Nigeria Sports Arena

‪As the Super Eagles forward continues to build a solid reputation as a stellar goal scorer, it is with excitement that we announce that the Nigerian professional footballer, Henry Onyekuru – who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 side As Monaco – has signed a brand management deal with Plug Sports.‬ ‪Plug Sports, a subsidiary of the Plug Entertainment (founded by Bizzle Osikoya and Asa Asika), is involved in the management of sports talents. The parent company, Plug Entertainment, operates as a music management, music publishing and licensing, and music distribution company. They work with some of the biggest talents in the world including Davido, Peruzzi, Mayorkun.‬ ‪The partnership, which was facilitated by Prokicks UK limited, a company based in United Kingdom, was signed on December 26, 2019 at the Plug Office, Lagos, Nigeria. Plug Sports is delighted to have Henry Onyekuru as one of our esteemed clients. We look forward to taking Henry Onyekuru’s career to the nex

Recieving a delegation of members of Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) Tuesday in Abuja, the Minister of Youths and Sports Development Mr. Sunday Dare expressed delight that Cricket in Nigeria is rapidly developing to a stage where Nigeria has a world presence in the sport. "When I received your letter, I did a  rough research on Cricket Nigeria and amazingly, I got a lot of information which  is really exciting to know that within the Cricket world, Nigeria has found a place  and also a voice and to realise that we were going to the World Cup is almost a shot from the blues." "We have above 38 sporting Federations and Cricket is one of them. I'm happy to see the development of Cricket, how far it has come. The Ministry I'm sure has been supportive, now we have to support them more now that they are World Cup bound", he urged. "I think most importantly the prior inspection that occurred and the fo

The youth football coaches will fly to London for a personalised training session with Arsenal Football Development coaches, Online money transfer company WorldRemit and Arsenal have announced that Chinasa Ukandu from Nigeria and Luis Alejandro Castañeda from Colombia are the winners of the 2019 Future Stars coaching programme. The two youth coaches will now prepare to travel to London for a personalised training session with Arsenal Football Development coaches, and their trip will be sponsored by WorldRemit. Chinasa and Luis were among eight finalists, four women and four men, who were selected by a panel of judges from WorldRemit and Arsenal for their commitment to using football to empower young people and benefit their communities. Andrew Stewart, Managing Director Middle East & Africa at WorldRemit said: “At WorldRemit, we are inspired every day by our customers, who work hard to send money home to support their communities. “Through our partnership with Arsen

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries FC head coach Tony Bolus has praised his charges after their 1-0 win over Heartland FC in a Matchday One fixture of the 2019/20 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season decided at the Okigwe Stadium in Owerri on Sunday. The Olukoya Boys gave a good account of themselves against the Naze Millionaires as they claimed an opening day win courtesy of a 39th minute header from Clement Ogwu when he connected a long throw-in from Najeem Olayinka. Fidelis Ilechukwu's men created lots of goal-scoring chances shortly after MFM FC's goal but the Lagos-based team goalkeeper Folarin Abayomi denied the hosts with breathtaking saves. His bright display in between the sticks earned him the man-of the-match award. After the crucial victory Bolus appreciated his boys for their brilliant performance. “I need to appreciate my boys for their effort today and for keeping and playing to instructions. They maintained the tempo of the game f

Dressed in his National team jersey, Nigeria minister of Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare says he could not hold back the happiness as he watched the Golden Eaglets trashed their Hungerian counterparts 4-2 to announce her presence at the FIFA Under 17 World Cup in Brazil from the comfort of his living room in Ibadan. The minister could not hold back his excitement as he jumped to celebrate after the Golden Eaglets came from 2-1 down to level scores, before going on to win 4-2 at fulltime.       Speaking to NSM media after the match, the minister said " I was tensed up but optimistic from start to finish. I prayed for victory and when it eventually came, I couldnt hold back the happiness. "At some point during the game, I couldnt sit to watch the match as I moved from one place to the other in my living room. As you know, I have a strong passion for the Nigerian youths and I will do anything to encourage this set of players. I was directly involved in the welfare of t

