Sport

Students in Ibadan Express Excitement Over Sporting Activities

By Web News 442

By Dayo Adu

As part of activities marking the Children’s Day celebration, school children in Ibadan were treated to sporting activity at the Olubadan stadium .

The football novelty match which had in attendance school children from private schools and their parents experienced the frills and thrills of the round leather game as the participating teams displayed their talents and skills on the pitch.

Bukunmi Faniran displayed exceptional skills by scoring two goals to give his FC challenge team a lead over their counterpart from The Concord School.

The match which was played in junior ended in three goals to one with a braze from Jomiloju Babalola while Aanu Emmanuel scored the only goal for The Concord School.

In other matches played, Lead city secondary school team won the concord school team won both the intermediate and senior categories with one goal to Nill and five goals to one respectively.

Some of the children who spoke with radio Nigeria expressed excitement at the activity, saying it would boost their aspirations in life.

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Sport

Napoli Prepares Bumper Contract for Osimhen

By Web News 577

Italian Serie A leaders, Napoli, are set to offer Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen a new contract following speculations linking him away from the Stadio Maradona Stadium in the January transfer window.

According to reports, The Nigerian striker has been on the radar of several top clubs in the Premier League with Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle some of the few to have been linked with the Nigerian, but he is not considering the option of exiting the Italian outfit at the moment, noting that, he aims to win the league with Napoli.

Napoli rejected a €100m bid from Newcastle in January 2021 and La Gazzetta Dello Sport reports Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis is working on the renewal of Osimhen’s contract which expires in three years.

“De Laurentiis is working hard to renew his contract. The current constraint until 2025 would protect the club, but the salary of €4m net risks being too low not to lead the player into temptation,” Area Napoli reports.

The 23-year-old is a fundamental pivot of Luciano Spalletti’s side and Italian pundit Fabio Santini recently claimed that it will cost any potential club €120m to sign the Nigeria striker.

“In August, Osimhenr’s price seemed indispensable: €100m and it is to be believed that this glittering season will lead to further raising his quotation in view of the summer.”

Despite missing several games due to injury, Osimhen has been fantastic for the Partenopeans this season and has established himself as a prolific centre-forward, registering 10 goals and three assists in 14 appearances in all competitions this season.

He was also named the Best Young Player of the 2021/22 season beating Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, Leao of AC Milan and Sassuolo’s duo Gianluca Scamacca and Giacomo Raspadori to the prestigious award despite scoring fewer goals than the trio.

The Nigeria goal poacher has scored 38 goals in 76 appearances with the Parthenopeans since 2020.

With 18 goals, the highest by any player in the Serie A in 2022, the former Lille striker leads the list of highest goals scored in the year under review, not taking goals scored from the penalty spot into account.

Naples are the only unbeaten team in Serie A, having won 13 games, drawn two games and top the table with 41 points.

Punch/Taiwo Akinola

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Sport

Weak Regulatory Structure, Bane of Sports Development – Stakeholder

By Web News 419

A football promoter, Mr Churchill Oliseh has said challenges militating against football development in Nigeria are too numerous and beyond the capability of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and this will persist until a regulatory structure and framework are properly put in place.

In an interactive session with the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Osun State Chapter in Osogbo, Mr Oliseh said this would persist until a regulatory structure and framework were properly put in place.

The renowned football player agent who is also the  President of Ebedei Football Club said “you cannot continue to do the same thing the same way and expect a different result. This is why there hasn’t been concrete development in our football sector and why we struggle to raise a formidable team for the Nation.

“The Nigeria football governing body has been treating symptoms of the ailment and not the ailment itself. These problems will perpetually remain at apogee until the NFF takes a holistic look at them, identify these problems and approach them with corresponding solutions.

Explaining further, the former International Brewery Limited Ilesha first Choice Goalkeeper said many clubs in Nigeria did not have a framework or purpose of their establishment and this is why only the clubs owned and financed by the government thrive and were able to sustain the tempo.

“Nigeria teams lack proper structure. We can’t meet up with the global standard of the way football clubs are managed in Nigeria. In Europe, not all teams are fighting to win trophies and they are making money. The reverse is the case in Nigeria as the focus of most teams is to win the league. When you now look at the amount given to the league winners in Nigeria, it’s far below their expenditure in a season. So, where is the return on Investment here.? What’s now the gain?.  Until this is done, clubs will continue to be having challenges.”

The elder brother of former Super Eagles Captain, Sunday Oliseh urged whoever becomes the President of NFF to take a bull by the horn and restructure the football sector so that Nigeria can belong to the class of elite in the football world.

