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AFCONQ: Super Eagles’s poor treatment in Libya despicable -Dabiri-Erewa

Our Reporters6 months ago6 months ago03 mins

Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa has condemned the treatment meted out to the Super Eagles team by Libya authorities ahead of its second leg match slated for Tuesday in the country. She noted in a press statement that traveling by road in Libya is most dangerous and totally not advisable because of the current situation in the country. The team which left Nigeria on Sunday to Libya for their return match had their flight diverted to an innocuous airport far away from the venue of the match. The implication of the diversion will now be another three hours of road travel to the main venue of the match, not minding the risk of road travel in Libya, considering the situation of the war-torn country. Dabiri-Erewa said the safety of Nigerian players is paramount to the country and was optimistic that the Ministry of Sports and the NFF will advise appropriately. She also called on CAF to treat the matter with the seriousness it deserves. Already, the players, the pilots, and others on board the flight had been stranded and subjected to inhuman treatment at the airport for over 13 hours without water, food, rest, and other means of communication. The team was delayed at an airport in Libya for more than 13 hours without any tangible reason. The Super Eagles flight was redirected air borne on Sunday, and they were required to travel by road to their destination. However, there was no provision made for them by the Libya authorities, and all efforts to make alternative provisions by Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) was frustrated. Dabiri-Erewa appealed to the Super Eagles to remain calm and why the Nigerian Football Federation will decide the next line of action.

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

AFCONQ: Ekong cries out, as Eagles languish in Libya

Our Reporters6 months ago6 months ago03 mins

Super Eagles’ captain William Tristan-Ekong has called on Nigerian Government to urgently intervene and ensure their passage into Libya for their AFCON 2025 qualifying tie on Tuesday. According to reports, the team was denied access into Libya and has since been languishing at airport without basic amenities. Ekong who was disgusted by the act by the Libya authorities wrote; “12+ hours in an abandoned airport in Lybia after our plane was diverted whilst descending. “Lybian government rescinded our approved landing in Benghazi with no reason. They’ve locked the airport gates and left us without phone connection, food or drink. All to play mind games. “I’ve experienced stuff before playing away in Africa but this is disgraceful behaviour. Even the Tunisian Pilot who thankfully managed to navigate the last minute change to an airport not fit for our plane to land had never seen something like this before. “Upon arrival he tried to find a nearby airport to rest with his crew to be denied at every hotel again under Government instruction. He could sleep there but NO NIGERIAN crew members allowed. They have returned to now sleep on the plane which is parked up. “At this point we have called for our Nigerian Government to intervene and rescue us. As the captain together with the team we have decided that we will NOT play this game. “CAF should look at the report and what is happening here. Even if they decide to allow this kind of behaviour, let them have the points. We will not accept to travel anywhere by road here even with security it’s not safe. We can only imagine what the hotel or food would be like given to us IF we continued. “We respect ourselves and respect our opponents when they are our guests in Nigeria. Mistakes happen but these things on purpose have nothing to do with international football.”

