Embattled UEFA President and Banned FIFA executive Michel Platini seems not to be taking his 8 year ban by the FIFA Ethics Committee serious.
Barely a week after he was handed an 8 year ban by FIFA’s Ethics Committee Michel Platini was pictured attending the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai, Platini also allegedly spoke to the media during the event and all of this definitely contravenes the terms of the FIFA Ban.
The Frenchman has stated that he would be appealing the Ban but it seems like he doesn’t reckon with the ban as he his supposed to stay away from all “football events” both locally and international.
As part of the immediate dividends of its partnership with The Different Box LLC and United Arab Emirates (Dubai Sports Council), four clubs from the Nationwide League One (NLO) have been invited to take part in the maiden edition of a Gulf-African Football Tournament scheduled for early next year in Dubai.
GAF is a tournament organized by a Dubai-based event management company (The Different Box) along with the permit of Dubai Sports Council. It is a two week event; starting from January 10-25, 2016 and will feature sixteen teams from both regions.
The Executive Secretary of the NLO, Olushola Ogunnowo said that the invitation was made possible following the League’s quest to collaborate with the lower league in Dubai in its effort to showcase the NLO to the world.
However, the NLO Secretariat has written to all clubs in the NLO to prepare ahead of the tournament that would also serve as pre-season training for the clubs.
“Good things are bound to happen in our League with the giant strides we are taking here at the Secretariat, and which are approved and supported by the Board. This invitational tournament will help to expose our boys, improve the level of growth in the League and even open business opportunities for the clubs and players alike.”
“The organizers of the tournament rated our League high; that is why they gave us as many as four slots. Nigeria alone has been handed four slots out of the eight reserved for the entire African continent, so we can’t afford to miss this chance; we are going to mobilize our clubs to honour the invitation,” he said.
Close to 1,400 people have attended a series of FEI Endurance educational courses in Dubai and Abu Dhabi (UAE) over the past four days in advance of this week’s Endurance season opener, a CEI1* 80-kilometre ride. The attendees, numbering 1,347 in total, included athletes, trainers, grooms, Veterinarians, Judges, Technical Delegates and Stewards.
The courses were an important element in the legally binding agreement signed between the Emirates Equestrian Federation (EEF) and the FEI prior to the lifting of the provisional suspension at the end of July. The FEI Bureau had suspended the EEF in March of this year following an investigation into major horse welfare issues and non-compliance with FEI Rules and Regulations in the country.
Chair of the FEI Endurance Committee, Brian Sheahan, acted as Course Director alongside Dwight Hooton (USA) a member of the FEI Veterinary Committee and veterinary advisor to the EEF, and FEI Endurance Director Manuel Bandeira de Mello. The EEF Assistant Secretary General Faisal al Ali attended the first session on 10 October, and Dr Ali Al Twessi from the EEF Endurance Department was also on hand to offer translation services.
The athletes, trainers and grooms’ sessions, which attracted 1,065 attendees, 25% of which were female, covered FEI and national rules, mandatory rest periods, penalty points, the entry system, field of play and veterinary aspects, including Vet Gate procedures, anti-doping rules (human and equine) and medication procedures.
John Robertson, Deputy Chair of the FEI Endurance Committee, was in charge of the courses for FEI Judges (Levels 1, 2 and 4), Stewards and Technical Delegates. A total of 190 Stewards attended, including 160 from the police force who will be working at events, as the national rules are now fully compliant with FEI rules.
Brian Sheahan and Dwight Hooton also ran a course for Veterinarians, with 68 attendees. Both the Veterinarians and Judges were then required to sit an exam, with a 100% pass rate.
The EEF’s new entry system, delivery of results to the FEI, horse welfare issues including cars in the field of play, video cameras in the stabling area and prevention of accidents in the vet gate area were discussed at two separate meetings, one with Adnan Sultan Saif Al Nuaimi, General Manager of the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, and the other with Dubai Equestrian Club General Manager Mohammed Essa Al Adhad.
