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Sports Ministry Gives Conditions for NPFL Kick-off

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Following the approval of the resumption of sporting activities across the country, the Ministry of Sports has listed the conditions the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), League Management Company (LMC) and the clubs must fulfill before the kick off of the 2020/2021 Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL).
In a statement yesterday, Sports Minister, Mr. Sunday Dare, warned that no stadium should be opened for any football game without strict adherence to the sports protocols. He also directed that there must be total implementation of the club licensing control before the new football season can resume.

According to the statement signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Gabriel Aduda, Dare said: “We are happy that the ban on sports has been lifted after so many months of inactivity due to the COVID-19 scourge. The ministry is not oblivious of the challenges that would be encountered in organising football matches.

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“We cannot take anything for granted. As a way of safeguarding the lives of our players, coaches, officials and fans, approval must be sought and given before any game is played. The ministry would ensure that all protocols and guidelines are obeyed as directed by PTF and NCDC.”

The statement disclosed that the ministry has set up a COVID-19 monitoring and approval team, which would ensure compliance before any game is played.

Dare warned that the Nigerian domestic league would not resume until basic conditions were fulfilled, adding, “we have a responsibility to enforce the implementation of the club licensing control as stipulated in the statues setting up the Nigerian Professional Football League.

“Thedomestic league will not commence until the regulations and controls bothering on financial and licensing control are enforced.

“The NFF must enforce these regulations and controls as stipulated, otherwise the Nigerian professional and amateur leagues will not be approved to resume.

“These include proper licensing of players, insurance for players and coaches, compliance with FIFA rules on players’ contract and transfer, running the clubs as professional endeavours, among others.”The statement directed the NFF to communicate these decisions to the clubs to forestall any crisis

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For the 4th Time, NFF appoints German Coach for Super Eagles

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The Nigeria Football Federation has announced that it has reached an agreement with German tactician, Bruno Labbadia, to become the Head Coach of Nigeria’s Senior Men National Team, Super Eagles.

NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, said in the early hours of Tuesday: “The NFF Executive Committee has approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee to appoint Mr. Bruno Labbadia as the Head Coach of the Super Eagles. The appointment is with immediate effect.”

Born in Darmstadt, Germany on 8th February 1966, Labbadia, who won two caps for Die Mannschaft in his playing career that took him through clubs such as home-town team Darmstadt 98, Hamburger SV, FC Kaiserslautern, Bayern Munich, FC Cologne, Werder Bremen, Armenia Bielefeld and Karlsruher SC, triumphed in the German Bundesliga with Bayern Munich as a player in 1994.

He coached famous names Hertha Berlin and VfB Stuttgart this decade, and previously, VfL Wolfsburg, Hamburger SV, Bayer Leverkusen, among others, and holds a UEFA Pro License.

He is only the sixth German, after Karl-Heinz Marotzke (who had two stints between 1970 and 1974), Gottlieb Göller (1981), Manfred Höner (1988-1989), Berti Vogts (2007-2008) and Gernot Rohr (2016-2021) to lead the Super Eagles.

Höner led the Eagles to runner-up position at the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations, while Rohr qualified and led Nigeria to the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia.

Labbadi’s immediate challenge is to take charge of the three-time African champions for two 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic (Saturday 7th Septemberin Uyo) and Rwanda (Tuesday, 10th Septemberin Kigali), with four other matches to conclude the qualifying race following in the months of October and November.

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UFC: Dricus de Plessis Defeats Adesanya in Title Defence

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* Victory came in fourth round of highly-anticipated clash

* du Plessis has defended his middleweight world title

Dricus du Plessis on Sunday submitted Israel Adesanya in the fourth round at UFC 305 to defend his middleweight title and add a decisive new chapter to their intense rivalry.

The South African executed a rear naked choke to take the win after rocking the ‘Style Bender’ with a left hook and a series of rights before taking him down.

The victory in Perth, Western Australia on Sunday (local time) came after du Plessis played a part in driving Adesanya to break down in tears and storm off the stage when he was asked about his family during their pre-fight press conference on Friday.

Du Plessis’s long rivalry with Nigerian-born Adesanya has seen them take shots at each other for years.

Both fighters have been battling each other for the ‘real African’ title for some time, after du Plessis claimed to be the first champion from the continent.

The statement infuriated Adesanya – who now represents New Zealand in the octagon – as well as Kamaru Usman, the former UFC welterweight champion.

However, the rivals were full of praise for each other after the fight was decided.

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AFCON: South Africa to Meet Nigeria in the Semi-final After Penalty Win Over Cape Verde

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Jubilant Bafana Bafana after the penalty win over Cape Verde

South Africa survived a Cape Verde’s scare to win on penalties and set up a semi-final clash with Nigeria at the ongoing African Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire

Goalkeeper Ronwen Williams was the hero as South Africa beat Cape Verde 5-3 on penalties following a goalless 120 minutes to advance to the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals.

After a tense last eight clash ended 0-0 at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium in Yamoussoukro on Saturday night, Williams remarkably saved four spot-kicks in the shootout to send Bafana Bafana through.

Both sides started brightly in an open first half, but stellar defending and top-class goalkeeping from Williams and Cape Verde’s Vozinha kept the game goalless at the break.

The second half followed a similar pattern as the teams traded blows in search of the breakthrough. But a combination of desperation and brilliant defending saw numerous chances go begging.

Cape Verde almost stole it in added time when Gelson Tavares pounced on a deep ball only to smash his shot off the bar with Williams getting a hand to it. 0-0 after 90 minutes meant extra time.

The additional 30 minutes brought more chances, with South Africa’s Fagrie Lakay forcing a superb save from Vozinha. But the deadlock remained to send the quarter-final into penalties.

After an impressive four penalty saves by Williams, Bafana Bafana secured their place in the semi-finals for the first time since 2000 where they will meet Nigeria.

Post-match reactions:

Hugo Bruce – South African coach

“When we got to the penalty shootout, it was a special thing for the players, because during training they were scoring them. When we have a goalkeeper who stops 4 penalty kicks, this is not luck but a lot of hard work.

Not many people in South Africa believed in this team, but we believed in it, and the players believed in themselves as well. Reaching the semi-finals is in itself a good thing for South African football.

There was a lot of pressure in the match. Everyone wanted to qualify. This match was unlike the previous ones. We did not show the same performance as we had in previous matches.

The semi-final match will be different against Nigeria, which has good players like Lookman. We will not lose focus. The players will be in good condition, so we need to rest and recover to start our preparation”.

Bobista – Cape Verde coach

“Congratulations to South African. We wanted to win the match, but this is football. In my opinion, we had several chances to win this match. We have a good team, and we also faced a good competitor. We had several chances to kill the match, but we were not able to.

We had a good journey, and we also deserved to be in the semi-finals. Our people will be happy with what we presented in the competition.

We were the best in some phases of this match, and you know in such competitions, when you fail to score it will be complicated, and as for penalty kicks, sometimes there is luck.

The players who took the penalties are the best in our team, but when you are tired it is difficult. I am proud of our players, they showed their character.” (CAFonline)

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