21 Flamingos listed for U-17 FIFA Women World Cup

Our Reporters6 months ago6 months ago03 mins

Head Coach Bankole Olowookere has listed Captain Taiwo Afolabi and forwards Harmony Chidi and Peace Effiong in his 21-woman Flamingos’ roster for this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals in the Dominican Republic. The clinical Chidi scored 13 of the team’s record-setting 25 goals in the qualifying series, as the bronze medallists from the last edition of the championship in India barnstormed their way past Central African Republic, Burkina Faso and Liberia in the continental campaign. Petite midfielder Afolabi will lead the midfield, alongside Faridat Abdulwahab, Shakirat Moshood and Ayomide Rotimi, while first-choice goalkeeper Christiana Uzoma will have Sylvia Echefu and Elizabeth Boniface pushing her to her best all the time. Taiwo Adegoke leads six other defenders, with Harmony Chidi leading six other forwards including Peace Effiong. Nigeria will compete in Group A of the 16-nation finals alongside host nation Dominican Republic, Ecuador and New Zealand. The delegation of Flamingos will depart the shores of Nigeria aboard a Turkish Airlines flight on Tuesday, 1st October for a two-week training tour in Santo Domingo, capital city of the Dominican Republic, ahead of the commencement of the tournament. FLAMINGOS FOR FIFA U17 WORLD CUP DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 2024 Goalkeepers: Christiana Uzoma (Edo Queens); Elizabeth Boniface (Sunshine Queens); Sylvia Echefu (Confluence Queens) Defenders: Prisca Nwachukwu (Imo Strikers); Jumai Adebayo (Naija Ratels); Taiwo Adegoke (Remo Stars Ladies); Rokibat Azeez (New Generation Academy); Hannah Ibrahim (Remo Stars Ladies); Vivian Ekezie (Heartland Queens); Ololade Isiaka (Abia Angels) Midfielders: Taiwo Afolabi (Delta Queens); Faridat Abdulwahab (Nasarawa Amazons); Shakirat Moshood (Bayelsa Queens); Muinat Rotimi (Nakamura Football Academy) Forwards: Oghenemairo Obruthe (City Sports); Harmony Chidi (Imo Strikers); Kudirat Arogundade (Green Foot); Ramotalahi Kareem (Honey Badgers); Aishat Animashaun (Naija Ratels); Peace Effiong (Rivers Angels); Blessing Ifitezue (Delta Queens) FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup Dominican Republic 2024 Group A: Dominican Republic, Ecuador, New Zealand, Nigeria Group B: Spain, USA, Korea Republic, Colombia Group C: Korea DPR, Mexico, Kenya, England Group D: Japan, Poland, Brazil, Zambia

FIFA names 12 stadiums set to stage historic FIFA Club World Cup 2025

Our Reporters6 months ago6 months ago05 mins

FIFA has confirmed the 12 stadiums in the United States that will stage matches at the new FIFA Club World Cup 2025 when the 32 best clubs in the world play for the only official title of FIFA Club World Champions. The tournament kicks off on Sunday, 15 June 2025, with all roads leading to the MetLife Stadium in New York New Jersey on Sunday, 13 July 2025 where the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ final will be played, just over a year before the venue stages the FIFA World Cup 26™ final. This venue is joined by 11 more – Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta), Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte), TQL Stadium (Cincinnati), Rose Bowl Stadium (Los Angeles), Hard Rock Stadium (Miami), GEODIS Park (Nashville), Camping World Stadium (Orlando), Inter&Co Stadium (Orlando), Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia), Lumen Field (Seattle), and Audi Field (Washington, D.C.). “Football is the most popular sport on the planet, and in 2025 a new era for club football will kick off when FIFA stages the greatest, most inclusive and merit-based global club competition right here in the United States,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who made the announcement at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, New York while simultaneously announcing FIFA’s new four-year partnership with Global Citizen to mobilise football fans globally to help end extreme poverty and provide access to education for millions of children. “The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 will feature 12 fantastic stadiums where a new chapter in football’s global history will be written by great players from the 32 best clubs in the world,” Mr Infantino continued. “This new FIFA competition is the only true example in worldwide club football of real solidarity and inclusivity, allowing the best clubs from Africa, Asia, Central and North America and Oceania to play the powerhouses of Europe and South America in an incredible new World Cup which will impact enormously the growth of club football and talent globally. “This is about opportunity and hope for those who need it most, and also about prestige and true football for those who make our sport shine. My thanks go to all. We never discriminate; we include everyone. This is the true spirit of the brand new FIFA Club World Cup. “It has been an honour to make this significant tournament announcement before an enormous, energetic crowd at the Global Citizen Festival here in New York. The fans of the 32 competing clubs will create a similar buzz at the FIFA Club World Cup next year when we take it to the world,” the FIFA President concluded. With the draw set for December, just two of the 32 teams are yet to be confirmed: one from South America, the other representing the host country. Further information regarding the draw, which will see the 32 best clubs in the world divided into eight exciting groups of four, will be released in due course. The tournament match schedule will be published shortly after the draw.