There was a general consensus that the courses and the individual meetings had all been extremely successful and effective.
“We have a fantastic sport in Endurance and it was wonderful to have had such successful courses in Group VII, particularly from an attendance perspective but also for the enthusiasm of all the delegates”, FEI Endurance Director Manuel Bandeira de Mello said at the end of the four days. “The courses were really interactive and there was a huge thirst for knowledge and a desire to increase the depth of understanding of all aspects of the discipline from everyone who attended. There has been great team work here in Dubai, and everybody is fully committed to success.”
Almost 1,400 people have attended a series of FEI Endurance educational courses in Dubai and Abu Dhabi (UAE) over the past four days as part of the agreement signed between the Emirates Equestrian Federation (EEF) and the FEI. (EEF Media Centre)
Provisional suspension
As part of the ongoing clean-up of the discipline in Group VII, Abdul Aziz Mohd Yasin Sheikh, Head of Endurance at the United Arab Emirates Equestrian Federation (EEF), has been provisionally suspended as an FEI Official by the FEI Secretary General, Sabrina Zeender, for consistently failing to observe the FEI Rules and Regulations at a number of events from which duplicate results were submitted to the FEI.
The provisional suspension, which is in accordance with Article 156.1 of the FEI General Regulations and which comes into immediate effect, is for an indefinite period. For the duration of the suspension, Mr Sheikh may not take part or be involved in the organisation of any FEI competitions or events, or any event under the jurisdiction of a National Federation.
Mr Sheikh has 30 days to appeal the decision to the FEI Tribunal from the date of notification (13 October 2015). He is the second UAE official to have been provisionally suspended by the FEI Secretary General following the suspension of Dr Hallvard Sommerseth, Head of the EEF Veterinary Department, last month. Both suspensions have the full support of FEI President Ingmar De Vos.
The events and duplicate results in the UAE that were used specifically for qualification purposes have now been deleted by the FEI IT Department. Any horse/rider combinations that used these duplicate results as qualification for subsequent events, and were therefore ineligible to compete, have now been disqualified.
World champions, Golden Eaglets of Nigeria on Friday arrived their pre-World Cup training camp in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
A contingent of 25 players and 10 officials including NFF’s Assistant Director (Technical) Siji Lagunju, had earlier departed from Abuja on Thursday. They later left Dubai (the city where Golden Eaglets’ class of 2013 had their training camp before winning a historic fourth title for Nigeria in the same country) in the early hours of Friday for Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) en route to Buenos Aires.
On ground in Buenos Aires to receive the team were officials of Nigeria Embassy led by Mr. Elekwachi Ndubuisi and Mrs. Felicia Ezeorah as well as NFF FIFA Match Agent, Jairo Pachon, who informed that all arrangements had been put in place for the team’s smooth preparation ahead of the World Cup to be held between October 17 and November 8 in Chile.
Pachon told thenff.com that the Golden Eaglets would engage Argentina’s U-17 team in a friendly match on October 6 and would on October 11 feature against the U-20 team of either Racing FC or Boca Juniors before departing for Santiago.
Golden Eaglets Coach Emmanuel Amuneke
Golden Eaglets’ Head Coach Emmanuel Amuneke had on Thursday before departure announced a strong squad of 25 players for the trip, including team captain Kelechi Nwakali along with nine others who were in the squad that secured the team’s ticket for the World Cup at the last Africa U-17 Nations Cup in Niger.
FULL LIST: Kelechi Nwakali; Victor Osimhen, Samuel Chukwueze, Ebere Osinachi, Kingsley Michael, Orji Okonkwo, John Lazarus, Halilu Lukman, Udoh Akpan, Benjamin Amos, Taiwo Alimi, Chinedu Madueke, Ibe Tobechukwu, Ejike Ikwu, Tochukwu Okoli, Udochukwu Anumudu, Chiaha Chisom, Funsho Bamgboye, Yunusa Abdullahi, Agor Chukwudi, David Enogela, Michael Edidiong, Samuel Opeh, Joel Osikel, Gavi Thompson.