Four male and four female coaches will face a public vote to determine who will train with Arsenal Football Development coaches in London. A panel of judges from Arsenal and its official online money transfer partner, WorldRemit, have selected eight coaches as finalists for their Future Stars coaching programme. The eight finalists will now compete in a public vote on www.futurestars.worldremit.com until 23:59 GMT on 11th November, for the chance to attend a personalised training programme with Arsenal Football Development coaches in London - sponsored by WorldRemit. Male Future Stars finalists: Bakit Isaac Agogo from Gulu, Uganda: Bakit started volunteering as a football coach in 2005 and is a firm believer in the power of football to create harmony among young people and help them overcome conflict. He coaches at Watato Sports Academy in Gulu and has worked with children whose families were affected by the insurgency in Northern Uganda. If he were to win Future Sta

Minister of Youth and Sport Development, Mr Sunday Dare, has assured that the Ministry will build on the capacity of programmes already earmarked for the youth and scale them up to reach more beneficiaries in pursuit of government’s objective of employment and wealth creation. The Minister, who addressed participants of N-Power Software at the Public Service Institute of Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday during a working visit, promised that opportunities to be created from such expanded programmes will be accessible to all interested youth. Mr. Dare said, “One of the plans we have is DY.NG; it is a plan to train our youth to make them employable. The ministry will partner with this programme (N-Power Software) to make sure that we ratchet up this programme. So that in the coming year we can reach more of you in the thousands.  “We would build on the capacity of the programmes already earmarked for the youth. We will not reinvent the wheel. The Ministry will be able to bring sever

Four male and four female coaches will face a public vote to determine who will train with Arsenal Football Development coaches in London. A panel of judges from Arsenal and its official online money transfer partner, WorldRemit, have selected eight coaches as finalists for their Future Stars coaching programme. The eight finalists will now compete in a public vote on www.futurestars.worldremit.com until 23:59 GMT on 11th November, for the chance to attend a personalised training programme with Arsenal Football Development coaches in London - sponsored by WorldRemit. WATCH THE HERO VIDEO HERE > https://youtu.be/UXG-_llHct8 Speaking on this, Andrew Stewart, Managing Director Middle East & Africa at WorldRemit said: “Our business is all about making it easier for our customers to send money home to support their communities. Together with Arsenal, we set up the Future Stars programme to recognise football coaches within these communities who are dedicated to suppo

Rivers Hoopers shook off a slow start to demolish new comers Ondo Raiders 85-28 in the ongoing NBBF Premier League tagged “President Cup” at the Indoor Sports Hall of the Kwara Stadium, Ilorin on Monday. Ikechuku Benjamin led the way with 16 points, one rebound, one assist and one steal including three pointers and 3/4 from the free throw line in 18 minutes. Solomon Ajegbeyi added 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Ajegbeyi also shot a rare three pointer late in the game as he was cheered by his teammates on the bench. Other Hoopers' players on double digit: Ronald Alalibo had 12 points, five rebounds, two steals and one assist. He also shot 4/8 from the deep while Abdul Yahaya added 10 points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal. Rivers Hoopers were scoreless in the first three minutes of the game. They however found their rhythm midway through the second quarter as they took a 22-point lead at half time but not without a hu

Minister  of Youth and Sports Development Hon. Sunday Dare was full of praise for the team who represented Nigeria at the World Scrabble Championship following their achievement at the global stage. Speaking to the players, officials and members of the Federation, he said, "I can't recall being in a room filled with champions. Nigerian champions, African champions, world champions and that is a comfortable feeling. It is also inspiring that in this country, whatever we put our hearts and minds to do, we can excel. You are a testimony to the fact that the Nigerian spirit cannot be killed ". He added that as a mind game, the team exceeded all expectations even with the limited resources at their disposal. While congratulating the team, he said, "these trophies tell the story, this is the story,  you are the story, and that completes the story of what you have done. To be the best scrabble playing team in the world is no small feat". Scoring the ent

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development Hon. Sunday Dare has inaugurated a review committee to appraise the causes and factors responsible for Nigeria's poor performance at the just concluded World Athletics Championship which took place in Doha, Qatar from  the September 26-October 6. The Minister while thanking the members of the committee for accepting the task, intimated that assignment was going to be tasking and daunting as they had limited time with which to send on their report, but urged them to go for the facts and figures. He expressed confidence in the ability of the committee to do a thorough job owing to the experiences of some of the members with first hand information, interpersonal contacts with some of the athletes and officials amongst others. The committee were handed seven terms of references including evaluation  of factors responsible for the less than impressive performance of team Nigeria at the 2019 World Athletics Championship, while