Adenitan  Akinola

Sport

Veteran Advocates Establishment of Sport Schools

By Web News 733

A veteran Sports Administrator, Pa Soba Akano has advocated the establishment of schools of sports across the federation.

Pa Akano who said this while speaking with Radio Nigeria pointed out that the schools would mainly focus on sports such as hockey, cricket and Athletics.

According to him, governments need to embark on catch them young approach for sports talents who should be nurtured in the schools of sports.

Pa Akano who was nicknamed ‘omosapamo’ during his playing days at the then Hercules football club of Ibadan in the fifties and later the Western Rovers, said he was awarded scholarship due to his dedication to football.

The retired educationist said he was very active in both football and Athletics with a record of one point one seconds recorded in a one hundred metres race. 

He stressed the need for sports administrators to always tap from the wealth of knowledge of veteran sports administrators in order to restore the glory of sports in Nigeria.

The ninety one year old senior citizen who is a retired civil servant, equally appealed to Oyo state and federal government to look into the nonpayment of his pensions for thirty two months.

Olaolu Fawole

Sport

Sport is a goldmine waiting to be tapped – Ogbomoso FC Chairman

By Web News 966

The need to invest more in sports to discover talents that will make the nation proud in the nearest future has been stressed

 The chairman of Ogbomoso United Football Club, Akinwale Akinwole, stated this while presenting kits to the players of the club.

 Akinwole said with heavy investment in sports, the country might hit another goldmine to develop its economy.

He said the gesture was to encourage players and prepare them for a better future in their football career.

“This is not the first time of doing this, I believe the players deserve the best treatment and I will never relent in my effort to make them happy,” he said.

The team Coach, Niyi Oyekale, said the chairman had not been found wanting in his role as a football lover, describing him as being capable, dutiful and responsible.

Also, the team’s captain Olamilekan Oyetunde promised that the new kits would further enhance their efforts at gaining promotion to the next tier of the country’s football.

Adedayo Adelowo

Sport

Gov. Makinde Pledges Sport Development in tackling Youth Restiveness

By Web News 824

Oyo state governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde says his administration will explore the area of sports to address youths’ restiveness in the state.

He stated this while receiving the winner of the just concluded World Feather Weight Boxing Championship, Rilwan Oyekola also known as scorpion on a courtesy call at the Agodi, Secretariat, Ibadan.

Addressing the delegation of the Local Organizing Committee of the World Boxing Federation (WBF) on the entourage of the world champion, governor Makinde promised to encourage more youths in sporting activities.

In a remark, the leader of the delegation and chairman, Local Organizing Committee of the World Boxing Federation (WBF) International Super Featherweight title bout, Mr. Olawale Okuniyi said it was a good thing that the competition happened again in the year 2020 after 57 years ago.

It would be recalled that Ilaji Stadium was filled to the capacity on the 27th of December, 2020 as Rilwan Oyekola coasted home to victory during the ten rounds boxing bout between him and his Argentine counterpart, Lucas Mathias.

Iyabo Adebisi

Sport

Oyo SWAN Congratulates Makinde over Election Victory

By Web News 964

The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, SWAN, Oyo State chapter has congratulated Oyo State Governor-elect, Engineer Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

In a congratulatory letter signed by Oyo State Chairman of SWAN, Olaolu Fawole, and made available to newsmen, members of the association described the victory of Engineer Seyi Makinde as a step that would give the sports sector a facelift.

Fawole said the sponsorship of SWAN five a side football competition by Engineer Makinde in 2013, was a laudable project that indicated that the Governor-elect would be a sports loving governor.

The association says welfare of Oyo State’s sports men and women, as well as sports programmes to discover more talents should be at the front burner of his administration.

He said two of the talents discovery sports programmes should be inter-school sport competitions and Local Government games for schools.

The association appeals to the Governor-elect not to forget the promise made sometime last year to reorganize the management of Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan and Crown FC of Ogbomoso to meet global standards.

The Oyo SWAN Chairman said the zeal of Engineer Makinde to work round the clock to make the darling club of Ibadan, Shooting Stars Sports Club and Crown FC of Ogbomoso compete for continental trophies by 2021 should not be a candle in the wind.

While expressing the undiluted support of sports writers in the state for the Governor-elect, the Chairman of SWAN in Oyo State, Olaolu Fawole prays for smooth transition of power on May 29, 2019.

Olaolu Fawole