Players and officials of Nigeria Women Football League reigning Champions, Rivers Angels today presented the NWFL Trophy which they retained last week at the Super Six Tournament in Umuahia to the Permanent Secretary of the Rivers State Ministry of Sports, Mr Michael Nnodi.
The Port Harcourt based club who pipped Bayelsa Queens 1-0 in the finals of the 4 days competition held in Umuahia were led by Team manager, Mrs Matilda Michael Oyiloha and head coach Edwin Okon.
Also present to receive the team’s trophy were the Rivers State Director of Sports, Honorable Daobu Harvest Harry (JP) and the Director of Rivers state Stadia Authority, Mr James Nmehiele.
Team manager of the club, Matilda Oyiloha while addressing the Permanent Secretary thanked the ministry for all their support
“It’s indeed an honor and privilege to be here today to present to you the 2015 Nigeria Women League Champions, Rivers Angels”
“We want to use this medium to say thank you for all your support even when the result was not forth coming, you were giving us all the encouragements to forge ahead and we say a very big thank you to you and promise to get you a double in 2016” Matilda said.
On his part, the Permanent Secretary, Mr Michael Nnodi promised to present the trophy to the state governor, Barrister Nyesom Wike.
“When Rivers Angels lost out of the FA competition, everyone was surprised, we all felt bad about it but thank God you were able to bring the bigger one which is the league title”
“Here is the trophy and we’ll ensure it gets to his Excellency, there’s nothing much for me to say rather than whatever we can do for you, we’ll contact your team manager as we put our heads together to ensure that something is done for you” said the Permanent secretary.
The FEI Bureau has today agreed unanimously to continue to fight the case between the FEI and the Global Champions League with all legal means, following an update at the FEI Bureau’s in-person meeting at the FEI General Assembly in the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan.
The Global Champions League lodged a complaint with the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) in June of this year alleging that the FEI’s unsanctioned events rule was in breach of competition law. The BCA granted interim measures on 28 July requiring the FEI to suspend its unsanctioned events rule against athletes and horses for the GCL events. Under the rule, athletes, horses or officials are ineligible to compete in an FEI or national event if they have participated in an unsanctioned event in the previous six months. An unsanctioned event is an event and/or a competition that is neither published in the official FEI calendar nor authorised by a National Federation.
The FEI appealed the interim measures decision to the Brussels Court of Appeal, requesting suspension of the decision. The suspension was rejected without any review of the merits of the case, however the FEI’s view is that the BCA decision should not be applicable outside Belgium and is therefore seeking a full annulment of the decision.
No dates have been set for the annulment process, which will go before the Brussels Court of Appeal, or for the eventual hearing on the full merits of the case, which will be heard by the Belgian Competition Authority.
Ingmar De Vos, FEI President (FEI/Germain Arias-Schreiber)
The FEI is not the only International Federation undergoing legal proceedings on unsanctioned events. The European Commission recently opened a formal anti-trust investigation into International Skating Union (ISU) rules that impose a lifetime ban from competitions, including the Olympic Games and the ISU World and European Championships, on athletes that take part in events not approved by the ISU.
The European Commission has confirmed to the FEI that it will ensure the coherent application of EU anti-trust rules in the FEI and ISU proceedings. It has also clearly indicated that the results of its investigation would set a precedent for similar issues in other sports and provide guidance for national competition authorities and/or national courts for dealing with future cases.
The FEI is to put in a request to the European Commission to be an interested party in the ISU case, and the FEI President has also written to the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) Council and all ASOIF Members proposing that they should put in a similar request. Additionally, the FEI has asked ASOIF to represent the interests of its members on unsanctioned event rules.
“We simply want justice”, FEI President Ingmar De Vos said. “We do not want our athletes to be the victims of this ongoing legal case, so we will abide by the Belgian Competition Authority ruling and not sanction them or their horses for competing in GCL events, but it is very important that they are aware that there has been no ruling on the merits of the case and that these interim measures guarantee nothing on the future of unsanctioned events.
“We welcome the European Commission’s formal investigation into the ISU case and await the outcome of that investigation with interest as it will establish the principle on unsanctioned events that will be implemented across the European Union for all sports. The unsanctioned events rule is applied in other sports and we are confident that the principle will be accepted by the European Commission.
“Many International Federations are confronted with similar issues, but while our athletes have the right to decide what events they will compete in, the FEI also has a non-decision making participant, the horse, and it is our duty to protect its welfare and to ensure the integrity of the events that both our equine and human athletes compete in.
“Horse welfare and sporting integrity are the two key principles of the unsanctioned events rule, and these principles can only be protected and promoted by putting in place rules, including anti-doping and veterinary regulations, and by making acceptance of international events onto the official calendar conditional upon the Organising Committee adopting all of those regulations and making them binding on all participants in those events. Without these rules, we have no way of safeguarding the welfare of horses and athletes participating in such events, or of protecting the integrity of the events.
“We are confident that the European Commission will accept that legislation on unsanctioned events is not against the EU anti-trust rules.”
