Governing Bodies
Probe of Abuja stadium’s vandalism is ill-advised, says Ekeji
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Former Director General at the Nigeria’s Ministry of Sports, Dr. Patrick Ekeji has declared that the panel set up to investigate the vandalism of the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja after Tuesday’s ill-fated World Cup play-off of Nigeria and Ghana, was not necessary.
The nine-man panel was set up by the Ministry of Sports which also announced that the terms of reference for the investigative panel will be communicated in due course.
According to Ekeji who is also a former national team footballer as well as coach, the exercise is uncalled for. According to him, “what is there to probe? The vandalism? Or the result?”
To him, the whole exercise is mere time wasting as the reason for the crowd invasion of the pitch and the subsequence damage of facilities was already known.
Hear the former sports administrator who passed through virtually all the departments of the ministry during his tour of duty: “Don’t we know what led to the crowd action?
“Our team failed to qualify for Qatar 2022. Period. It was the crowd emotional response to the failed collective desire.”
To Dr. Ekeji, the minister should have simply call for a report from the NFF and subject the same to a study by some sports technocrats and thereafter draw recommendations for the Executive Council.
According to the former director general, the exercise should not take more that two weeks.
Although no life was reportedly lost in the crowd action, the situation was reminiscence of another World Cup duel in Lagos in August 1989 where before even Samuel Okwaraji slumped and died on the pitch in the game with Angola, five fans had died in the stampede that preceded the game.
It was found that the Lagos National Stadium was overcrowded resulting in jostling and pushing, then chokes, suffocation, exhaustion and soon, deaths!
The Lagos stadium had been closed for nearly three years then for renovation in preparation for a possible hosting of the then World Youth Championship in 1991.
The overcrowding was as a result of huge appetite for football which the crowd had been denied of since 17 October 1987 when Nigeria beat Zimbabwe 2-0 in an Olympic Games qualifier.
Thereafter, the stadium was closed for renovation and the then Green Eagles matches were moved around different cities. It was never anticipated that a large turnout would attend the game that signalled the national team back to their traditional nest.
That appeared the same scenerio in Abuja which last hosted the national team on 8 October 2011 before that of last Tuesday. Precautions were not put in place for a possible huge turn out to not just the return of the national team to the city in 11 years, but also the biggest match since the stadium was inaugurated in 2003.
The president of the Confédération of African Football, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, has announced five new CAF Vice Presidents. They are:
- CAF First Vice President: Mr Fouzi Lekjaa (Morocco)
- CAF Second Vice President: Mr Kurt Okraku (Ghana)
- CAF Third Vice President: Mr Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
- CAF Fourth Vice President: Ms Bestine Kazadi Ditabala (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- CAF Fifth Vice President: Mr Feizal Sidat (Mozambique)
In addition, the CAF President has co-opted Yacine Idriss Diallo, President of Fédération Ivoirienne de football, into the CAF Executive Committee.
The CAF Executive Committee also approved the names to fill vacant positions on several CAF Committees.
Organising Committee for the African Nations Championship (CHAN)
- President: Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
CAF Technical and Development Committee
- President: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
- Vice President: Malouche Belhassen (Tunisia)
CAF Medical Committee:
- President: Dr. Mohammed Bouya (Mauritania)
- Vice President: Dr. Thulani Ngwenya (South Africa)
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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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