Alhaji Sharif Rabiu Inuwa has been re-elected as chairman of the Kano State Football Association.
At the elections conducted in Kano City on Wednesday and supervised by Member of the NFF Executive Committee and Chairman of the NFF Referees Committee, Alhaji Yusuf Ahmed Fresh, Inuwa polled 50 of the 51 votes cast by the eligible delegates.
Inuwa is also Member of the NFF Executive Committee and chairman of the Committee on Ethics and Fairplay. His opponent, Kamilu Mohammed, got no vote, while one vote was declared invalid.
Aminu Mohammed Inuwa was elected vice chairman with 50 votes.
This year’s Men and Women Federation Cup competitions will kick off with the State preliminaries on Saturday, March 7, according to NFF’s Head of Federation Cup Unit, Ruth David.
The preliminaries in the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory will end with the finals on April 4-5, before a Draw is conducted for the National finals, which begins with the play-off round April 18-19, before the Round of 64, May13-14.
Federations Cup 2014
This year’s Men and Women Federation Cups’ grand finale has been slated for August 16.
The Nigeria Football Federation has commended the U-17 National Team, Golden Eaglets, for earning a place at the FIFA U-17 World Cup finals taking place in Chile later in the year.
NFF President, Amaju Melvin Pinnick declared on Wednesday that semi final defeat to South Africa at the African U-17 Championship in Niger Republic has not diminished the value of the Eaglets’ accomplishment.
Golden Eaglets bench – Emmanuel Amuneke, Kabiru Baleria, Emeka Amadi
“Certainly, every Nigerian yearned for the Eaglets to win the African championship trophy in Niger after the boys reached the semi finals. They lost by a lone goal but we cannot accuse the players of lack of effort.
“The present NFF administration has continued to harp on the fact that it is not only concerned with winning trophies. We want to win trophies but more than that, we want to build a sustainable football culture.”
Pinnick assured that the boys will not be treated like outcasts following the failure to reach the Championship final.
“The NFF will send a jet to pick the players after the third place match on Sunday. The technical crew remains intact and the NFF will give support to them to plug the necessary holes in the team so that we will have a squad capable of doing the nation proud in Chile.”
The NFF President also noted that Cup holders Cote d’Ivoire were eliminated in the group phase of the championship in Niger.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission saw solid progress being made during its eighth visit (23 to 25 February) to the 2016 host city of Rio de Janeiro. Sports venues are taking shape and numerous engagement initiatives like ticketing, volunteering and the Olympic Torch Relay are up and running. These positive developments come at a time when the Rio organisers are entering the operational phase of the project. This stage of preparations will see Rio 2016 and its partners increase their activity significantly, as they reach a new level of detail in their Games planning, while simultaneously delivering 21 test events.
The Commission was also joined for part of its visit by IOC President Thomas Bach, who led a delegation, including Commission Chair Nawal El Moutawakel, to meet Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who again pledged full support for the Games from “every level and ministry of [her] government as well as from State and City authorities.” Bach also participated in a meeting with Rio State Governor Luiz Fernando Pezão, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes, and Brazilian Minister of Sports George Hilton, and joined the Commission on a tour of the Barra Olympic Park.
Speaking at the end of the visit, Commission Chair El Moutawakel said: “We were pleased to be able to show President Bach that good progress has been made on the Rio 2016 Games. The advancements made on both the Barra and Deodoro Olympic Parks were very encouraging, with both areas on track to leave fantastic legacies to the people of Rio and the athletes of Brazil. However, the Rio team is now entering the most intense phase in the preparation for the Games, as they reach a new level of detail while planning numerous test events.”
She continued: “With 21 test events planned for this year and a significant number of the world’s best athletes coming to Rio to try the venues, Rio 2016 will have a lot to deliver while still preparing for the Games. We were pleased to see that Rio and its government partners have put in place structures that will allow them to deal with what will be an intense year ahead, filled with thousands of details that will need to be dealt with before the Games. They will also need to ensure that the venues are delivered in time to host the test events. The golf course, velodrome and equestrian cross-country venues all have very aggressive timelines that will need to be met over the coming months.”
The participation of the government partners’ leaders in the meetings with the Commission underlined the support of Brazil for the Games, and the Commission thanked each of them for their commitment to the project. This unity shown by the government partners with the Rio 2016 Organising Committee pleased the IOC group, which emphasised the importance of having an integrated approach to the delivery of the Games, especially during a period which is as intense as the coming 17 months. This interaction will be facilitated now that all three levels of government will have a member on the Organising Committee’s board, leading to greater transparency and cooperation.