French Striker Karim Benzema has reacted to the leaking of a conversation he had with a close friend, related to the alleged blackmailing of Mathieu Valbuena.
Karim Benzema is ready to sue French radio station ‘Europe 1’, which leaked part of the call, for violation of judicial confidentiality.
“Let me be very clear, I’m scandalised by what they’ve circulated. It isn’t the entire conversation, just extracts from it. When I heard about this conversation, I discovered that certain passages could be misinterpreted”, the striker’s lawyer, Sylvain Cormier, told the radio station involved.
The lawyer also said that the end of his client’s conversation was “very clear” and that Benzema had given Valbuena “the best advice” he could, “to not pay” the blackmailers.
As at Tuesday afternoon, Head Coach Sunday Oliseh was expecting only three players in the Super Eagles camp as preparations were intensified for Friday’s 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Swaziland in Lobamba on Friday.
In camp are Captain Ahmed Musa, goalkeepers Carl Ikeme, Ikechukwu Ezenwa and Dele Alampasu, defenders Efe Ambrose, Austin Oboroakpo, Chima Akas, Jamiu Alimi, Kalu Orji, Godfrey Oboabona, Wilfred Ndidi and Elderson Echiejile, midfielders Paul Onobi, John Mikel Obi, Sylvester Igbonu and Rabiu Ibrahim, and forwards Odion Ighalo, Ezekiel Bassey, Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi and Moses Simon.
Portugal –based defender Abdullahi Shehu, midfielder Ogenyi Onazi and US–based forward Obafemi Martins were being expected on Tuesday night.
The strike embarked upon by workers of Lufthansa Airlines delayed the arrival of most of the players, as the Nigeria Football Federation had to quickly re-book players on British Airways.
Officials of the National Football Association of Swaziland confirmed to the NFF on Tuesday that landing permit for the chartered flight, which will fly the Nigeria delegation to Swaziland, has been secured.
The ARIK Air Boeing 737-800 aircraft is expected to depart from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at 7am on Thursday, and will land at the Matsapha International Airport by 2pm same day.
Super Eagles’ players and officials will stay at The Sun Hotels, while the official training at the Somhlolo National Stadium, Lobamba has been set for 7pm on Thursday.
The match between the Super Eagles and the Sihlangu Somnikati will kick off at 7pm on Friday, 13th November, with Germain Koole of Benin Republic as the referee. He will be assisted by compatriots Bienvenu Dina, Sena Ulrich Houedin and Gustave Eugene Tohouegnon as assistant 1, assistant 2 and fourth official respectively.
Mohamed Bahou from Morocco will be the referee assessor with Zambian Joseph Nkole as match commissioner.
The Nigeria delegation will depart Swaziland immediately after the match and fly direct to Port Harcourt.
Both teams will clash in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, 17th November, with the winner going straight into the 20–team, mini-league phase beginning next year.
Cameroon was selected by African Volleyball Confederation “CAVB” as a host for the prestigious Women’s African Olympic Qualifiers in the Capital Yaoundé February 12 to 19, 2016 with a record of 17 participating National federations.
The champions of this qualifier will represent Africa in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The qualifiers attracted 17 countries which are Algeria, Tunisia, Gambia, Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Ghana, Congo RDC, Cameroon, Gabon, Kenya, Egypt, Uganda, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Madagascar.
CAVB put November 20, 2015 as a deadline to send the list of players to participate in the competition.
Algeria claimed the African Qualification tickets in the last 2 Olympics in Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG Petronas photo credit; Dave Wilson https:::creativecommons.org:licenses:by-nc-nd:2.0:legalcode
Lewis Hamilton as never hidden his admiration and love for late Brazilian Formula 1 Legend Ayrton Senna and the Current Formula 1 champion as said he would like to win this weekend’s race at Interlagos as a tribute to his Hero Ayrton Senna.
The Sao Paulo race was a home race for Senna who was a native of Sao Paulo and Hamilton would love to win his first race here as a tribute to Senna.
Last year the Mercedes Driver finished in second place behind teammate Nico Rosberg who incidentally won the last Formula 1 race in Mexico while Hamilton also finished in second place.
Hamilton only recently matched Senna’s record of 3 World titles and winning Brazil will definitely be a fitting tribute to The late Brazilian who lost his life at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994.
Fri the 13th of November will see the first two practice races, while Saturday the 14 is the date for practice 3 and Qualification. The main race comes up on Sunday the 15th of November 2015.
Venus Williams has returned to the top ten of the WTA after victory in Zhuhai, China. At the HUAJIN SECURITIES WTA ELITE TROPHY Venus defeated Czech Karolina Pliskova 7-5 7-6 in the final to claim her 3rd WTA title of the year.
This is also the 48th WTA Grand Slam Win for the American who has got seven Career Grand Slams to her name.
Venus’s Victory in China will see her become number 7, making her return into the top ten after a battle with Sjögren’s Syndrome between September 2011 and March 2012, A period She actually went as low as 137 in the WTA Rankings.
The timing of her return will see her end the year in the Top ten just as her Sister Serena Ends the year at number 1
newfanzone 