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Nigeria Rev Up For Another Titanic Battle With Cameroon As Super Falcons Reassemble –

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Paris 2024: Waldrum Invites Ajibade, Oshoala, Nnadozie, 19 Others For Banyana -

After the Super Eagles overcame Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions at the Round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations, the women too are stepping up for a potentially titanic battle.

At stake is a qualification ticket for the final round to the Paris 2024 Olympic women football event.

 

To this end, Nigeria have called up 21 players, among them captain Rasheedat Ajibade and goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie.

In the Nigerian arsenal is also  the five-time African Player of the Year Asisat Oshoala and free-scoring forward Esther Okoronkwo.

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They are all shaping up  for next week’s 2024 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament qualifying fixture against the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon.

 

This fixture is the third round of the African qualifying series, and the penultimate round of the series before the continent’s flag-bearers to the 2024 Olympics are known ahead of the Games in five months’ time.

 

Goalkeeper Tochukwu Oluehi, defenders Osinachi Ohale and Oluwatosin Demehin, midfielders Deborah Abiodun and Christy Ucheibe, and forwards Toni Payne, Uchenna Kanu and Omorinsola Babajide are also called.

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Versatile defender Ashleigh Plumptre makes a return to the fold since the FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in Australia last year summer.

 

Fierce rivals Nigeria and Cameroon will battle it out in the first leg of the fixture at the Stade de la Reunification in Douala, Cameroon on Friday next week (23rd February), with Ugandan official Shamirah Nabadda as referee. Her compatriots Lydia Nantabo, Jane Mutonyi and Diana Murungi will serve as assistant referee 1, assistant referee 2 and fourth official respectively. Khadija Rezzag from Morocco will be the referee assessor while Lukusa Kanjinga from Democratic Republic of Congo will be the commissioner.

 

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For the second leg match in Nigeria, taking place at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Monday, 26th February, CAF has appointed Namibian official Ndemugwanitha Twanyanyukwa as referee, with her compatriots Eveline Augustinus, Olivia Amukuu and Vistoria Shangula in the roles of assistant referee 1, assistant referee 2 and fourth official respectively.

 

Alice Wangari Kimani from Kenya will serve as referee assessor while Christine Ziga from Ghana will be the commissioner.

 

SUPER FALCONS TO BATTLE CAMEROON:

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Goalkeepers: Chiamaka Nnadozie (Paris FC); Tochukwu Oluehi (Shualat Alsharqia FC, Saudi Arabia); Linda Jiwuaku (Bayelsa Queens)

 

Defenders: Osinachi Ohale (Pachucha Club de Futbol, Mexico); Ashleigh Plumptre (Ittihad Ladies, Saudi Arabia); Oluwatosin Demehin (Stade de Reims, France); Michelle Alozie (Houston Dash, USA); Akudo Ogbonna (Remo Stars Ladies); Rofiat Imuran (Stade de Reims, France)

 

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Midfielders: Deborah Abiodun (University of Pittsburgh, USA); Halimatu Ayinde (FC Rosengard, Sweden); Christy Ucheibe (SL Benfica, Portugal); Jennifer Echegini (Juventus Ladies, Italy); Rasheedat Ajibade (Atletico Madrid FC, Spain); Toni Payne (Sevilla FC, Spain)

 

Forwards: Omorinsola Babajide (Coasta Adeje Tenerife Egatesa, Spain); Esther Okoronkwo (Henan FC, China); Ifeoma Onumonu (SLC Utah, USA); Asisat Oshoala (Bay FC, Spain); Uchenna Kanu (Racing Louisville, USA); Gift Monday (Coasta Adeje Tenerife Egatesa, Spain)

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Olympics

Olympic rings removed from Eiffel Tower

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The Eiffel Tower and the Olympic Rings

The Olympic rings installed on the Eiffel Tower since June to celebrate the upcoming Olympic Games were removed from the Parisian monument early on Friday morning, as confirmed by an AFP photographer. But the Paris City Hall intends to replace them with a more permanent structure until 2028.

The five-coloured rings, measuring 29 metres in length and 15 metres in height, were placed between the first and second levels of the iconic iron structure on 7 June. 

According to Inside the Games publication, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo  wants the Olympic symbol to continue decorating the monument until the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

But the descendants of the tower’s creator, Gustave Eiffel are opposing the move. They are insisting that the Olympic rings are aesthetically in conflict with the concept and design of the Tower.

The 30-tonne rings initially installed on the Eiffel Tower were also not designed to withstand winter weather conditions.

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Despite Egypt winning 3 medals at Paris Olympics, President Al-Sisi orders sports system overhaul

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Ahmed El-Gendy won Egypt's only gold at the Paris Olympics

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered  a comprehensive evaluation of sports federations that  participatedat the Paris Olympic Games, following a mission report submitted by the country’s sports minister.

The mandate includes a thorough expenditure check and a performance review to better highlight areas of improvement and fund allocation in future Games.

Additionally, the president plans to take necessary measures against federations —such as limiting funds— that had negative results in the Paris Games.

Egypt’s participation in sports where it lacks a competitive advantage will also be limited, as the president aims to direct resources to promising athletes to ensure optimal results. The president also aims to reduce administrative and technical staff within Olympic delegations and task relevant ministries with preparing future Olympic athletes.

Al-Sisi’s Olympic overhaul is to be presented to the cabinet for approval and urged the government to prioritise amending the sports law for the House of Representatives for review. 

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Egypt took home a total of three medals in the Summer Games. Ahmed El-Gendy triumphed in modern pentathlon, Sara Samir claimed the silver in weightlifting, and 21-year-old fencer Mohamed El-Sayed earned the bronze.

-Insidethegames

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Paris 2024 Games break record ticket sales

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Beach Volleyball - Men's Gold Medal Match - Sweden vs Germany (Ahman/Hellvig vs Ehlers/Wickler) - Eiffel Tower Stadium, Paris, France - August 10, 2024. REUTERS/Esa Alexander/File Photo

Paris 2024 sold a record 12 million tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics, beating the Games record previously set by London 2012, organisers said on Sunday.

Some 9.5 million tickets were sold for the Olympics and 2.5 million for the Paralympics, which end on Sunday.

In 2012, London organisers set the record for the Paralympics with 2.7 million tickets sold but only 8.2 million were sold for the Olympics.

-Reuters

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