During the meetings, the Commission highlighted a number of areas of focus for the local organisers, including accommodation and transport, where a significant amount of work needs to be completed this year to ensure that the Games experience is delivered at the highest level for the athletes, participants and spectators.
The President of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, said: “It was our pleasure to receive the IOC President, Thomas Bach, together with the members of the Coordination Commission. As we move at high speed from the planning to the execution phase of the project, we are dedicated to delivering on our vision for the Games. In a project of this magnitude, some obstacles will always exist, but with the help of our partners at the IOC and the three levels of government, we will overcome them. Our joint commitment to deliver excellent Games with memorable celebrations is stronger now than ever.”
Rio 2014 Test Event – Aquece Rio Day 1-2 Photo credit ISAF
The Commission was pleased to hear from the Rio organisers that support for the Games remains strong across Brazil and that a number of engagement initiatives had been launched since its last visit, such as ticket sign-up, volunteer recruitment, the mascots and the Olympic Torch Relay. This nationwide engagement will now increase over the coming months, with ticket sales expected to begin in late March, the volunteer programme to enter its training phase, torchbearer applications to open later in the year, Rio’s cultural programme to get underway, the Rio education programme to continue to grow across the country, test events to bring sport to the host city, and the one-year-to-go celebrations to give us all a glimpse of the atmosphere that can be expected in 2016. These initiatives will give all Brazilians the opportunity to participate in the Games, just as in 2016 when events like the marathon, triathlon, rowing, road cycling and marathon swimming will give every Brazilian a chance to see the Olympic athletes in action.
During its meetings, the Coordination Commission also received updates from the organisers and their partners in areas such as athlete and National Olympic Committee (NOC) services, sport and International Federation services, media operations, spectators, transport, test events, marketing, technology and the Paralympic Games.
The Commission will return to Rio de Janeiro in August this year.
The return of British Lionhearts to the World Series of Boxing (WSB) was met with much excitement within the boxing community, but they have struggled to gain momentum in the competition after losing all four of their away matches.
Despite their lack of success on the road, they have won both of their fixtures at London’s legendary York Hall, and will hope to make it a trio of victories at home to Mexico Guerreros.
Mexico won their last WSB match against China Dragons, and sit above the Lionhearts in the table, but they have lost both of their Season V away fixtures in Ukraine and Russia, and need a victory here to move up the table.
British Lionhearts
This Group A match takes place on Thursday 26th February, and fans across the world can watch the action free, live and on demand from 20:00 GMT at AIBABoxingTV.com.
The action begins at Light flyweight (49 kg) and Harvey Horn makes his Lionhearts debut, replacing Ashley Williams who has lost all three of his matches this season.
Horn faces Mexico’s 2-1 Joselito Velázquez Altamirano who is one of just two boxers to have beaten a Cuban in Season V.
1-1 Bantamweight (56 kg) Qais Ashfaq lost his last match in Morocco, but will hope to return to winning ways against Brian González, who shares an identical WSB record.
A fascinating Light welterweight (64 kg) contest follows, between 2-1 Sam Maxwell, and Mexico’s third ranked Raúl Curiel García who claimed an excellent away win against Ukraine’s Volodymyr Matviichuk in the first week of competition.
Fifth in the WSB rankings, 2-0 British Lionhearts Middleweight (75 kg) Anthony Fowler missed out on fighting in Russia two weeks ago due to a head injury, but has recovered in time to face Mexico’s 1-2 Misael Uriel Rodríguez Oliva.
The evening finishes at Heavyweight (91 kg) where Romania’s 0-2 Ionut-Mirel Jitaru continues his mission for a first victory at the weight class for the Lionhearts, but he faces a difficult task against seven-time Irish Champion Gary Sweeney who makes his Guerreros debut in London.
Dina Meshref is the only known name in the 14-man Egyptian team and she is ready to lead the North Africans to a medal haul at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour, Lagos Open.
With the absence of defending champion, Egypt’s Nadeen El-Dawlatly, the 20-year-old believes Nigerian players are beatable in front of their fans in Lagos.
El-Dawlatly defeated Meshref in the final of the championship in 2014 to win her first World Tour title and for this year, she will not be available following her knee injury.
“Of course Nadeen’s absence will definitely make a difference, as she is very well experienced against the Nigerian opponents. However, I believe that the four other girls accompanying me are capable of beating Nigerians too,” she boasted.
