All sports stories from Naija – Latest from the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), Nigerian Super Eagles and Super Falcons preparations for the FIFA World Cups, and the Nigeria athletes compete at the Commonwealth Games, Olympics and the IAAF World Championships.
The much anticipated date for the commencement of Zaria Polo tournament has been fixed. The management of the club has said the Polo tournament will take place between April 6 and 13, 2013 at its traditional venue Zaria Polo Ground, Muhammadu Aminu Squ...
The President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Alhaji Aminu Maigari has described the controversy that trailed the purported resignation of the Super Eagles Chief Coach Stephen Keshi as unfortunate. The NFF president was speaking to sports writ...
Oscar Pistorius, 26 is accused of murdering Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day and will appear again in court today. The City Press newspaper claims police have asked for blood taken from Pistorius to be tested for steroids in ...
Chelsea interim boss Rafael Benitez and captain John Terry have called reports of a rift between them “rubbish”. A report on Sunday claimed Terry and Benitez clashed earlier this month, but the pair say they are on good terms. Terry made on...
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has said he is currently “the best manager in England”. He said he is not facing any sack. City is out of European competition and face a battle to retain the Premier League title, with Manchester United...
The Nigeria Football Federation has said insinuations that the NFF was at war with the national team make-up during the SA 2013 tournament was far from the truth as the NFF President and most of his board members attended virtually all the training ses...
Nigeria U-20 have left out AFCON star Kenneth Omeruo from a 30-man provisional squad for the 2013 African Youth Championship. The biennial championship, which kicks off in Algeria from March 16, will produce four African representatives for the FIFA U2...
The captain of the victorious Super Eagles, Joseph Yobo spoke to Salifu Usman about his views on the concluded 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and said he plans to retire from the national team after 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Excerpts Before th...
The Nigerian football fraternity was thrown into confusion on Monday night while expecting the return of victorious Super Eagles from South Africa following their victory in the 2013 AFCON tournament. The news was that coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi ha...
Rafael Benitez wants Chelsea to be more clinical following their 1-0 Europa League win at Sparta Prague. Oscar came off the bench to score the winner eight minutes from time and leave last season’s European champions well placed to reach the last...
Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan has commended the Super Eagles for their wonderful performance that earned them the trophy of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament held in South Africa.
Uduaghan, who gave the commendation when the Super Eagles paid him a courtesy visit on Thursday in Asaba, noted that Nigerians did not give the team any chance of doing well in the championship.
He expressed delight that the team surprised everybody by bringing the trophy home and did not allow the situation to discourage them.
Uduaghan commended Coach Stephen Keshi for his leadership role and assured the team of the Delta government's support.
The governor announced that a parcel of land had been approved for Keshi and that the state would not only provide the land but would also build the house.
``We are not just giving the land, we will also ensure that we put the structure in place; this will enable you to visit home frequently,’’ he said.
Uduaghan called for the mentoring of young players ``since it is the younger ones that will take over from the present crop of players’’.
Responding, Keshi expressed delight at being honoured by his state government.
``I am truly happy to be here; I am glad to be in my own state and whatever we did in South Africa was for all Nigerians.
``When I took over this job, my aim was to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians,’’ he said.
He thanked Uduaghan and the government of Delta for the land and proposed building.
The Nigeria Football Association (NFA) said on Thursday in Abuja that there was no going back on its plan to hire a foreign technical director for the national teams.
Mr Emaka Inyama, a board member and Chairman of NFA Media and Publicity Committee, said there had not been any rebuttal to the arrangement since Musa Amadu, the General Secretary of the NFA, disclosed the plan in 2012.
Inyama, who was fielding questions from journalists at news conference, said that the idea was to have a template for football development in the country.
``There has not been any rebuttal since the general secretary said so; so, we are going ahead with the plan.
``What we have always said is that there is a need for us to develop a structure and a template for football development in this country.
``That is the beauty of a technical director. He doesn’t coach the teams but he will be able to say this is the mode of scouting, equipment and so on.
``Every federation in the world has it; even at club level, they do it (employ technical director) and I don't think there is anything wrong with it,’’ Inyama said.
The NFA board member, who is also the chairman of the Nigerian National League (NNL), said there was no need for the hues and cries by Nigerians on the matter, as it would not interfere with the job of any coach.
On Keshi’s resignation saga, Inyama explained that his job as the Super Eagles’ Head Coach was intact.
``The programme we gave to you was submitted by Keshi, if we have plans to do away with him, we will not ask him to submit his programme for 2014 and the World Cup.
``If Keshi was to go, will you pay him ahead to motivate him without holding back?
``If there are issues, can’t they be resolved. Should they be a national issue after we won the trophy?
According to him, the NFA should be commended for the feat achieved by the Super Eagles’ rather than being criticised.
Inyama, however, advised Nigerians to criticise the board constructively, adding that the Eagles’ excelled in South Africa because of the enabling environment provided by the NFA for it to succeed.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Keshi has expressed concern over the plan by the NFA to hire a foreign technical director for the national team.
There are also fears that the foreigner can usurp the job of the coach.
The Nigeria Football Association (NFA) on Thursday said the body would ensure that the Flying Eagles retained the forthcoming African Youth Championship trophy billed for Algeria in March. Chief Emeka Inyama, the Chairman NFA Media and Publicity Commit...
NFF President Aminu Maigari says he has not spoken to Stephen Keshi since the coach announced his shock resignation on Monday evening.
Telecommunications tycoon Michael Adenuga yesterday morning rewarded the victorious Super Eagles with a cash gift of $1 million. Nigeria on Sunday night pipped Burkina Faso 1-0 to clinch their third Nations Cup title 19 years after their last triumph. ...