Golden Eaglets Arrive Argentina
Meanwhile, the Eaglets have begun training at the Buenos Aires Futbol ground. BAF, as its simply known is a facility privately owned by former Argentine international, Matias Almeyda and it’s tucked away at San Roque in Tigre on the outskirts of the capital city of Argentina.
According to Eaglets’ Head Coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, the facility in BAF is similar to what was obtainable at the Papendal Sports Centre in Holland that was used by the Super Eagles in the 1990s during the era of Dutch coach, Clemens Westerhof. Though not as gigantic as Papendal in Arnhem, BAF has about seven training pitches with state of the art gymnasium, swimming pool and other adjunct facilities good for camping.
“This facility is good since it is out of town and would allow for maximum concentration throughout our camping here ahead of the World Cup,” Amuneke admitted.
The former Nigerian international, after offering prayers to God at saturday’s morning training, further told the players that they should think about nothing other than football and the World Cup. The Eaglets are expected to train twice daily with slight variation when there is a friendly match.
Meanwhile, the weather condition in Buenos Aires is chilly with temperature oscillating between 8 and 15 degree centigrade – same weather in Chile with most South American countries nearing the winter season.
Former Nigeria Olympic Committee President, Engr Sani Ndanusa has been elected into the Sports Committee of the Commonwealth Games Federation.
Ndanusa, the Nigeria Tennis Federation boss, defeated William Blick, the President of Ugandan Commonwealth Games Association by 8-4 votes at the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Annual General Meeting held in Auckland, New Zealand.
Ndanusa, who travelled to the AGM together with NOC boss Engr. Habu Gumel, described his victory as extraordinary and unprecedented as he was unavailable at the poll due to his flight being delayed in Dubai.
“We were scheduled to fly direct to Auckland, New Zealand but we encountered some delay in Dubai as we were not having transit visa of Australia, which took some time before it was resolved.
“We realized that we won’t be able to reach New Zealand on time and we called the Secretariat to explain to them that we will be arriving late, the CGF Executive Board agreed that the election should go on and Ndanusa can contest in abstentia by the time we landed in Auckland, New Zealand, the election had been held and we were told that I won,” stated Ndanusa.
He also who pointed out that the manner at which he was elected showed a strong goodwill among African Commonwealth Games Association Presidents.
Engr. Sani Ndanusa, President Nigeria Tennis Federation
He commended the National Sports Commission (NSC) under the leadership of Dr. Alhassan Yakmut for the resolve to develop Nigerian administrators in international sport politics which the country has been lacking.
He was also full of praise for Engr. Habu Gumel for his support at making sure that Nigeria becomes more relevant in global sports politics.
For being the first Africa to be named the 2014 best table tennis player in world, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has celebrated the feat achieved by Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri.
A focus on the award-winning athlete was featured in the recent Focus on Africa sports programme.
Quadri, who recently signed for a French top division club after five seasons in the Portuguese elite league with a lot of laurels in his kitty was lauded for his giant strides in 2014 and the first non-Asian and European to achieve such in the second edition of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Star Award held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Aruna Quadri during the ITTF Star Awards at the Armani Hotel at Burj Khalifa on January 7, 2015 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Aside being named the Star Player, he also scooped the Star Point of the Year award beating other top players across the world to the title.
The three minutes was filmed at the Portugal base of Quadri with focus on his training schedule and league matches for GD Toledos.
There was also focus on his family and his challenges as a player who defied all odds to become one of the best in the world.
The feature on BBC was also hailed by the President of ITTF, Thomas Weikert, describing Quadri as a pride to Africa.
For Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ITTF, Judit Farago, this is a plus to the sport globally.
“I woke up in Lausanne and switched on BBC World News in my hotel room. The first report I saw was Aruna Quadri’s portrait! Cannot imagine better start of a day,” said Farago.
Aruna Quadri recieving his Nigeria Sports Awards 2014 Award
President, Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Wahid Oshodi was so excited that he said he is proud of Quadri.
