CAF Archives | Page 12 of 13

Super Eagles held hostage in Libya

Our Reporters6 months ago6 months ago02 mins

Members of the Nigeria’s Super Eagles have been languishing for over 13 hours without basic amenities at Libyan airport, Trendbrio.com have reliably gathered. The team departed Nigeria on Sunday for the reverse fixture of the AFCON 2025 qualifier against Libya are still held at the airport as at press time. Sources close to the Nigeria Football Federation hinted that about an hour to landing, the Nigerian side aircraft approaching its destination, Benghazi was diverted to another city more than two hour drive from the original destination. The Nigerian lads were also denied from gaining access into the country by the Libyan authorities for over 13 hours. Leverkusen of Germany striker, Victor Boniface, who led the Super Eagles attack in the first leg lamented the poor treatment on his X handle. He wrote; “Been at the airport for almost 13 hours no food no wifi no where to sleep “Africa we can do better @CAF.”

AFCON 2025 qualifiers: Dele-Bashiru rescues Super Eagles against Libya

Our Reporters6 months ago6 months ago02 mins

A lone striker by Fisayo Dele-Bashiru was all the Super Eagles needed to pip resilient Libya national team at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo on Friday. The Nigerian side had laboured to hit the back of the net before the Lazio FC midfielder struck in the 87th minute of the tie. The win keeps Nigeria on top of the Group D with 7 points ahead of Benin Republic on 6points. Nigeria needs an outright victory over Libya in Benghazi on Tuesday to punch her qualifying ticket to the next edition of AFCON in Morocco. Ballon d’Dor nominee Ademola Lookman and Victor Boniface were listed to lead Super Eagles assaults against Libya. Stanley Nwabali retained his place between the sticks for Nigeria. The South African based goalie also got cover from the defence led by William Tristan Ekong, Ola Aina, Calvin Bassey and Bruno Onyemaechi. Usual suspects like Alex Iwobi, Frank Onyeka, Wilfred Ndidi, Moses Simon were assigned the midfield role.

Morocco 2025: Osimhen, Ekong, Ndidi, others to battle Benin Republic, Rwanda

AFCON 2025: Super Eagles feast on Libya

Our Reporters6 months ago6 months ago04 mins

Nigeria will host Libya in a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo this evening. The Super Eagles will be aiming to extend their unbeaten start to the AFCON qualifiers, while the visitors are still seeking their first win of the qualifying campaign. Nigeria followed up a 3-0 victory over Benin Republic in their opening match of the AFCON qualifiers with a goalless draw away at Rwanda a couple of days later. The Super Eagles top Group D with four points and are the only team yet to concede a goal in the group, and a double header victory over Libya will see them move clear and edge closer to securing qualification. This will be the fifth meeting between Nigeria and Libya, with the Super Eagles winning all four previous encounters, including two games in the AFCON qualifiers back in 2018. Augustine Eguavoen, who was appointed on an interim basis to lead the team, has retained his position and has been tasked with guiding Nigeria to the 2025 AFCON in Morocco. Nigeria finished as runners-up at the last AFCON edition and have lost just one of their last 14 AFCON qualifying matches – a run they will hope to extend on Saturday. Libya were held to a 1-1 draw by Rwanda in their opening match of the AFCON qualifiers before losing 2-1 to Benin in their second match. The Mediterranean Knights took the lead in the ninth minute from the spot via Faisal Al Badri, but a 12-minute spell in the second half saw them concede two goals that cost them the game. Head coach Milutin Sredojevic will hope his side picks up valuable points against Nigeria as they look to end their 12-year AFCON absence. Libya’s last appearance in the continental showpiece came back in 2012, but they are currently bottom of Group D with one point and will have to quickly turn things around if they are to end this run. Nigeria possible XI: Nwabali; Ekong, Ajayi, Bassey; Aina, Ndidi, Onyedika, Onyemaechi; Lookman, Boniface, Chukwueze Libya possible XI: Al Wuhayshi; Elkouri, Yusuf, Erteiba, Al Mabrouk; Al Badri, Al Shreimy; Salama, Al Khoja, Al Gleib; Krawaa

NFF dismisses Libya’s poor treatment claims, insists Libya caused own problems

Our Reporters6 months ago6 months ago03 mins

The Nigeria Football Federation has rejected claims of poor treatment on arrival in Nigeria by the captain of the Libya senior men national team, Faisal Al-Badri. NFF insists the Libyan Football Federation created chaos for its own team, the Mediterranean Knights. NFF’s Assistant Director (Protocol), Mr. Emmanuel Ayanbunmi said the Libya Federation only informed the NFF that its team was landing in Port Harcourt, and not Uyo, only three hours to the team’s arrival on Tuesday. “I spoke to the General Secretary of LFF, at length, on Monday, 7th October and he never hinted that his team would be arriving on Tuesday (the following day). He only said he would get back to me but he never did. On Monday evening, someone sent as an advance party by the LFF called me and said his team would be arriving on Tuesday by noon. We made all arrangements to receive the team in Uyo on arrival. “It was only an hour after the team was airborne that he told me the delegation would be landing in Port Harcourt. That disrupted so many things, but we still raced on hurdles to get approval from federal authorities to allow their plane to fly them to Uyo once they concluded immigration formalities in Port Harcourt. Apparently, that would have meant additional cost to the LFF from the charter company, and they didn’t want that, so they preferred to travel from Port Harcourt to Uyo by road.” Ayanbunmi added that the Libyan delegation jettisoned road transportation arrangements made for them by the NFF and instead hired buses on their own. “If they travelled on buses that were not air-conditioned, that had nothing to do with the NFF as they hired their own buses. We provided security for them, with men and vehicles in front and behind their buses, so we are unmoved about their complaints and threats.”

