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LOBI STARS, RANGERS BEGIN JOURNEY TO CONTINENTAL GLORY

Published

6 years ago

November 27, 2018

BY APESIN ADEMOLA.

Nigerian clubs begin their campaign for continental glory this Wednesday, a day after some of their counterparts across Africa would have kicked off the 2018/19 edition of CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup.

In order to align with international football calendar, CAF will run its season from August to May next year. The transitional schedule therefore runs from this month and ends next May.

Nigerian teams have failed to do well in Africa in recent years and the federation will therefore have one club in each of the two club competitions. In the CAF Champions League, Premier League winners Lobi Stars will file out on Wednesday at Stade Municipal de Loum, a city in the Littoral Province of Cameroon. Their opponents will be Union des Mouvements Sportifs de Loum (UMS de Loum, for short)

On the same day, Federation Cup champions Enugu Rangers will host Ethiopia’s Defence Force in the CAF Confederation Cup.

Lobi Stars will be playing in Africa for the fifth time in their 37 years existence. It was not until 2000 that the Makurdi-based side first featured in a CAF competition. They were eliminated in that year’s group stage of the CAF Champions League after finishing third among Ghana’s Heart of Oaks, Al-Ahly of Egypt and ASC Jeanne d’Arc of Senegal.

Four years later, Lobi Stars were knocked out at the second round of CAF Confederation Cup, just as they did in 2006 and even performed worse in 2012 with a first round elimination.

Founded in 2011, UMS de Loum won their first Cameroon Cup three years ago by beating former CAF Champions League winners Coton Sport, three-time African Cup of Champions Clubs title holders Canon Sportif de Yaoundé and Union Doula on their way to the final where they defeated Panthère du Ndé 2–0.

The Cameroonian side lost in the preliminary round of CAF Champions League last year and the first round of the Confederation Cup in 2016.

Runners-up behind Coton Sport in the Cameroon top flight concluded last July, UMS de Loum have not had a competitive match since then, while Lobi Stars featured in the Nigerian SuperCup match as recent as last Tuesday beating Federation Cup champions Rangers 1-0 at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba.

In that SuperCup fixture, Lobi Stars tried out new players including Lobi handed starts to new signings Sikiru Alimi (ex-Sunshine Stars), Alex Aghahowa (formerly El-Kanemi Warriors), Chile Azu (from Go Round FC) and Samuel Mathias (El-Kanemi Warriors).

AS Vita Club of DR Congo await the winners of Lobi Stars/UMS de Loum pair in the first round.

For Rangers, they were in continental competition as recent as last year but could not go beyond the first round of the CAF Champions League. The Flying Antelopes managed to beat Algeria’s JS Saoura on away goal rule at the preliminary stage but lost 3-5 aggregate to Zamalek of Egypt in the next round.

Relegated to the Confederation Cup thereafter, Rangers still couldn’t go far as Zambia’s ZESCO United triumphed 5-2 aggregate in the playoff round.

Rangers only hurrah in Africa was winning the CAF Cup Winners Cup in 1977. Ten appearances in the CAF Champions League (including in its precursor, the African Cup of Champions Clubs), four in the Confederation Cup and two in the CAF Cup have seen Rangers gone only as far as the final in 1975 in the African Cup of Champions Clubs.

In the off-season, Rangers acquired new players including Michael Uchebo, who was in the Super Eagles squad to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. He re-joined the club after a few years unattached.

Gbenga Ogunbote, a veteran Nigerian coach, lead Rangers who are fired up to win. “We don’t have any option but to win on Wednesday against Defence FC,” goalkeeper Femi Thomas agrees.

The Ethiopian club featured in last year’s CAF Confederation Cup but got knocked out at the preliminary round. Before then, they had travelled as far as the quarterfinals of the 1976 CAF Cup Winners’ Cup. They also got eliminated at the first round in the 1977 edition of the African Cup of Champions Clubs and CAF Confederation Cup in 2007.

Also known as Mekelakeya, Defence Force’s last competitive match was on November 4 when they beat Debub Police 2-1 away in the first match of the 2018/19 Ethiopian Premier League season.

Whoever win between Rangers and their Ethiopian opposition will face either Algeria’s USM Bel Abbès or LISCR (Liberia) in the first round.