“I felt so proud when I saw it because no table tennis player from Africa has been featured like that on BBC. This is good for promotion of the sport on the continent,” Oshodi said.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) today announced that the regional development activities implemented by the ACC, currently based in Kuala Lumpur, will from 1 July 2015 be managed by the ICC, based in Dubai.
This decision was ratified during meetings of both the ICC and ACC this week in Dubai, with the change being in-line with a strategic desire for cricket’s global development to become more integrated. Several of the ACC Development staff will now take up roles with the ICC.
ICC’s Chief Executive David Richardson said, “The ACC’s development work has been fundamental to the growth and improvement of many Associate and Affiliate Members in Asia, particularly countries like Afghanistan, UAE and Nepal. We therefore look forward to building on this success in order for cricket to become even stronger across the region.”
ACC Vice President John Cribbin said, “It has become clear that world cricket is becoming more unified, and with that in mind, it was felt best to integrate the development work of the ACC with the ICC’s Development Programme. We are very proud of what our development team has achieved over many years, and because of this, we believe cricket across Asia has never been in a better position.
“The ACC Executive Board also expresses its sincere thanks to the CEO, Ash Huq, and his staff for all their contributions.”
The Asia Cup will continue to be hosted by the ACC, with the next edition planned to take place in 2016, and subsequent editions in 2018, 2020 and 2022. Qualification processes for Associate and Affiliate Members to play in the Asia Cup are also currently being considered.
Members of the Dolphins FC team will return to Lagos in two batches after the Confederation of African Football, CAF ratified their disqualification from the Confederation Cup.
As soon as the CAF decision got to us, we went to the airport to re-book our tickets to Lagos but were told that we could not get as many as 27 seats on the plane.
Dolphins
We were however able to get 14 seats on the plane and the head coach of the team, Stanley Eguma led 10 players and 3 officials out of Tunisia at 2,30 pm on Thursday, March 19, 2015.
They will have a brief stopover in Dubai and arrive in Lagos at about noon on Friday, March, 20.
Dubai (UAE) will welcome the global diving elite for the second stop of the FINA/NVC Diving World Series at the superb Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Sport Complex from March 19-21, 2015. Dubai has been a regular host of the Series since 2012.
Last week in Beijing, China walked away with 13 medals, 10 of them gold, making a strong statement at this start of the season. With five more meets spanning until May and the 16th FINA World Championships in Kazan (RUS) in July, the world’s medal hopefuls and rising talents will have the opportunity to assess their closest rivals ahead of the big meet.
In Dubai, a total 66 (37 men and 29 women) divers will compete in 10 events. Among those to watch in Dubai are current World champions He Chong and Qiu Bo (CHN), Olympic champions Ilya Zakharov (RUS) and David Boudia (USA), and Olympic bronze medallist Thomas Daley (GBR). Top qualifiers among women include Olympic champions Wu Minxia and Chen Ruolin (CHN), Olympic medallists Paola Espinosa (MEX) and Pandelela Rinong (MAS), and World medallists Pamela Ware (CAN) and Yulia Prokopchuk (UKR).
The men’s and womens’ 3m and 10m synchro take place on day 1 (Thursday March 19) and are held as direct finals. Springboard events, including the new mixed 3m synchro, are scheduled on day 2 (Friday March 20) and platform events, also featuring a mixed 10m synchro, on day 3 (Saturday March 21).
All finals will be streamed live and free of charge on FINAtv and on iPhone/iPad (LIVE+ application @appstore)
The ICC Board will gather at the ICC headquarters in Dubai on 28 and 29 January for the first round of meetings of 2015. In the lead up to these meetings, various other committee meetings, including the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) meeting, will take place.
The following is the schedule of the meetings:
– Chief Executives’ Committee (Sun & Mon)
– HR & Remuneration Committee, Governance Review Committee, Finance & Commercial Affairs Committee and Executive Committee (Tues)
– Executive Committee, Special meeting of Full Council and ICC Board (Wed)
– IBC/IDI Boards (Thurs)
Some of the key issues likely to be discussed this week include:
· outcomes from the ICC CEC on matters relating to the FTP, ICC Cricket Committee composition, the application of the ICC Code of Conduct at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and player safety (helmets, minimum medical standards);
· updates on illegal bowling actions, anti-corruption and anti-doping matters;
· final preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015; and
· various Member issues.
