Sports

Europe’s Loss, Africa’s Gain

Published

17 years ago

December 28, 2009

While Africa is getting excited about next month’s kick-off of the African Nations Cup in Angola, many clubs in Europe are dreading the start of the competition.

For them it will mean that a number of important players from the countries such as Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria will be away on international duty.

Every two years the ‘club vs country’ issue comes to the fore at this point, and both sides have valid arguments when one considers their differing perspectives for a moment.

The clubs want to hold onto players whose wages they pay on a weekly basis, as they do not want to be paying for a player to go and take part in an international tournament while domestic leagues, cups and competitions go on as normal.

Another major issue is that a number of players return from such competitions with injuries, and once again the player receives wages whilst having injured himself in the colours of his national team, rather than that of his club side.

The player must then recover from the injury, meaning the club loses the player for an extended period of time.

From the national team’s side it is also fair that these countries benefit from the use of their best players based throughout Europe and the world, as this is their premier continental championship, determining the champions of Africa every two years.

The pride of playing for one’s country is something that should be respected by the clubs, but they are the entities who stand to lose the most during and after the January tournament.

Many people have called for the tournament’s timing to be changed to the end of the season, with some saying that playing it every four years instead of two, like the World Cup, would allow for the players to go to the competition with the blessing of the clubs, while giving the players some much-needed rest from the congested calendars of modern football.

The Nations Cup is traditionally staged in the first two months of the year because of the continent’s unpredictable weather conditions in the summer months. The rainy season hits western and central Africa in June and July, while the weather in South Africa, which will be hosting the 2010 World Cup in those two months, is usually cool.

The competition is staged in different countries every two years to make it fair and to allow the whole of Africa to benefit from the tournament, so changing the timing does not seem to be a viable option.

The second reason why changing the tournament to June or July would be unlikely is the fact that the World Cup takes place at that time every four years, and this would force the African tournament to revert to a four-yearly affair, or change to alternate years, avoiding the World Cup as a result.

Coaches of the top European sides containing African players are becoming increasingly irritated with the damaging consequences of the Nations Cup being staged in the middle of the season, but there is little chance of it being moved to accommodate the rich clubs spending millions on some of Africa’s finest.

Sports

Recommended NFF Normalisation Committee Members Fail FIFA Test?

Published

12 hours ago

November 2, 2026

The Tide

The Normalisation Committee to spearhead major reform in Nigerian football has yet to be announced because several of the committee members recommended did not scale the FIFA integrity test.

The NFF announced in an official statement on October 22 that world football governing body FIFA have approved a Normalisation Committee to reorganise football in the country following the resignation of the NFF executive committee led by Ibrahim Gusau.

The statement pointed out that the committee members will be jointly appointed by FIFA and CAF.

Since then not much has been reported on this development.

A top source has now informed that the delay in the announcement of this committee has been held back because several of the

proposed members did not pass the integrity test conducted by FIFA.

“Some of those recommended for the committee did not pass the FIFA test, that is partly why the committee is not yet in place, ” a top source said.

“However, I wouldn’t want to give out the names of those who did not scale through.”

It was further gathered that the committee will have between seven and nine members with strong indications that there could be as many as two non-Nigerians on it.

Meanwhile, a former NFF general secretary as well as a one-time highly influential NFF executive committee member are among those lobbying to head the Normalisation Committee.

The committee will be expected to round up by May 31, 2027.

Sports

Olopade Insists 2026 NSF Will Hold

Published

12 hours ago

November 2, 2026

The Tide

The Director-General of the National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade, has insisted that the 23rd National Sports Festival will hold as scheduled, with key facilities in Enugu nearing completion ahead of the November 28 opening ceremony.

Olopade gave the assurance after inspecting the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium and other venues earmarked for the event in the Coal City. He expressed satisfaction with the progress of work and said funding and equipment for the festival had been secured as preparations enter the final phase.

