Abuja comes alive for U-13 boys

Lagos State Under 13 football team

Abuja comes alive for U-13 boys

The national finals of the 2013 NFF U-13 Football Championship will start in Abuja on Friday. It will last for five days.

Organised on zonal basis, the U-13 National Championship is one of the cardinal developmental programmes of the Aminu Maigari administration, and has yielded ample dividends with a number of players in the U-17 squad that won a record fourth FIFA U-17 World Cup for Nigeria last year coming through the ranks.

Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, NFF’s Director of Competitions, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said all arrangements have been made for the 13 teams from different geo-political zones that have made the final championship to have a good experience in Abuja.

“We have finalised all arrangements to ensure that the organisation is hitch-free, and that all the teams have nothing to complain about.

“This is a very serious programme that has been fruitful and we are determined to take it to the next level,” Sanusi said.

The States qualified for the final championship are Niger, Plateau, Katsina, Kaduna, Lagos, Ogun, Anambra, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Bauchi, Gombe and the Federal Capital Territory.

All the delegations have been directed to report at the FIFA Technical Centre, Package B of National Stadium, Abuja where the matches will also take place.

Guinean officials to take charge of Eagles, Antelopes clash

Guinean officials to take charge of Eagles, Antelopes clash

The Nigeria Football Federation has secured the services of Guinean referees to be in charge of Saturday’s potentially-explosive
international friendly match between Nigeria and Ethiopia’s senior home-based squads at the National Stadium, Abuja.

In a letter addressed to the NFF and dated 1st January, General Secretary of Guinea Football Federation, Ibrahima Barry noted that his body received the request from Nigeria and has thus nominated three officials to serve as Referee, 1st Assistant Referee and 2nd Assistant Referee respectively.

The centre referee will be Yakhouba Keita, a 38-year old official who has been an international referee since 2004. The 1st Assistant
Referee is Moustapha Toure, who was born in 1980 and has been an international assistant referee since 2007.

Abdel Raffi, 30, who became an international assistant referee last year, will serve as the 2nd Assistant Referee, with the Nigeria
Football Federation to appoint a Nigerian to serve as Fourth Official.

Saturday’s match has been arranged by the NFF to give the Super Eagles Team B a feel of what the furnace would be like at the 3rd African Nations Championship in South Africa, where they compete against the host nation, Mali and Mozambique in Group A.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation has called on football fans based in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and environs to come to the National Stadium on Saturday to support the home lads.

“We want to call on Nigerian ball fans in Abuja and environs to come to the National Stadium, Abuja to cheer the Eagles on Saturday. It will serve to encourage the players and get them in the spirit to confront the African continent in South Africa,” Barrister Musa Amadu, NFF General Secretary, said on Thursday.

Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva and Great Britain’s Mo Farah named AIPS Europe Athletes of the year

Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva and Great Britain’s Mo Farah named AIPS Europe Athletes of the year

The awards which started 32 years ago is giving by AIPS Europe to outstanding sports women and men in a particular calendar year, Isinbayeva is not new to this award as this is her 3rd award while this happens to be Farah’s first ever AIPS Europe ward, Farah garnered more votes than Rafael Nadal, Franck Ribery and Sebastien Vettel.

Isinbayeva on her own part polled more votes than Ruta Meilutyte, Tina Maze and Julia Efimova

Previous winners of this award include:

MEN
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) tennis 2012, Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Formula1 2010, Roger Federer (Switzerland) tennis 2009


Rafael Nadal (Spain) tennis

 2008, Michael Schumacher (Germany) 2003

To name a few

For the Women past winners include

Jessica Ennis (Great Britain) athletics 2012, Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) tennis

 2006, Martina Hingis (Switzerland) tennis

 1997,
Steffi Graf (Germany) tennis 1995

, and Monica Seles (Yugoslavia) tennis

 1991.