The ICC Board consists of the nominated representatives of each of the 10 Full Members plus three elected Associate Member representatives. The meeting is chaired by Mr Narayanaswami Srinivasan. Also present are the ICC President and the ICC Chief Executive.
ICC Chairman Narayanaswami Srinivasan
ICC President Mustafa Kamal
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson
Australia Wally Edwards
Bangladesh Nazmul Hassan
England Giles Clarke
India Narayanaswami Srinivasan
New Zealand Greg Barclay
Pakistan Shaharyar M. Khan
South Africa Chris Nenzani
Sri Lanka Jayantha Dharmadasa
West Indies Dave Cameron
Zimbabwe Wilson Manase
Associate Member Director (Bermuda) Neil Speight
Associate Member Director (Namibia) Francois Erasmus
Associate Member Director (Singapore) Imran Khawaja
The CEC comprises the Chief Executives of the 10 Full Members as well as three Associate Member representatives. Also present is the ICC Chief Executive who chairs the meeting, and, by invitation, the ICC Chairman, the Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee and the Chair of the ICC Women’s Committee.
ICC Chief Executive (Chairman) David Richardson
ICC Chairman (ex Officio) Narayanaswami Srinivasan
ICC Cricket Committee Chairman (ex Officio) Anil Kumble
Australia Wally Edwards*
Bangladesh Nizam Uddin Chowdhury
England Tom Harrison
India Sanjay Patel
New Zealand David White
Pakistan Subhan Ahmed
South Africa Haroon Lorgat
Sri Lanka Nishantha Ranatunga
West Indies Michael Muirhead
Zimbabwe Wilfred Mukondiwa
Associate Member Representative John Cribbin
Associate Member Representative Warren Deutrom
Associate Member Representative David East
*alternate to James Sutherland
Apologies
Clare Connor (Chair of ICC Women’s Committee)
…Team Returns To Nigeria…Yemen Coach Concedes Defeat
After two exciting friendly games against Cote D’ Ivoire In Abu Dhabi and Yemen in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), losing the former 1-0 and winning the latter by 2-0, the Super Eagles made up entirely of professional players from the Nigeria Premier League have commended the leadership of the NFF under Amaju Pinnick, for the friendlies even as it has asked for the sustenance of friendly games culture.
Speaking on behalf of his teammates, Skipper of the side, Chigozie Agbim, said all the players were very happy that they were not redundant in January, following the mishap of non-qualification for the ongoing Nations Cup championship in Equatorial Guinea.
He said he was speaking the minds of his teammates, who made the same remarks after the friendly against Yemen on Saturday in Dubai. “All the players were unanimous in saying that playing friendly games is a way of making the team jell together and building the unity of the team, the coaching staff and the ensuring that the players are active throughout the year.”
Super Eagles Training
“What we want to demand is that this laudable development should not be a one off thing. We want a sustenance of the culture of friendly matches in the Nigerian soccer system, so that we will get to know ourselves better and we will not have the problem of blending when we have crucial qualifying games like it happened in the ACN qualifiers”.
The team returned home on Sunday, with Assistant Coach, Dan ‘The Bull’ Amokachi, like Stephen Keshi admonishing the players to keep the same level of discipline and focus at their various club sides if they hope to receive future invitations to the national team. He praised the team’s level of concentration during the friendlies and said it must be sustained at their various clubsides in the course of building a more virile national team.
Yemen Coach, Miroslav Skopp, who is a Czech, also had kind words for the Nigerian side, even as he conceded defeat to the reigning African champions. “Your team played tactically and technically well, as expected they were hard on the ball and they deserve to win” he said in Dubai on Saturday night.