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Hon. Sunday Dare has appreciated Zenith Bank Nigeria Plc for partnering with the Nigeria Basketball Ball Federation for 15 years. The  who is in Lagos, made out time to watch the Women League basketball match between Air Warriors of Abuja and Dolphins of Lagos Sunday evening. The Minister praised Zenith bank for providing support and sponsorship for the game of basketball for well over a decade. In a tweet via his Twitter Handle @SundayDareSD, the Minister wrote: "Basket ball night - Watching the Zenith Basketball female league in Lagos where the Air Warriors of Abuja and Dolphins of Lagos are slugging it out. Zenith bank thanks for your 15-year support for Basket ball. I love this game !!" The comes in line with the Minister's resolve to pay attention to all sports federations in the country.

Nigeria Minister of Youth and Sports Development,  Sunday Dare will on Monday inaugurate a Committee to review the participation of the  Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar. This, according to the minister, are parts of measures to forestall a reoccurrence of the challenges that resulted in a poor showing for Team Nigeria athletes at the tournament. The inauguration,  which is scheduled to hold by 2pm at the Media Centre, Package ' A',  MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja, will set the terms of reference for the Committee, chiefly amongst which will be to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the unimpressive performance of Team Nigeria at the Doha games and the general disaffection amongst the athletes. It would be recalled that  the Minister directed the recall of Sunday Adeleye, Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria from the World Athletics Championships on the heels of avoidable, massi

Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr will hand future call ups to promising winger Viv-Efosa Solomon-Otabor. The CSKA Sofia forward was given a debut Super Eagles call-up to replace injured Samuel Kalu for the friendly game against Brazil. He was very impressive during the few days in training with the Super Eagles team before the warm up against Samba Boys at the Singapore National Stadium. Despite not getting a run out in the game that ended 1-1, Super Eagles gaffer Gernot Rohr will reportedly invite the explosive winger for the upcoming African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho. "Like you know, I don't judge my players individually in the media," Rohr said. "The only thing I can say is that everybody {Ramon Azeez, Solomon-Otabor, Peter Olayinka, Emmanuel Dennis} including the new goal keeper Maduka, gave us satisfaction. "We will continue to follow them in their clubs and invite the best ones. "We also

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Hon. Sunday Dare who is in Lagos to watch the CHAN Super Eagles match against the Sparrow Hawks of Togo,   has also expressed his full support for the team. He said this in a tweet via his Twitter handle. The Minister tweeted; "CHAN 2020: Super Eagles B play today in a decisive encounter. A tough one no doubt. They have our full support and we wish them the best." It could be recalled that the first leg of the match ended 4-1 in favour of the Sparrow Hawks of Togo. Can coach Imama Amapakabo upturn the results in today's fixture? The match will take place  4 PM at the Agege stadium Lagos.

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Hon. Sunday Dare, was full of commendation for the Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki after he undertook a tour of the Ogbemudia stadium in Benin the State capital. The stadium which was built 50 years ago, was brought back to life after several renovations were carry out by the state government.  The Honourable Minister who undertook the tour alongside Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Deputy Governor of the State Hon Philip Shuaibu, tweeted via his official Twitter Handle, "This morning I inspected alongside Gov. Obaseki and Deputy Governor Phillip ongoing upgrade and renovation works of the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium in Benin City. Indeed, it was a delightful sight. Total makeover. 50 years after it was built the stadium roars back to life !" The Minister also attended the unveiling of the Mascot of the National Sports Festival 2020 which took place at the banquet hall of the Edo State government house.

The Minister of Youth and Sports development Honourable Sunday Dare has challenged various national sports federations (NSF) to begin early preparations for the next Olympic Games tagged Tokyo 2020. The minister assured that early preparation for the Olympiad would make a big difference between success and failure. Dare said this in a meeting with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games federations presidents, technical directors, secretaries, and stakeholders at the media centre the MKO Abiola National Stadium on Tuesday. “We are left with barely 280 days to the commencement of the first two games as the Olympics and Paralympic games are scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Japan from July 21st to August 9th 2020 and 25th August to 6th September, 2020 respectively,” Dare said. “As adept sports administrators, we are fully aware that it takes a minimum of 8 years for a country to make meaningful preparation to post podium performance at the Olympic and Paralympic Games

