Kennedy Boboye of Abia Warriors and Frederick Obomate of Rivers United have been named winners of the Manager and Player’s awards respectively in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) by the League Bloggers Awards (LBA).
Both men emerged as top performers for the month under review after impressive team and individual outings in the top division in Nigeria.
Boboye was clearly the frontrunner in the race for the manager’s award for February after masterminding an unbeaten run for his club, Abia Warriors, from the dugout. That run without a loss included a 1-0 win on the road at Heartland in the southeast derby as well as a 1-1 draw to new boys, Ikorodu United, at the Onikan Stadium, Lagos.
He also led Abia Warriors to edge a plucky El-Kanemi Warriors 2-1 on February 24 at home to complete their unbeaten streak last month. Boboye edged a field of managers in Fidelis Ilechukwu of MFM FC, Godwin Uwua of Lobi Stars and Mohammed Baba Ganaru of Kano Pillars.
Kennedy Boboye wins LBA for February 2016
Obomate had to fend off the trio of Michael Olaha of Abia Warriors, Wasiu Jimoh of Shooting Stars, Anthony Okpotu of Lobi, who were closely challenging for the player’s award.
The Rivers United midfielder scored three goals in three games and chipped in an assist to put himself ahead of the pack in contention for the February award. He also had telling contributions in the four goals his club scored in the month under review.
Boboye and Obomate will be presented their awards as manager and player respectively for February by the LBA on a later date.
The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today created a team of Refugee Olympic Athletes for the Olympic Games Rio 2016. It will be treated at the Olympic Games like all the other teams of the 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs).
The EB also approved the operational aspects surrounding Team ROA.
The name of the team will be Team Refugee Olympic Athletes;
Team ROA will get its own welcome ceremony at the Olympic Village, like all other teams;
The team will be housed like all the other teams;
A team entourage will be appointed by the IOC to meet all the required technical needs of the athletes, including: Chef de Mission, coaches and technical officials (as per official quotas);
The team uniforms will be provided by the IOC;
For all official representations of the team (including possible medal ceremonies), the Olympic flag will be raised and the Olympic Anthem will be played;
The team will march behind the Olympic flag before host team Brazil at the Opening Ceremony;
An adequate insurance policy will be contracted;
A proper doping control process will be introduced through the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA); and
Olympic Solidarity will cover travel and other participation expenses for the team and will continue to support the athletes of the team after the Olympic Games.
As part of the IOC’s pledge to aid potential elite athletes affected by the worldwide refugee crisis, the NOCs were asked to identify any refugee athlete with the potential to qualify for the Olympic Games Rio 2016. Such candidates could then receive funding from Olympic Solidarity to assist with their preparations and qualification efforts.
Forty-three promising candidates have been identified, whom the IOC is now assisting. In view of the complexity of the process and in order to allow sufficient time to finalise and consolidate all the necessary information about these candidates, the EB decided today to close the call for new candidatures. Only under exceptional circumstances requiring the approval of the IOC President will new candidates be considered.
“By welcoming the team of Refugee Olympic Athletes to the Olympic Games Rio 2016, we want to send a message of hope for all refugees in our world,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “Having no national team to belong to, having no flag to march behind, having no national anthem to be played, these refugee athletes will be welcomed to the Olympic Games with the Olympic flag and with the Olympic Anthem. They will have a home together with all the other 11,000 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees in the Olympic Village.”
The ROA team for Rio 2016 is expected to number between five and 10 athletes. The participating athletes and the other members of the ROA team will be named by the IOC Executive Board at its next meeting in June this year. The nomination criteria include sporting level, official refugee status verified by the United Nations, and personal situation and background.
Following the approval of Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC’s strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement, and in light of the current global refugee crisis, the IOC created a special fund of USD 2 million to develop relief projects through sport in collaboration with NOCs around the world.
Over 15 NOCs have already made use of this fund. Details of some of the projects under way can be found here and here.
The IOC already works with a number of United Nations agencies to help refugees around the world. For the last 20 years, the IOC and UNHCR in particular have been using sport to support healing and development among young refugees in many camps and settlements around the world. They have consequently seen thousands of refugees benefit from sports programmes and equipment donated by the IOC.
Former Davis Cup champions Yevgeny Kafelnikov, John Fitzgerald and Todd Woodbridge are among the latest group of players to receive the Davis Cup Commitment Award.
The ITF, through its National Associations, will present further Davis Cup Commitment Awards during this weekend’s 2016 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group first round and Zone Group ties.
This award was conceived as part of the ITF’s 2013 Centenary celebrations, and is presented to Davis Cup players who have shown long-standing dedication to representing their country in this prestigious competition. Each award recipient will have competed in a minimum of 20 home-and-away ties or 50 ties at any level of the competition (including week-long zone group events) over their career.
