Switzerland based Nigerian gaffer, Anthony Adeyemi has charged the Nduka Ugbade led Golden Eaglets technical crew to go and upgrade themselves after they failed to lead the team to the FIFA U17 World Cup. Adeyemi who spoke on Afro Sports TV early this week from his base blamed the Eaglets technical crew for the team’s exit insisting that the players were individually good. In his words…”Our failure to qualify for the U17 World Cup is very sad. We went to Algeria with very talented players. The players were individually very good but in football coaching has a big role to play. The team kept making the same mistakes that saw them concede goals at the group stage. The shape of our defense was poor all through and it is obvious the coaching crew had no plan B and C depending on the opposition. One thing is clear, you can not give what you don’t have. My advice to the technical crew is that they should go and upgrade themselves.” Adeyemi stressed that with quality coaching Nigeria would have gone all the way in the cadet tournament. “The technical input from the bench was poor. They didn’t read the games well even when we paraded players with individual quality. For me, given the kind of players we have, we should have beaten any team out there in Algeria.”

Okpekpe road race organizers restate rules and regulations for May 27 event

Organizers of the ninth edition of the gold label Okpekpe international 10km road race have restated that the May 27, 2023 historic event will be conducted strictly in accordance with the rules and regulations of World Athletics. The organizers also warned intending runners that the use of the temporary timing chip that will be attached to their running bibs is compulsory. ‘The race number and temporary timing chip are linked to the name and finishing time such that allowing another person to compete with your number will result in disqualification of the other person and your exclusion from next year’s event,’ said Zack Amodu, the race director. Amodu revealed distance markers will be placed at each kilometer mark. The race director also revealed the pre-race technical meeting with the international elite athletes and their representatives will hold a day to the race. ‘This is very crucial to the succesful organisation of the race because it is where all arrangements for the race viz the warm-up schedule, configuration of refreshment stations and how to reach the finish line in case of drop-out among other things are communicated to the international and local elite athletes,’ revealed Amodu. According to the race director, the elite athletes are also free to provide their own refreshments and can nominate at which stations they shall be made available to them. ‘We are sticking, again, with the recommendation of World Athletics that personalised bibs with names of the elite athletes will be provided for them to wear on race day.’ Amodu is confident of another hugely successful race on Saturday May 27 in Okpekpe. He said organisers are ready with the additional responsibilty that comes with organising a gold label race. ‘This will be the first gold label 10km road race to be organized in Nigeria and we are up to the task of organising another world class event,’ assured Amodu. The Okpekpe international 10km road race is the first road running event in Nigeria to be granted a label status which signifies its world class status.

NPFL: No team will enjoy undue advantage ahead Super 6 -Elegbeleye

Chairman of league’s Interim Management Committee (IMC) Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye says the body won’t allow any team to enjoy undue advantage ahead of the Lagos Super 6. Elegbeleye in a release by the media department of IMC said this informed the decision of the body to rejig the fixtures of match day 18. “The season ending Super 6 will hold in Lagos and we don’t want any Group to enjoy the advantage of extended rest period after playing their last group games,” Elegbeleye told IMC media. Going by the new arrangement, all MatchDay 18 fixtures will now be decided May 21. In a letter informing the NPFL Clubs of the fixture rearrangement, the IMC also noted that Federation Cup games of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have also impacted the commencement of the Super 6 start date. While regretting the disruption to the schedule of the clubs, the IMC said it has however afforded the league a window to harmonise the fixtures of the regular season end matches. Chairman of the (IMC), Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye clarified that the decision was to ensure that the regular season is concluded on the same date before the commencement of the Super 6.

Five countries to host Jordan Nwora elite basketball camp

Organisers of the annual Jordan Nwora elite basketball camp have selected six cities in five countries to host the third edition of the camp. According to the camp Director, Col. Sam Ahmedu (Rtd) two cities, Onitsha and Lagos in Nigeria, along with Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, Nairobi, Kenya, Cotonou in Benin Republic as well as USA have been carefully selected to host over 600 kids in this year’s edition. The camp starts from the Kenyan capital Nairobi on the 16th of June and ends on the 18th. Sixty boys and 40 girls drawn from host Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda are expected to sharpen their slamming and dunking skills during the Camp. The basketball caravan will then move from Nairobi to Abidjan where Kids from Burkina Faso, Liberia, Mali, Ghana and host country; Cote D’Ivoire will be taking part in the Camp. Young hoopers from Togo, Niger Republic and Benin Republic will congregate in Cotonou for the third leg of the camp while Onitsha and Lagos in Nigeria will host the fourth and final leg of the Africa series. Top and experienced coaches led by former D’Tigers coach Alex Nwora will be on hand to train and mentor the kids.