Hope Akpan, credit Reading fc.co.uk
Hope Akpan Awaits Final Clearance For Action…Eagles Medics Keep Tabs On Star
Reading of England midfielder, Hope Akpan, has started training with his club’s first team in the United Kingdom and should be cleared fit to resume competitive football action by the end of this month, Super Eagles doctor, Ibrahim Gyaran, declared at the weekend.
Doctor Gyaran, who said he has been mandated by the Nigeria Football Federation to keep tabs on all injured national team players, said he has been following up on Akpan after the star midfielder pulled a shoulder in the Super Eagles 2-0 away win over Congo Brazzaville in Pointe Noire in the run-up to the ongoing Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea.
He noted that it has become a tradition in the NFF and the Super Eagles for officials to keep tabs on the welfare of players in particular and the entire staff of the team in general. “Team’s Administrator, Dayo Enebi Achor, has been working on that alongside the Head Coach and the medical team to ensure that players and officials of the national team are in good health at all times”, he said.
He further announced that following his interaction with Akpan, he got to know that he has a final clearance to do with doctors in England by the end of January to enable him resume active football action with his clubside. “I want to re-emphasise that Hope Akpan has started active training with the first team of Reading and only awaits final clearance from the doctors who operated on his shoulder by the end of this month to resume full action with his club side”, Gyaran declared.
Following the last minute withdrawal of the Sudanese national team from the international friendly against the Nigerian side, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has moved swiftly to ensure that the team plays a game on Saturday, January 17 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The team will now tackle the Yemini national side on the same date.
Sudan, which gave no reasons for its sudden withdrawal was scheduled to play Nigeria January 17 and Finland, January 22, both games were scheduled for Dubai. But Team Administrator, Dayo Enebi Achor, said in order not to distort the schedule of the national team for the New Year, Yemen was approached and accepted to play the Eagles and later Finland on the scheduled dates.
The Nigeria versus Yemen game will be played at the Sevens Stadium in the bubbling city of Dubai. Already, The Secretary General of the Yemen Football Federation, Dr Hamid Alshaibani, has sent a letter to the organizers a copy which was made available to the NFF accepting to test the might of his side against the reigning African Champions.
Already, the Super Eagles, who lost narrowly by 0-1 to Cote D’ Ivoire last Sunday have since arrived Dubai to prepare for the game against the Yemeni side. The team arrived Dubai by road on Tuesday afternoon and are staying at the Time Grand Plaza Hotel.
Following the departure of Warri Wolves striker, Gbolahan Salami, to go and firm up details of his contract with a Serbian side, 19 players and their officials led by NFF Technical Committee Chairman, Chief Felix Anyansi Agwu and Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, the NFF, Head Technical Department made the trip to Dubai. Assistant Coach, Dan ‘the Bull’ Amokachi, gave the players an off day Tuesday but declared that rigorous training for the game against Yemen will resume on Wednesday.
UAE Trip Excites Eagles, Salute NFF
Super Eagles players who made it to the United Arab Emirates for the double header friendly against Cote D’ Ivoire and Yemen, have been heaping praises on the leadership of theNFF for the forward looking approach to the national team.
The players said the mere fact that the team did not make it to the Equatorial Guinea 2015 Nations Cup was enough to demoralize the NFF, but the Executive Committee and the Secretariat of the body, still thought it wise to arrange a January outing for the team, almost the same time the Nations Cup will be starting.
Super eagles Abu Dhabi Training
Team Captain Chigozie Agbim and his deputy Azubuike Egwuekwe who spoke on behalf of the players said they are delighted with the trip and the first class facilities that the team have been exposed to in the course of the friendly games. “We must say a big thank you to the NFF for this visionary move and all we can say is forgive the team for not qualifying and we vow that it will never happen again in our time”, Agbim declared.
Egwuekwe added: We know we are better than most of the teams that are going to the Nations Cup but we made mistakes along the line and we must thank Nigerians for forgiving us and also thank the NFF for being forward looking despite the mishap, we will reward them next time with another Nations Cup win”, he said.
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