Tuesday’s fixtures…

2018/19 CAF Champions League (Preliminary round first leg)

Volcan Club (Comoros Islands) v African StarsFC (Namibia) (1pm)
Stade Centrafricaine (Central Africa Republic) v Stade Malien (Mali) (3pm),
ASAS Djibouti Télécom (Djibouti) v Jimma Aba Jifar (Ethiopia) (4pm)
ASF Bobo Dioulasso (Burkina Faso) v Coton Sport (Cameroon) (4.30 pm)
AS SONIDEP (Niger Republic) v ZESCO United(Zambia) (4:30pm)
CS Constantine (Algeria) v GAMTEL (Gambia) (5pm)
Al-Nasr (Libya) v Al-Hilal Juba (South Sudan) (5pm)
ASC Diaraf (Senegal) v US Koroki (Togo) (6pm)
Township Rollers (Botswana) v BantuFC (Lesotho) (6:30pm)
JS Saoura (Algeria) v SC Gagnoa (Côte d’Ivoire) (7pm)
Ittihad Tanger (Morocco) v Elect-Sport (Chad) (8pm)
Al-Hilal (Sudan) v JKUSC (Zanzibar) (8pm)

2018/19 CAF Confederation Cup (Preliminary round first leg)

Mtibwa Sugar (Tanzania) v Northern Dynamo FC (Seychelles) (2pm)
Kariobangi Sharks (Kenya) v Arta Solar 7 (Djibouti) (2pm)
USM Bel Abbès (Algeria) v LISCR (Liberia) (3:30pm)
FC San Pédro (Côte d’Ivoire) v Armed Forces FC (Gambia) (5pm)
Nouakchott King’s (Mauritania) v Stade d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) (6pm)
Hassania Agadir (Morocco) v AS GNN (Niger Republic) (6pm)
NA Hussein Dey (Algeria) v Diables Noirs (Congo Republic) (6pm)
Salitas FC (Burkina Faso) v WakiryaAC (Guinea) (7pm)
Petro de Luanda (Angola) v Orapa United (Botswana)
Green Eagles (Zambia) v Young Buffaloes (eSwatini)
Ashanti Kotoko SC (Ghana) v Eding Sport (Cameroon) (Ashanti Kotoko SC gain walkover)

Wednesday’s fixtures…

2018/19 CAF Champions League (Preliminary round first leg)

UMS de Loum(Cameroon) v Lobi Stars (Nigeria) (3:30pm)
CNaPS Sport (Madagascar) v FC Platinum (Zimbabwe) (12:30pm)
Le Messager Ngozi (Burundi) v Ismaily (Egypt) (2pm)
UD Songo (Mozambique) v Nkana(Zambia) (2pm)
Simba (Tanzania) v Mbabane Swallows (eSwatini) (2pm)
APR FC (Rwanda) v Club Africain (Tunisia) (2:30pm)
Leones Vegetarianos (Equatorial Guinea) v Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) (3pm)
1º de Agosto (Angola) v AS Otôho(Congo Republic) (4pm)
Gor Mahia (Kenya) v Nyasa Big Bullets (Malawi)(5pm)
ASEC Mimosas (Côte d’Ivoire) v AS Mangasport (Gabon) (5pm)
FC Nouadhibou (Mauritania) v Al-Ahly Benghazi (Libya) (6pm)
Horoya (Guinea) v Barrack Young Controllers (Liberia) (6pm)
Orlando Pirates (South Africa) v Light Stars FC (Seychelles) (6.30pm)
Al-Merrikh (Sudan) v Vipers (Uganda) (both 6:30pm)

2018/19 CAF Confederation Cup (Preliminary round first leg)

Enugu Rangers (Nigeria) v Defence Force SC (Ethiopia) (4pm)
Miracle Club (Comoros Islands) v Al-Ittihad (Libya) (1pm)
Free State Stars (South Africa) v Mukura Victory Sports (Rwanda) (2pm)
Green Buffaloes (Zambia) v Al-Merreikh Juba FC (South Sudan) (2pm)
New Star FC (Cameroon) v Vital’O FC (Burundi) (3pm)
AS CotonTchad (Chad) v Gomido FC (Togo) (3.30pm)
DC Motema Pembe (DR Congo) v Anges de Fatima (Central Africa Republic) (3.30pm)
Cercle Mbéri Sportif (Gabon) v Silver StrikersFC (Malawi) (3:30pm)
Génération Foot (Senegal) v Djoliba (Mali) (5:30pm)
Al-Ahly Shendi (Sudan) v AS Nyuki (DR Congo) (6pm)
Kaizer Chiefs (South Africa) v Zimamoto FC (Zanzibar) (6:30pm)
ASSM Elgeco Plus (Madagascar) v Deportivo Unidad (Equatorial Guinea) (6.30pm)

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BREAKING! Odegbami stranded in London as saboteurs cause travel chaos in France before Opening Ceremony

Published

10 hours ago

July 26, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Travellers from Sydney, Australia, wait outside the Gare Montparnasse train station as they try to search for other trains after their trip was affected when vandals targeted France's high-speed train network with a series of coordinated actions that brought major disruption, ahead of the Paris..

