Governing Bodies
Aisha Buhari Cup is a celebration of 30 years of women’s football in Nigeria, says CAF website
Determined to concretise 30 years of women’s football, Nigeria will stage a six- nation international tournament next month in Lagos- the country’s commercial nerve centre.
Named after the country’s First Lady Dr. Aisha Buhari, organisers said the invitational tournament would be an annual event in celebration of the evolution and development of women’s football as well as the celebration of the girl-child.
This year, the crème de la crème of women sides on the continent including South Africa, Mali, Ghana, Cameroon, and Morocco will join hosts Nigeria in the soccer fiesta (September 13th to 21st).
“Not many people reckoned with the fact that women’s football in Nigeria is already 30 years o but it was actually in the mix of conversation about how to celebrate this landmark that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President Amaju Pinnick came up with the idea of hosting a tournament of this magnitude,” Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi, the Local Organisation Committee (LOC) chairman told CAFOnline.com
“We equally found out that our objectives for this tournament aligned with the set objectives with the Future Assured Programme of the First Lady which is basically the promotion of the girl-child, and we have no doubt that football is a perfect medium to promote such ideals.”
Akinwunmi, who doubles as the NFF’s 1st Vice President, said the choice of Lagos is strategic, adding the former Nigeria’s capital city has a vibrant and perfect ambiance for the tournament already dubbed A-B-C (the acronym for Aisha Buhari Cup) by a section of the local media.
“The choice of Lagos as the host of the maiden edition of the Aisha Buhari Cup, is also strategic since the city already has virtually everything in place for a good tournament,” Akinwunmi further told CAFOnline.com.
“Lagos has everything in place as regards accommodation, security, medical facilities and with the on-going renovations at the two stadia (Mobolaji Johnson Arena and Agege Stadium) we are confident of a hitch-free tournament.”
Meanwhile, the draws for the competition which was conducted by Director of Organization Ms Aisha Falode on 18 August at the pristine at the Australia Hall of the Eko Hotel & Suites in Victoria Island (Lagos), pitched the hosts Nigeria in Group A along with Morocco and Mali.
But Group B seemed to be the proverbial ‘group of death’ with Cameroon, Ghana and South Africa.
“Our (Aisha Buhari Cup) draw was difficult. It’s not as easy as it seems,” South Africa women’s national team coach Desiree Ellis admitted. “Ghana has been a powerhouse as well as Cameroon in African football. We cannot take any of the teams lightly.
“We’ve always wanted more women’s football competitions on the continent and this will be a mini Women Africa Cup of Nations. I think this is a start of great things to come for women’s football in Africa.”
Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.
Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.
The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.
Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.
“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”
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