The ITF presented the first seven trophies to players in an on-court presentation at the 100th Davis Cup Final in Prague in 2012. Among the initial recipients were Italy’s Nicola Pietrangeli, who heads the elite list of players having played 66 home or away ties for his country; and San Marino’s Domenico Vicini, who holds the record for the most ties played in all levels of the competition with a total of 93 ties.
This weekend presentations will be made to the following players at their respective Davis Cup home ties before the doubles rubber on Saturday 5 March.
Australia (*) – John Fitzgerald, Todd Woodbridge Peru – Jaime Yzaga Russia – Yevgeny Kafelnikov
*presentation made at official dinner on 2 March
A total of 334 players have already qualified to receive the award. Presentations will be made to award winners at Davis Cup home ties throughout 2016. The Commitment Award trophies are based on the design of the current Davis Cup trophy. All recipients have been recognised on an honours board at the ITF headquarters in London and in a dedicated section on the official Davis Cup website. A full list of award winners can be viewed here
ITF President David Haggerty said: “The Davis Cup Commitment Award reflects the dedication by players for more than a century to represent their country in this prestigious competition. These players have continued to rise to the unique challenge of competing in a team environment in front of their home fans, and we believe that it is fitting to recognise their efforts.”
World Sailing is pleased to announce that Gdynia, Poland has been selected to host the 2019 Youth Sailing World Championships.
Known as Poland’s sailing capital, Gdynia is a dynamic, modern city with experience in running large scale events. The 2019 Youth Worlds will be held out of Marina Gdynia which is close to the city centre and offers excellent sailing and recreational facilities.
Gdynia has hosted a number of international regattas in recent years, including the 2004 edition of the Youth Worlds, 470 and Laser European Championships as well as Volvo Gdynia Sailing Days, attracting thousands of participants and spectators.
Bid partners, the Polish Yachting Association and the City of Gdynia, bring together proven experience in hosting large scale events with the regatta to take place from 13-20 July 2019.
Alistair Dickson, World Sailing Events Manager, said, “With experience of hosting high calibre sailing events, Gdynia is a perfect fit to hold the 2019 edition of the sports premier event for young sailors.
“Excellent on-shore facilities in a great location coupled with a good breeze in July will ensure the delivery of a fantastic all-round championship. World Sailing look forward to working with the Polish Yachting Association and the City of Gdynia.”
Aerial view of Marina Gdynia venue of 2019 Youth Sailing World Championships
An Evaluation Panel received presentations for potential hosts of the 2019 Youth Worlds in February 2016 from the following venues:
Gdynia, Poland
Lelystad, The Netherlands
Shanghai, China
The Panel made their recommendation to World Sailing’s Executive Committee who unanimously endorsed the recommendation.
The selection of Gdynia is subject to a successful site visit and satisfactory contractual arrangements.
Rivers United goalkeeper, Sunday Rotimi insists Giwa FC’s second goal against Rivers United in Wednesday’s match day four Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) contest at the Rwang Pam Stadium, Jos should have been disallowed.
David Sunday (the goal scorer) appeared to kick the ball out of Rotimi’s hands and into the net in the 71st minute but referee, Henry Ogunyamodi insisted that the effort was legal and would stand much to the chagrin of the veteran goal keeper.
“I was injured after the action because the ball was kicked out of my hands with great force.
“When I heard the referee’s whistle, I thought it was for a foul on the Giwa player but I was shocked that the referee awarded the goal.
Rivers United goalkeeper Sunday Rotimi
“It is unfortunate but what can you do? We just have to move on,” he told the Rivers United Media.
Giwa FC trainer, Gbenga Ogunbote however shared a different view of the incident.
He accepted that Rotimi was in possession of the ball just before the goal was scored but added that the Rivers United goal keeper tried to “circumvent the rules of the game”.
“There is somebody (the referee) that controls the game. If he had said it was a goal, then it was a goal.
“If he had also said it wasn’t a goal, nobody would have questioned him.
“But I know too well that the rules say your two hands (as a goal keeper) must be with the ball.
“I think (Rotimi) was trying to prank the referee because he had just one hand on the ball.
“He was trying to circumvent the rules of the game. The referee was so close…he was just about four, five metres away from the scene and must have seen the right thing.
“I want to respect the judgement of the referee,” he said.
Wednesday’s win lifted Giwa FC to 14th on the league standings with four points from four games while United dropped four places and are now in seventh place with six points from their opening four games.
Egypt Women’s Volleyball team officially withdrew from the World Olympic Qualification tournament designated to be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 20 to 22, 2016.