Being her second visit to Nigeria, Meshref believes the title would not elude her but she admitted that she believes that she would have to fight hard to overcome her challengers.
“Yes I think I can win the tournament this year, and I really hope so. I expect that the competition will be tough especially from the Nigerian players as well as the Chinese from Portugal are for sure worthy competitors, and playing against them isn’t easy. But I expect that most medals will fortunately be for Egypt,” Meshref said.
The former African Junior champion is also excited with the cheers from the Lagos fans, which she described as awesome.
Dina Meshref
“In 2014, I remember it was a great experience to play in Lagos ITTF World Tour. It was somehow different than any other experience because the spectators were cheering up so loud and they were very enthusiastic. I am very excited to participate for the second time. I really hope I could achieve better results than I did last year,” she added.
Despite exuding so much confidence, Meshref is aware that they must be at their best to fend off oppositions from other top players.
“Of course there are many good players that can stand between Egyptians and the titles. And for me I am very excited to play again in Lagos and make Nigerians happy by watching good table tennis. I really wish I could perform greatly and make my fans happy,” she explained.
Not forgetting her triumph during the Africa Top 16 Cup, Meshref said she would want to reenact that form.
“The most memorable moment for me in Lagos 2014 was when I won the Africa Top 16 Cup to qualify for the 2014 Women’s World cup. It was such a happy and an unforgettable moment for me and I will be hoping to repeat that form again,” an optimistic Meshref said.
NFF First Vice-President Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi was yesterday returned unopposed at the the Lagos FA Elections held in Epe, Lagos, under the supervision of NFF board member Barrister Chris Green.
Akinwunmi Alongside newly elected president of the Nigerian Referees Association Tade Azeez where both returned unopposed as Chairman and Vice-chairman respectively.
Also making a return to the Exco of the State FA is The immediate past vice-chairman of Lagos Swan Mr Wale Joseph, Mojeed Adegbindin and Olatunde Green.
Chairman of Lagos DFA Ifalade Oyekan also won a seat on the Exco of the LSFA, Oyekan was also elected unopposed from his zone.
The high point of the day however was the election of candidates from the Lagos west zone into the LSFA Exco. Four candidates had successfuly scaled through the screening test and the three candidate with the highest number of votes were to be elected into the LSFA Exco.
The four candidates from the Lagos west zone were
1, Liameed Gafaar
2, Dotun Coker
3, Prince Adeagbo and
4, Moses Adebanjo.
Dotun Coker got 12 of the 39 votes available followed by Moses Adebanjo with 10 votes, Liameed Gafaar with 9 votes and Prince Adeagbo with 5 votes. While 3 votes were declared void.
So the trio of Dotun Coker, Liameed Gafaar, and Moses Adebanjo joined all the other Newly elected board members to take the oat of office administered by lawyer under the watchful eyes of the NFF representative Barrister Chris Green.
Seyi Akinwunmi speaking after being sworn in
Speaking after the swearing-in ceremony the Chairman of the LSFA promised to improve on whatever achievements Eko Football had made in the past thanking the delegates for placing their trust in him and his team
Full list of the LSFA Exco:
1. Seyi Akinwunmi – chairman
2. Tade Azeez – vice chairman
3. Wale Joseph – member
4. Mojeed Adegbindin
5. Olatunde Green
6. Ifalade Oyekan
7. Dotun Coker
8. Liameed Gafaar
9. Moses Adebanjo
Members of the LSFA Exco being sworn in
Also in attendance were the Special to the Governor of Lagos state mr Anthony Adeyinka Adeboye and Mr Uthman Okunu who came to represent the Director of Sports lagos states sports council Dr Kweku Tandoh and other stakeholders.
Finally wrestling fans will get the chance to see WCW icon Sting wrestle in a WWE ring for the first time.
The stage was set for Sting to make his WWE debut when he was called out by Triple H on WWE Fastlane on Sunday.
However, the Sunday event came as a result of Sting’s interference in the Survival Series bout between team Cena and the Authority. Sting’s action ensured that team Cena won the match and subsequently led to the temporary removal of the Authority from running the affairs of WWE.
Sting To wrestle Triple H At Wrestlemania 31
The Authority were later restored but Sting once again interfered in the group’s business when his interruption help John Cena secured victory on RAW and subsequently help restore the three members of team Cena that were fired by the Authority.
Tension has been growing and Triple H asked Sting to meet him at Fastlane to finally settle the issue. When both wrestlers finally met, the faceoff degenerated into physical confrontation and with sting coming on top and then he issued a challenge to Triple H for a fight at Wrestlemania.
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