Governing Bodies
Ghana High Commissioner visits Nigeria’s Sports Minister, assures of warm reception in Kumasi
The governments of Nigeria and Ghana have assured of hitch free 2022 FIFA World Cup playoffs between both countries later this month.
The Sports Minister of Nigeria, Sunday Dare and the Ghana High Commissioner to Nigeria, His Excellency, Rashid Bawa gave these assurances in Abuja on Wednesday.
Mr Bawa had paid a courtesy visit on the Sports Minister in his office to deliberate on areas of interest as the dates for the crucial play-off games draw closer.
Sports Minister Sunday Dare said Nigeria would continue to maintain the long standing relationship with Ghana and the tension around the playoff games will in no way jeopardize it.
His words: “These games should be seen as sports where there is the possibility of winning as there is of losing. We need to demonstrate the spirit of sportsmanship. We must not seen the games as a do or die affair but rather as an avenue to further strengthen the bond that exists already between us.
“This administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has identified sports as a tool for promoting unity and peace, not only within Nigeria but across the World so you can be assured of our hospitality and large heartedness,” the Minister added.
The Ghana High Commissioner in his remarks said his visit was to assure Nigerians that football, especially the fast approaching playoffs would not divide the two countries where long standing relationship, collaborations and friendliness exist.
Mr Bawa said the chartered flight that will airlift the Nigerian contingent to Kumasi in Ghana will be given a landing permit without hassles and the team would be given all the cooperation needed for easy passage into Ghana and during the period of their stay.
He also revealed that five percent of the total tickets for the match at the 40,000 seater Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi will be given as complementary tickets to the Nigerian contingent.
The Minister Sunday Dare thanked Mr Bawa for the gesture and promised that Nigeria will reciprocate this hospitality ahead of the return leg in Abuja on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.
Dare assured that all the logistics to ensure a successful hosting of the game in Abuja have been put in place at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium Complex, Abuja.
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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