma.
Andre Mtine, a member of the TP scouting network, thinks the arrivl of the new players, especially the Ghanaians, will add a different dimension to the team.
he is particularly happy that this year Mazembe have a blend of both young and experienced players.
“The Ghanaians have very good temperament and are focused”, he says.
“The Pan-African nature of the is a big plus to the team because every player is competing for places regardless of where they come from.
“The non-Congolese players know they are being paid because they have a job to do while the Congolese understand there is competition if they are to be selected to play”.
Mazembe’s victory against Chiefs last weekend has booked them a glamour tie with South African side Orlando Pirates, who boasts the likes of UEFA Champions League winner Benni McCarthy.
But Mazembe, who in 2010 made history by becoming the first African side to reach the final of the World Club Championships, are not scared to face Pirates.
“Every president of a club, just like myself, is expecting their team to do better this year but we are determined to bring joy to Congo and Africa this year”, Katumbi said.
“Orlando Pirates is a good team and I have a lot of respect for them.
“Pirates are a very good side with a lot of players that have played in Europe but our team is also determined to show what local African players can do”.
The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria ( SWAN) Rivers State Chapter has set up five standing working committees on Tuesday, in its general congress.
At the playoff held at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, the team of Canice Abua, Michael Emmanuel, Daniel Adeleye, and Abubakar Yusuf was majestic as they restored Nigeria’s hope in a sport that once gave the country so much joy.
Speaking after the final game, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) President, Victor Ochei, said the Davis Cup feat is the stepping stone to better days in the sport, adding that the federation has set up programmes that will help the budding talents across the country play at the same level as their counterparts in other tennis-developed countries.
Ochei said: “The whole aim of having this new board is to lift the sport to the level we used to be. I tell you, tennis is taking a new shape in Nigeria. We are putting everything and anything to make that work happen.”
Ochei said that the NTF has looked at sponsorships and how to get the emerging players compete at the same level with their peers elsewhere, adding that the federation is working on organising local competitions and helping the players to compete in international championships.
“We believe that with what we are doing now, sponsors will come to us to organise new competitions. But beyond that, there’s a strategic growth development plan, a 10-year development plan, which the board is working on.
“The programme will ensure that we catch them young. This is because we believe that to create champions, we must start grooming them early. The champions you are seeing today were those groomed yesterday.”
“The process of building new champions will include building the coaches, the players, the infrastructure and sensitising the parents so that we can start catching them as young as age five to six.
“By the time that we groom them through 10 years of training, at age 15, 16, you will see fantastic professional players.”
To achieve the federation’s plans, Ochei admits that the NTF needs a lot of investment, adding that the board is working at realising the funds quietly and tenaciously.
The NTF president acknowledged the contributions of former international stars like Nduka Odizor and Sadiq Abdullahi to the bid to rejuvenate Nigerian tennis, adding that NTF is open to collaborating with former players who know what it takes to play at the highest level of the sport.
He said, “Nduka Odizor is around as one of our VIP personalities. He has been psyching up the boys in the battle with Uzbekistan. He will not enter the court to play, but his mere presence is enough motivation to the boys, who will want to be like him in the future.
“You see, the type of support the Odizors, the Imonities and the Abdullahis got in their time is no longer there, but we are revamping it with the support of our stakeholders in the Diaspora.
“It will appear to take us some time, but I can tell you that the Diaspora support is massive.”
In its bid to get good results in this year’s Commonwealth Games, the National Sports Commission (NSC) has disbursed N200 million as training grants to 26 athletes.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow, Scotland.
The NSC stated that the grants were disbursed through its Elite and Podium Board, noting that N200 million was allocated to select top-performing athletes.
The beneficiaries are both foreign-based and home-based, the NSC said, adding that it will cater for their training and preparation expenses.
According to the NSC, the recipients span several sports, including athletics, wrestling, weightlifting, and para-sports, in line with the Commission’s mandate to prioritise athletes’ welfare and high-performance development.
The Commission added that the disbursement follows the establishment of the Elite and Podium Board, created to implement a scientific and institutionalised support system aimed at sustaining peak performances by Nigerian athletes at major international competitions.
NSC Director General, Bukola Olopade, said the Commission, under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was established to restore confidence and provide renewed hope for Nigerian sportsmen and women by placing strong emphasis on athlete welfare.
“The training grants disbursed to 26 athletes across different sports followed a careful and professional selection process by the Yusuf Ali-led Elite and Podium Board. This is our way of reassuring our athletes that their welfare remains our utmost priority,” he said.
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