Nigeria legendary former footballer, Segun Odegbami is among thousands of people unable to travel by train to Paris to witness the novel Opening Ceremony that Paris 2024 intends to put up.
Ahead of the formal opening of the Games, arson attack has caused travel chaos thwarting athletes’ travel plans to Paris.

High-speed trains around France were hit by several “malicious acts” this Friday that heavily disrupted traffic on the day of the high-risk opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

Arsonists attacked the French high-speed rail network early Friday, paralyzing travel to Paris from across the rest of France and Europe for some 800,000 people, including Olympic athletes heading to the grand opening ceremony of the Games in the evening.

French officials condemned the attacks as “criminal actions,” though they said there was no sign of a direct link to the Games. Prosecutors in Paris opened a national investigation saying the crimes — among them property damage threatening the nation’s “fundamental interests” — could carry sentences of 10 to 20 years.

“It’s a hell of a way to start the Olympics,” said Sarah Moseley, a 42-year-old traveler waiting at the Gare du Nord station in Paris as she learned that her train to London was delayed by the rail chaos.

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Colombian football president arrested

Published

2 weeks ago

July 16, 2024

Kunle Solaja

The president of the Colombian Football Federation, Ramón Jesurun,

The president of the Colombian Football Federation, Ramón Jesurun, was arrested in Miami following an incident at the Copa America final on Sunday, according to a police report released on Monday.

According to a Miami-Dade County police report, Jesurun was arrested on Sunday night for “battery on an officer/employee” at the Hard Rock Stadium, where the 2024 Copa America final was played. Colombia lost 1-0 to Argentina in extra time thanks to a Lautaro Martinez goal.

Chaos reigned around the 65,300-capacity multi-sport stadium in the US suburb of Miami Gardens, north of Miami, Florida.

Many fans (some without tickets) rushed the gates of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins stadium, pushing people to the ground and trying to sneak into the stadium through large air conditioning vents, causing several delays totalling 80 minutes.

Jesurun, 71, was unable to enter the field with his son and other family members after the game for the awards ceremony, where Jesurun’s son reportedly confronted a security guard who denied them access.

Jesurun, a CONMEBOL vice-president and CONMEBOL representative on the FIFA Council, was also involved in the altercation before police officers intervened, according to Colombian newspaper El Tiempo.

Miami-Dade police said 27 arrests were made and 55 people were ejected from the stadium during the match.

“I am extremely proud of our officers’ response to a volatile situation and their hard work to keep our community safe, as well as our law enforcement partners who provided critical support,” said Police Chief Stephanie Daniels.

“As part of the comprehensive analysis of last night’s game, we will review the protocols in place to ensure an orderly, safe and secure environment for all future events.”

In the wake of the scandal in the southern United States, where CONMEBOL decided to stage the Copa America despite the fact that the United States is not a member of the confederation but belongs to CONCACAF, the South American body said it had proposed procedures to the security organisers that were not used.

“Fans without tickets went to the vicinity of the stadium, which delayed the normal access of those who had tickets, slowed down the entry and led to the gates being closed,” CONMEBOL said in a statement, attempting to distance itself from the organisation’s responsibilities (for which it is responsible as the tournament’s organiser, although it has ceded them to the United States and its security forces).

“In this situation, CONMEBOL was subject to the decisions made by the authorities of the Hard Rock Stadium, in accordance with the contractual responsibilities established for the security operation.

“In addition to the provisions established in the said contract, CONMEBOL recommended to these authorities the procedures tested in events of this magnitude, which were NOT taken into account.”

“We regret that the acts of violence perpetrated by ill-intentioned people have marred a final that should have been a great celebration of sport,” concluded the organisation, led by Paraguayan Alejandro Domínguez.

-insidethegames

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Manu Garba proud of Eaglets as team countenances Niger Republic

Published

2 months ago

May 17, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Coach Manu Garba has asserted that he is proud of the Golden Eaglets after Thursday’s scoreless encounter with their Burkina Faso counterparts in the Group B opener of the WAFU B U17 Championship.

Five-time champions Nigeria created several scoring chances particularly late in the game at the Accra University Stadium, but failed to utilise even one that could have earned them the three points and handed them early leadership of the pool.

However, Garba said the boys played a cohesive game in their first-ever international outing and deserve credit for their display.

“We are proud of our team’s performance. Although we didn’t secure the win that we hoped for, our players showed great teamwork and sportsmanship. We look forward to our next match and the opportunity to continue growing and improving.

“The boys will get better with experience and exposure.”

Against the Burkinabes, the Eaglets showed flair and fluency, but a heavy downpour in the final 15 minutes of the game disrupted the general flow of play, with the pitch waterlogged and effective control and passing impossible.

The Golden Eaglets go up against their counterparts from the Niger Republic on Sunday evening (6pm Ghana time; 7pm Nigeria) with renewed hope and vigour to pick up the three points that will enhance their chances of a place in the last four.