Youth and Sports Minister, Hon. Sunday Dare has restated the dogged posture and commitment of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to rehabilitate,  reposition and revamp our  various sporting centres for podium performances through public private partnership funding. To this end, Hon. Dare emphatically stated that the Ministry, with strong political will,  has urgently  initiated several processes that are already  under consideration with relevant Government agencies to actualise our set goals. Hon. Dare hinted on  this policy direction at the occasion of the 2020 Budget  defence of the Ministry held with the Senate Committee on Youth and Sports  at the National Assembly Complex, Three Arms Zones in Abuja,  today. In the course of responding to the Senate Committee members commentaries on the parlous  state of our stadia, the League Management Company and Grassroot Sport, the Minister averred that private funding of sports is very crucial to attain the des

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Hon. Sunday Dare, while  speaking to the media, assured that all sports federations in the country will get the necessary attention they require. He said under his watch, all sports will get the requisite attention to fly the country's flag high at tournaments. Speaking, he said, "it is my primary duty to give all the federations attention.  Be it Badminton, Table tennis, Lawn tennis, Basketball, you name it. One thing I want to make clear is that I am not a football Minister". Speaking further, the Honourable Minister intimated that he had began  working assiduously, trying to secure private partnerships with corporate bodies who have indicated interest to join the Ministry to move sports to the next level in the country.  The Minister concluded by saying, "sports  is a lucrative business, they gain, we gain, sports in Nigeria will be the better for it".

Futbalgalore.com's Publisher, Ademetan Abayomi bagged 2019 Ahlan Cup Pre Season Tournament Best Sports Writer Award at the Sani Abacha Stadium on Wednesday in Kano. The award ceremony which was held at half time when Nasarawa United took on Elkanemi Warriors in the final of the pre season tournament in Kano, had other important personalities won different awards in different categories. The award, which was bestowed on him and other awardees by the Organizers of Ahlan Cup Pre Season Tournament was in recognition of his dedication, commitment and doggedness in sports reportage during the prestigious competition. Ademetan Abayomi was unanimously picked by the award committee for his effort in promoting the tournament. Receiving the award in the presence of the sports creme’ da La creme who gathered at the Pyramid City, Ademetan Abayomi thanked the Organizers for counting him worthy saying that the award will spur him to do more. The ceremony was attended by distinguishe

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Hon. Sunday Dare, has reiterated the necessity of various National Sports Federations under his watch to start early preparations  for Tokyo 2020 which he assured would make a big difference between success and failure. According to him, "we are left with barely 280 days to the commencement of the first two games as the Olympics and Paralympic games are scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Japan from July 21st to August 9th 2020 and 25th August to 6th September, 2020 respectively. The Honorable Minister made this known in his meeting with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Federations President, Technical Directors, Secretaries General and Stakeholders at the Media Centre Package" A" of MKO National Stadium, Abuja. "As adept sports administrators, we are fully aware that it takes a minimum of 8 years for a country to make meaningful preparation to post podium performance at the Olympic and Paralympic Ga

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, has described the contributions of business magnate, Sir Kessington Adebutu, to sports development as exemplary and admirable. He made these remarks while speaking to journalists at the commissioning of the Sir Kessington Adebutu Ultra Modern Sports Centre at Maryland, Lagos State, on Sunday, the 13th October, 2019. Mr. Dare said Nigeria needs the contributions of philanthropists like Sir Adebutu to ensure sports development is done optimally. He called on private companies, communities and institutions to follow the example of the man popularly called, "Baba Ijebu". "I'm excited and humbled to be here. I only got to know about this event about fou hours ago and I cancelled all my plans to be here and honour our own Sir Kessington Adebutu." "When it comes to sports development, government alone cannot do it. We need private individuals, communities, schools and organisations to

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare has once again reiterated his vision of sports as a viable industry and business hub that will grow the Nigerian Economy, considering the large percentage of human resource that are mostly youths. The Minister confirmed this when he had in audience a delegation from the Nigerian Economy Summit Group (NESG) in his office in Abuja. Speaking further, the Minister assured that in few weeks, there shall be a Sports Business Summit, and this visit is very timely considering the Ministry’s determination to partner with relevant stakeholders in Youth and Sports Development. He said very quickly he will be meeting with his colleague in Women Affairs, Trade and Industry as he had earlier done with both Ministers of Education to collaborate on youth engagement, thereby bring our youths up to top speed with the education an empowerment for livelihood that they required. The Minister said the Federal Government is determined