He disclosed that the swimming pool would be ready by November 18.

“In the coming days, the tartan track will be laid, and buses to move the athletes are ready,” he said.

Responding to suggestions that the festival could be postponed, Olopade criticised the speculation and said the authorities had already made their position known.

“When Lagos asked for postponement, we came out confidently to tell the public. Heaven did not fall,” he said.

“Suggesting that it will be postponed after announcement from Enugu State and NSC suggests that we are deceiving the nation. Not nice at all.”

The NSC boss also said the Enugu 2026 edition was projected to become the highest-sponsored National Sports Festival in history, with sponsorship expected to reach between ?12bn and ?15bn.

President Bola Tinubu is expected to declare the festival open on November 28, while about 12,000 athletes and officials are scheduled to arrive in Enugu from November 26.

Athletes from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory will compete in various disciplines.

Olopade commended Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, for his commitment to hosting the event, describing the state as a secure and welcoming destination for athletes and other stakeholders.

Sports

Senegal kicks Africa’s First Ever Olympics

Published

12 hours ago

November 2, 2026

The Tide

The 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympics ever to be held on African soil, opened Saturday in the Senegalese capital marking an historic moment for the continent.

Signs proclaiming “Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates” are abundant across Dakar, which is hosting some 2,665 young competitors aged 14 to 17 from around the world.

The event marks the return of Russian athletes to the Olympics and also includes a refugee team. Overall, the athletes will compete across 25 sports and 153 medal events.

“We’ve got people from around the world that maybe had a very different idea about Africa and they’re going to leave, hopefully, with something really positive in mind”, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry, a former Zimbabwean swimmer, said last week during a press conference in Dakar.

“I think that is really important for our continent”, she said.

Events ranging from athletics to beach wrestling, rugby sevens to breaking, will be held across eight venues in three locations.

Dakar, the nearby suburb of Diamniadio and the beach town of Saly located some 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the capital, will all host events.

An opening ceremony held on Saturday evening in Diamniadio kicked off the Games.

A total of 136 Senegalese athletes will participate in the Youth Olympics, with some 6,000 volunteers from Senegal helping put on the event.

The west African nation is renowned for its sports culture, including its football team, traditional wrestling and surf scene.

Football enthusiasts and young people often organise impromptu matches in the evenings or weekends on the beach or in village squares.

And as the day cools, hundreds of people flock to Dakar’s iconic coastal road, the Corniche, to run, do strength training or take part in group exercise.

While a sense of excitement is being stirred in the capital, the fourth summer edition of the Youth Olympics has struggled to stoke wild enthusiasm across Senegal.

Many are more concerned with the high cost of living, unemployment and economic hardship.

“Once the youth Olympic Games in Senegal begin, Dakar will become the capital of African youth,” Senegal Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo had said in an interview last week.

“Africa hosting the (Youth) Olympic Games, it’s a symbol”, he said.

With the IOC effectively lifting the Russian Olympic Committee’s (ROC) suspension in July, the Youth Games mark the first Olympic competition since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 in which Russian athletes are allowed to compete under their own flag and colours.

According to the ROC, 13 Russian athletes will participate and 10 coaches will accompany them to Senegal.

“The kids are excited, it’s good that our legitimate right to participate with the national anthem and Russian flag has been restored”, Anzor Gaunov, who coaches Anastasia Dobrovolskaya in judo, told Tidesports source in Moscow.

However, it is up to each sport’s international federation whether to authorise the Russian athletes’ participation.

The Dakar Youth Games will also welcome a refugee Olympic team, composed primarily of athletes based in Africa.

The IOC has called the Dakar Games an important milestone for the continent and an opportunity to showcase Senegal’s cultural richness and Africa’s growing role within the Olympics.

South Africa could potentially become the first African nation to host the Olympic Games, having already paved the way by hosting the men’s FIFA World Cup in 2010. The country is officially in the running for the 2036 Summer Olympics.