Nigeria Sports Arena

The maiden FCT Veterans Shield Football Tournament has been commended as an avenue will further promote unity, peace and needed change for sports in the country. Acting Director General of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Mr Haruna Jauro who stated this on Sunday at the opening ceremony of the competition in Abuja noted that when matured minds like veterans in sports meet, fruitful ideas would be discussed that will further change the game of football and sports in general in Nigeria. Mr Jauro, who was represented by Alh. Aminu Saleh performed the ceremony kick off of the tournament that took place at the FCT Sports Complex, Area 3 Garki, Abuja which has six veterans teams in participation. Speaking to newsmen at the competition, Alh. Saleh said "I am glad to be here today and with what I have seen on ground here, I have seen a set of young men who are very determined in changing the face of football organization and packaging in our country and I

Head Coach of the U-23 National Team, Samson Siasia has invited FC Barcelona B team defender Godwin Elohor Ekpolo and Nathan Oduwa of Glasgow Rangers to camp for the secondAfrica U-23 Nations Cup taking place in Senegal 28 November - 12 December this year.   Coach Siasia explained he is inviting both players to come and fight for jerseys in the team as he intends to build to strong team that will do the nation proud not only in Senegal but at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro next year.   "After the All Africa Games in Congo, I noticed some departments of the team that needed to be worked on, so I decided to extend my dragnet in search of players who have shown interest in playing for Nigeria in a bid to building a solid team that will be the pride of all Nigerians," Siasia said.   Siasia however appealed to Nigerians to be patient with him and his technical team as they go about building a solid U-23 squad for Nigeria.   Meanwhile, Coach Siasia has directed all clubs in

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has strongly advised the Golden Eaglets to put behindFriday's 2-1 loss to Croatia in Coquimbo and refocus their mind on greater performance at theFIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015.   Addressing the team shortly before their departure from Coquimbo to Vina del Mar on Saturday, NFF's Assistant Director (Technical), Siji Lagunju said the Golden Eaglets can be back to winning ways if they discover the same strong mental attitude that saw them to an impressive 2-0 win against USA and 5-1 win over host Chile earlier in the tournament.   "With my over 40 years experience in football as  a player and coach, I can categorically tell you that you technical crew led by Coach Emmanuel Amuneke has done remarkably well in training and preparing you for this tournament," he noted . "I commend them for being able to impact to you the spirit of hard work and discipline, but whatever you achieve at this tournament would be down to your personal a

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has strongly advised the Golden Eaglets to put behindFriday's 2-1 loss to Croatia in Coquimbo and refocus their mind on greater performance at theFIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015.   Addressing the team shortly before their departure from Coquimbo to Vina del Mar on Saturday, NFF's Assistant Director (Technical), Siji Lagunju said the Golden Eaglets can be back to winning ways if they discover the same strong mental attitude that saw them to an impressive 2-0 win against USA and 5-1 win over host Chile earlier in the tournament.   "With my over 40 years experience in football as  a player and coach, I can categorically tell you that you technical crew led by Coach Emmanuel Amuneke has done remarkably well in training and preparing you for this tournament," he noted . "I commend them for being able to impact to you the spirit of hard work and discipline, but whatever you achieve at this tournament would be down to your personal a

The maiden edition of the FCT Veterans Shield Football Tournament organized by Jotini Sports Services and endorsed by FCT Football Association and FCT Coaches Association is set to kick off next weekend at the FCT Sports Complex, Area 3, Garki, Abuja. Six out of the eight teams have passed the Age Verification Screening conducted by the Local Organizing Committee to ensure that only players who has attained or will attain the age of 40years on or before 31st December, 2015 participate in the tournament. “We will rather play the six teams instead of compromising the set rules and regulations of the tournament,” LOC Chairman, Umar Giwa Platini explains. "Some of the teams have only 18 players passing the screening and they have to make use of that. We have a very good understanding with the leadership of FCT Referees Council, and by the grace of God, teams will enjoy quality officiating.” The beauty of the tournament is that goal scoring has been encouraged as teams will get addi

The League board  of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (N.B.B.F) on Saturday released the date for the 2015 Division I and Division II Championships, the feeder leagues for the DStv Premier Basketball League. The Division I championship which is the 2nd tier of club basketball in Nigeria, annually produces the 2 teams that replaces the 2 relegated teams from the DStv Premier League every year. The  tournament is set to hold from the 27th November  to  6th December, 2015, while the Division II championship will take place a few days before the Div-1 battle from jumps off, from the 15th -22nd of November,2015.        The league board who are yet to name host of both championships are still considering bids for the Division I championship by cities Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and Port Harcourt, while Enugu and the FC T, Abuja have also shown interest in hosting the Division II championship.   Last season, FCT Rocks and Delta Force gained promotion from Division I  having emerged

The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF Appeal Committee has set Monday, 12th of October, 2015 as the date to decide on the stalemated Week 12 NNL encounter between Kogi United and Adamawa United. The ruling which is expected to take place at the NFF Headquarters in Abuja by 10am is expected to give a final on the match. It will be recall that the match was abruptly stopped as at 38th minute after Adamawa United abandoned without concrete claim. Centre Mohammed Yelwa from Niger State also disallowed two goals scored by the Confluence State club in that encounter. The NNL board had earlier gave an interim order for the match to replayed in Lokoja from where it was stopped before the Organizing and Disciplinary Committee of the football ruling body in the country awarded the match points and goals to Adamawa United, a decision which Kogi United later appealed. The Wada Boys are however hopeful that the verdict of the Barrister Ibrahim Eddy Mark led Appeal Committee would be favorable

  Nigerian women referees will take charge of a 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifying match between Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, which has been rescheduled for this weekend by the Confederation of African Football. The match was earlier set to be played last weekend.   The rescheduling was as a result of a recent putsch in Burkina Faso, but normalcy has since returned to the country. CAF’s confirmation of this weekend for the match in Ouagadougou also means that the 2016 African Nations Championship final qualifier between the Super Eagles and the Etalons, set for Ouagadougou on October 25, remains unaffected.   Uloma Nwogu will be the referee, with Hulda Nwokocha as first assistant and Mimisen Iyorhe as second assistant. Another Nigerian, Folusho Ajayi will be the reserve referee.   The match is the third round, first leg of the race to the 2016 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea. The winner of the fixture between Burkina Faso and Ethiopia will clash with the winne