Egypt came as African Women’s Olympic Qualifier runner up in the tournament held in Yaoundé, Cameroon where the host team claimed the automatic African Olympic ticket.
“Most of the team line up will be busy with the final year exams at schools and universities and these commitment wasn’t able to be postponed,” Said Egyptian Volleyball Federation President Foad Abdel Salam.
“We tried our best to help the players, but all the efforts failed after the parents of the players decided not to drop their exams.”
Early on Tuesday the volleyball World governing body “FIVB” had selected San Juan, Puerto to host the Women’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament from May 20-22. The four-team competition will take place at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente and qualify the winners for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Puerto Rico will decide which country claims the 12th and last berth up for grabs at this year’s Summer Games’ women’s volleyball tournament.
The winners will join seven countries that have already qualified for this year’s Olympic tournament, including hosts Brazil, FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Cup winners China and runners-up Serbia, European Olympic Qualification Tournament winners Russia, NORCECA Olympic Qualification winners USA, South American Olympic Qualification Tournament winners Argentina, and African Olympic Qualification Tournament winners Cameroon.
Four more teams will join the competition in Rio from the World Olympic Qualification Tournament and Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament scheduled to take place from May 14 to 22 in Japan.
India has set up a rematch against Nigeria in one of the quarterfinal matches scheduled for Friday March 4 at the ongoing ITTF World Team Championship taking place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Having finished second behind Nigeria in Group F, India clashed against Hungary in the round of 16 and the Asian side prevailed over the European with a 3-1 win.
In the group match, India suffered a 3-0 defeat against Nigeria and the win against Hungary has set up a rematch against the West Africa giants.
Also, Egypt, who are in race with Nigeria to gain promotion to the Championship Division as well as jostle for the continent sole slot in the team event of the Rio Olympics will face Puerto Rico in the quarterfinal match.
For the women’s event, Egypt the only African team in division two will slug it out with Croatia in the quarterfinal.
In the championship division, defending champion, China will take on Sweden, Japan battle Hong Kong, England slug it out with France, while former European Champion – Portugal will square up against South Korea.
The tournament ends on Sunday March 6 with men and women finals. Over 90 countries are competing in the one-week tournament.
Coach Samson Siasia has invited 22 home–based professionals and 20 overseas–based players for Nigeria’s 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying double-take against the Pharaohs of Egypt this month.
Siasia, who was named last week as Super Eagles’ Head Coach, passionately appealed to all Nigerians, including the sporting media, to rally round the team and show belief as the Eagles host the Egyptians in Kaduna on Friday, March 25 and play away in Alexandria on Tuesday, March 29.
The 22 home–boys are expected to hit camp at the Bolton White Apartments, Abuja on Sunday, March 6 before the overseas –based boys arrive as from Sunday, March 20.
“I want to passionately appeal to Nigerians, everybody, to show belief in the team and give us total support. It will not be easy, but if we stick together and present a united force to fight this battle, I believe we will triumph.
“I have absolute faith in the players. Nigeria is blessed with so many talented footballers across the world and I know that those we are inviting for this match will give everything for the six points in both matches. Personally, I will give everything that I have to offer for us to win both matches.”
The former Nigeria captain, who was in the same position between December 2010 and October 2011, assured that only the best players who “showed ability to run and decimate the opposition” will be given opportunity in both matches.
Regulars Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Olufemi Thomas, Kalu Orji Okogbue, Austin Oboroakpo, Chima Akas, Ezekiel Bassey and Chisom Chikatara are in the home based mix, while Carl Ikeme, Efe Ambrose, Elderson Echiejile, Godfrey Oboabona, Kenneth Omeruo, John Mikel Obi, Ogenyi Onazi, Ahmed Musa, Victor Moses, Odion Ighalo, Moses Simon and Fanendo Adi are among the overseas –based legion.
Super Eagles, photo credit Nigeria Super Eagles fb
HOME –BASED PROFESSIONALS
Goalkeepers: Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Sunshine Stars); Olufemi Thomas (Enyimba FC); Emmanuel Daniel (Enugu Rangers)
Midfielders: Ogenyi Onazi (SS Lazio, Italy); John Mikel Obi (Chelsea FC, England); Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City, England); Azubuike Okechukwu (Yeni Matalyspor, Turkey)
Forwards: Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Moses Simon (KAA Gent, Belgium); Victor Moses (West Ham United, England); Aminu Umar (Osmanlispor FK, Turkey); Odion Ighalo (Watford FC, England); Aaron Samuel (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Alex Iwobi (Arsenal FC, England); Fanendo Adi (Portland Timbers, USA)
* Ogenyi Onazi, who got a red card against Chad on Day 1 of the series, is eligible for the Day 4 match against the Pharaohs in Alexandria.
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