120 players drilled at FIFA Talent Development Scheme

Our Reporters7 months ago7 months ago04 mins

The Nigeria Football Federation has successfully completed a two-week training program for the National U15 Boys, otherwise known as Future Eagles in Abuja. This is in line with FIFA’s Talent Development Scheme (TDS) initiative aimed at creating a sustainable legacy for long-term talent development in the country. Head of TDS delegation in Nigeria, Mr. Nasiru Jibril, a former Nigeria international, said the program is a welcome development which will serve as a pathway for every child within the ages of 12-15 to showcase themselves and be discovered. With the main goal of the TDS project being to help raise the standards of national-team football around the world for both men and women, which is driven by FIFA’s desire for a long-term dedication to global talent development, Jibril said he is confident the program will form the major plank for supplies to our senior national teams in no distant time. “Talent Development Scheme (TDS) is a project initiated by FIFA in all countries of the world to benefit places like Africa. Presently, we are trying to go round and give every single child the opportunity to showcase their talent. “Players from the ages of 12, 13, and 14 are the ones we are bringing to this center so we can pick the best out of them and build them into a group where the national teams will be getting supplies from. From 2025, the U17 AFCON will become an annual project, and if there is no program like this, any country may struggle in assembling the best legs to represent her.” Also speaking, Head Coach of Nigeria’s U15 national team, Mr Patrick Bassey said the process of recruitment has been transparent with merit as key factor, without any form of bias or sentiments. “In the selection of the players, there has not been any sentiment; every player that was scouted and brought here has the talent, the skill and the commitment to the game. I believe these players will be very useful to the nation in the long run.” A total of 120 players divided into two batches were invited to camp for the first phase of the program, with 40 players to be selected for another schedule before the end of the year, according to Coach Bassey.

Colombia 2024: Germany thrashes Falconets in Bogota

Our Reporters7 months ago7 months ago03 mins

Two goals in the final half-hour steered three-time champions Germany to a 3-1 victory over Nigeria in their FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup Group D clash at the Estadio Metropolitano de Techo in Bogota on Wednesday night. Nigeria could have gone ahead in the second minute after they snatched the ball from an onslaught by the Germans, but Chiamaka Okwuchukwu failed to beat goalkeeper Rebecca Adamczyk, after shunning the option of passing to team- mates running on goal. After Germany came close in the 10th minute, Rofiat Imuran raced down the left but her cross failed to find Okwuchukwu. Schitler then put the Germans in front in the 17th minute, when she nodded home an inch-perfect cross from the right with goalkeeper Shukura Bakare in no man’s land. There were opportunities at both ends as the game wore on, but Nigeria wasted another great chance to pull level in added time of the first half, when Rofiat Imuran again raced down the left, only to see goalkeeper Adamczyk stop her weak effort with a right-handed smack. Five minutes into the second half, Nigeria were level when Jalla Veit and Adamczyk blundered at the rear to allow Okwuchukwu to race towards an open goal and notch her first strike of the tournament. Germany restored their lead in the 61st minute, with Zoebell poking the ball past Bakare from a teasing cross, in-between two Falconets’ defenders. Okwuchukwu thought she had secured the leveller two minutes later, when she lashed the ball past Adamczyk after cutting in from the right, only to be ruled off-side. The Germans would make it 3-1 in added time, through Ernst’s flying header off a cross from the right that left Bakare rooted to the spot. In the event, the Germans secured their slot in the Round of 16, having earlier defeated Venezuela 5-2 on Matchday 1. Next for the Falconets is a clash with Venezuela in Cali on Saturday evening.