The employment and revenue generation potentials in the nation’s sports industry would be realized when there is a rationalization of sporting facilities in country to better position them as recreation and economic hubs. This assertion was the outcome of a meeting between the ministry and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to discuss the commercialization of the national stadia. The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare expressed his satisfaction at BPE’s willingness to work with the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) on the future of the nation’s stadia, noting that stakeholders can now work to accelerate the process. He stressed that “we will drive this as quickly as possible.” The Director General of BPE, Mr. Alexander Ayoola Okoh, had told the minister that his agency will be exercise pre-transaction mandate as a project manager while ICRC has post-transaction mandate in addition to its role as a post-concession regulator. Mr.

Minister for Youths and Sports Development, Hon. Sunday Dare, has motivated the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria ahead of  the FIFA U17 World Cup starting in Brazil on 26 October 2019. The Honourable Sports Minister charged the  Golden Eaglets this morning in Abuja when he paid the team a courtesy visit camp in Abuja. “We have been world champions on five occasions and on the cusp of another major tournament in Brazil,” he said at a interview session attended by Futbalgalore.com. “From a distance I have watched the games they played and read about their exploits. “Since they were in Abuja, I felt it was very important to encourage and motivate them. The Golden Eaglets and coaching crew have done great and made us proud. Sunday Dare promised to ensure that all hands are on deck to motivate the boys ahead of the Cadet tourney in Brazil. “I am here to listen to their requests and the kind of intervention they need. It’s better to hear from them directly. “The Ministry will wor

On Thursday, October 10, 2019, Nigeria Youth and Sports minister, Sunday Dare will be exactly 50 days old in office and keen foĺlowers have taken time to do a careful assessment rating of this Oyo state born veteran journalist. This assessment is done in Alphabetical order.  Each alphabet will produce an adjective that will describe in detail, his achievements in his first 50 days in office. A- ACHIEVER.... in 50 days, Sunday Dare has proved to all, that he is an achiever. He started like a house on fire, getting to work on the day of his official announcement as Nigeria sports minister and a few days later, he was in Morocco, championing Nigeria's campaign at the continental sports fiesta where team Nigeria garnered 46 gold medals on their way to amassing a combined total of 127 medals to finish second behind host Egypt on the overall medals table. B. BOOSTER. Nigeria sports minister Sunday Dare has shown in only a short while that he is the perfect man for the job. I

Abia Warriors FC of Umuahia has once again warned Kano Pillars to stay clear of one of its players Joshua Enaholo, threatening that any attempt to register the player in any guise will be resisted by the Umuahia based team. In a reminder letter to the Kano based outfit, Abia Warriors frowned at the non challant and unprofessional attitude being exhibited by  Kano Pillars on the player, saying that despite writing them severally on the status of the goalkeeper, that  Kano Pillars unprofessionally decided to keep the player in their camp and planning to go ahead to registering him with fasified documents. They frowned that this is  going on  despite the fact that  the player is still drawing his salaries from Abia Warriors. In the letter signed by the Abia Warriors Sporting Director Patrick Ngwaogu, the club insisted that they have concluded arrangements to arrest and prosecute Joshua Enaholo for falsifying its official documents, and warned  Kano Pillars to stay clear o

Cup holders Nigeria will battle Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia and South Africa at the group stage of the 3 rd U23 Africa Cup of Nations taking place in Egypt next month, following the draw held in Alexandria on Wednesday night. All Group B matches will hold at the Al Salam Stadium in Cairo – one of the venues for last summer’s 32 nd   Africa Cup of Nations finals. Host nation Egypt will be up against Ghana, Cameroon and Mali in a hard-as-nails Group A with matches at the Cairo International Stadium. A simple but elegant ceremony, with the Montaza Palace at the foreground and the Mediterranean Sea at the background, and rocked by occasional interventions of firecrackers over the sea, was compered by former Egyptian international Ahmed Hosny (now a movie star) and model Lama Gebreil. Egypt’s Minister for Youth and Sports, Dr. Ashraf Sobhy; CAF Executive Committee Member Ahmed Yahya; Members of the Normalization Committee of the Egyptian FA; Members of the local organizing commi