CHAN 2024 qualifiers: Nigeria, Ghana renew rivalry

Our Reporters6 months ago6 months ago02 mins

Nigeria has been drawn against their eternal rivals, Ghana in the Second Round of the CAF African Nations Championship qualifiers. The draw held on Wednesday paired the two West African countries together. Ghana will host Nigeria in the first leg between 20th and 22nd of December, while the reverse fixture is slated 27th and 29th of the same month. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will host the tournament between 01 – 28 February 2025. Since its 2009 inception, the CHAN tournament has been an exceptional platform of showcasing the world-class talent and quality of African football as well as its ever-evoling landscape. Algeria played host to the last edition of the tournament which drew thousands of supporters, millions of global audiences and digital engagement as a result of the rising popularity and quality of the tournament. In line with CAF’s key objective of increasing the commercial strength of its competitions, the CAF CHAN competition has also seen an increased rise in commercial value. This has also been supported by CAF’s 60% increase in the tournament’s prize money that sees the winners walking away with $2 Million.

CDS tourney: Rivers Hoopers advance to quarterfinals

Our Reporters7 months ago7 months ago03 mins

Rivers Hoopers have qualified for the quarterfinals of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Independence Basketball Championship after they defeated Bauchi Nets 55-50 at the Mo Arena on Thursday. The Ogoh Odaudu-led team started the game with consecutive three-pointers to end the first quarter with a one-point lead, 13-12. The second quarter was a low-scoring game for the two teams who failed to score, but it was Hoopers who took a three-point lead (22-19) to the break. Rivers Hoopers head coach Ogoh Odaudu was disappointed in his team, who played with less aggression against Nets. Asked about how he felt about the two wins against City Chiefs and Bauchi Nets, Odaudu said, “We played terribly in both games, but it was expected we have not played competitive basketball since we finished for the Basketball Africa League, so I didn’t expect anything less. We will keep working, getting better, and pushing hard. The KingsMen were down by five with two minutes left to play but crawled their way back at crunch time to seal their spot in the quarterfinals. ”It’s a great tournament, and we are using it to test ourselves and how far we can go. It is a good practice session for us ahead of the league later this month. Odaudu made comparisons between their two opening games played on Wednesday and Thursday (today). ”We didn’t play very well; yesterday’s game was more experienced than the team we played today. It was a lack of aggression on our part that happened today.” The Hoopers boss said he has two targets for the CDS tournament and hopes to accomplish both. ”Our goal is to see how our team is and to win the prize money attached to the tournament. It will be good to kill two birds with one stone.Test our team, get prepared for the league, and win the prize money, but every team comes with the intent of winning, and ours is a podium finish. The KingsMen will play their last group game against Gilali on Friday.

CAF CHAN 2024 draw to hold on October 9

Our Reporters7 months ago7 months ago02 mins

The CAF African Nations Championship 2024 Qualifiers draw has been scheduled on Wednesday, 09 October 2024. The draw will be conducted at 14h00 Cairo time (11h00 GMT). Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will host the tournament between 01 – 28 February 2025. Ahead of the finals, two rounds of qualifiers will take place on a home and away basis. The first round of qualifiers will be played on the weekend of 25 – 27 October and 01 – 03 November 2024, with the second round confirmed for 20 – 22 December and 27 – 29 December 2024. Since its 2009 inception, the CHAN tournament has been an exceptional platform of showcasing the world-class talent and quality of African football as well as its ever-evoling landscape. Algeria played host to the last edition of the tournament which drew thousands of supporters, millions of global audiences and digital engagement as a result of the rising popularity and quality of the tournament. In line with CAF’s key objective of increasing the commercial strength of its competitions, the CAF CHAN competition has also seen an increased rise in commercial value. This has also been supported by CAF’s 60% increase in the tournament’s prize money that sees the winners walking away with $2 Million. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania’s hosting of the competition also serves as an opportunity for the three nations to fine-tune their preparations for the hosting of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2027.

Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania to host CHAN 2024

Our Reporters7 months ago7 months ago02 mins

The Confederation African Football (CAF) has confirmed that Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania as co-host Nations of the CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN). The Africa Nations Championship will be played between 01- 28 February 2025. The host stadiums and training venues will be confirmed in due course. The road to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will kick-off with the first round of Qualifiers on the weekend of 25-27 October 2024 and 01-013 November 2024. The Second Round of the Qualifiers will be played on 20-22 December and 27-27 December 2024. The qualification slots for the tournament have been allocated as follows: Zones WAFU A, WAFU B, UNAF, UNIFFAC, and COSAFA will each have three qualifying teams. The CECAFA zone, which includes the three host countries, will receive an additional slot due to their automatic qualification as hosts. As a result, the total number of teams qualifying for the final tournament will be increased to 19 teams. Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania will participate in the Qualifiers and in addition to their automatic qualification as hosts, the team achieving the best result in the CECAFA qualifiers will also advance to the final tournament.