Nigeria Sports Arena

  On Thursday September 30th, 2021, Gymnastics in Africa most populous black nation, Nigeria, was officially nailed to the coffin as the incumbent president, Kelvin Ehizogie, emerged president of the federation for another four year term Emerging from the blues in 2016, Kelvin used his financial muscle and top government connections to bamboozle delegates and won a keenly contested election albeit, on controversial circumstances.  The process was hijacked at some point but it took the intervention of former sport Minister, Solomon Dalung, to restore sanity as Kelvin emerged victorious in an Election rerun against stakeholders favorite, Moyo Ogunseinde, in Abuja.  Since becoming president of the federation, Kelvin has concentrated more on his personal businesses that are scattered across Europe and North America as the sport of Gynastics, struggle to catch up with reality.  As .part of his pre election manifesto in 2016, Kelvin promised to focus more on grassroots development while also

Former Governor of Abia State and Chief whip of the 9th Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, has received an award from the Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria (CIPMN). The distinguished Senator was honoured with an "Honorary Fellowship Award" in Abuja.  Senator Orji Uzor Kalu received the prestigious award on Thursday afternoon at the International Conference Centre, Abuja Senator Uzor Kalu's giant strides during his short time in the Senate has not gone unnoticed. During this period, he has started and completed several projects, including the renovation of schools in his constituency and reconstruction of dilapidated roads. The sports-loving Senator is also a strong voice in the Senate and his constituency can affirm that he is an icon of development. These giant strides has earned this award and deservedly so by the man who made Enyimba become a world class brand. During his tenure as Governor, he helped Enyimba win the CAF Champions League and Super Cup bac

Indigenous oil and gas company, Optima Energy are now the new sponsor of Nigeria's prestigious Pre-Season Tourney Ogunjobi Gold Cup. Tunde Shamsudeen, the General Coordinator of the tournament made known of the deal on Wednesday. "It's another feather to our cap as we are very proud to announce Optima Energy Resources as our official sponsors. "The sponsorship is a reward for our hard work over the years as the Ogunjobi Gold Cup has become a brand to the affiliate within Nigeria's domestic football," Shamsudeen said. Optima Energy Resources Limited is an indigenous petroleum downstream marketing company having an ultra-modern white fuels depot in Koko, Delta State that is strategically positioned to serve the energy needs of the economy. With over 50 and a growing number of petrol retail outlets that are meticulously positioned in almost all the geological zones of the country, Optima Energy Resources Limited is the preferred Energy choice availing the right

  Ottasolo FC chairman, Otunba Gabriel Davies who is also the brain behind and sole financial of Ottasolo Pre-season Tournament that is set to take place in Lagos has declared his readiness to host the best of NPFL teams in Lagos. While speaking with Ottasolo Media, the former Stationary Stores FC of Lagos said, "Yes, we have decided to organize a Prestigious pre-season tournament tagged "Ottasolo Pre-season Tournament" first of its kinds in the city of Lagos.  "We have put every necessary modality in place to prove our readiness to host the best of NPFL teams in the city of Lagos. He declared Talking about the reason behind this Pre-season tournament Otunba Gabriel said; "We have put this together in order to promote football and at the same time to provide an avenue for our NPFL teams that are already gearing up preparations to have a befitting competition ahead of the forthcoming NPFL season.

Ten clubs have been pencilled down for the maiden edition of Ottasolo Pre-season Tournament scheduled to hold at Soccer Temple, Agege Stadium from 23-31 October, 2021.   According to Kola Daniel,    the quartet of Shooting Stars, Kwara United, MFM FC and Sunshine Stars and seven other clubs in the Nigerian Leagues have signified interests in the tournament. These clubs have engaged in aggressive players recruitments in the last few months and have been fine-tuning preparations for the league.  The Ottasolo Pre-season Tournament will be a major avenue to test how they are shaping up as it promises lots of thrills. "We are good to go as far as organising this competition is concerned.  “Lagos is in good shape and the good people of Agege await with excitement from the top clubs," Kola Daniel told Ottasola Media. Lagos is a major national football hub, hosting big international football matches and competitions. "Fans should be ready for good football at the Soccer Temple i

The maiden edition of the Ottasolo Pre-season Tournament will be held in Lagos for top football teams in Nigeria. According to the Coordinator of the Tournament, Kola Daniel the event is meant to prepare teams for the 2021/2022 season. The highly respected media practisioner said the competition is aimed at helping to prepare them adequately for the new campaign and give them the opportunity to assess all their new recruits. He said 23rd to 30th October has been proposed for the competition at Agege Stadium. Mr Gabriel Davies is the financier of the Ottasolo Pre-season Tournament. He is the Proprietor of Ottasolo International Football Club, a team that will participate in the Nigeria National League next season. The beauty of Pre-season matches and competitions in Nigeria includes having teams play in superb atmospheres where the players and clubs have a more conducive ambiences to show how good they are. Pre-season games offer fans the opportunity of glimpsing the true quality of pl

Minister of Youth and Sports  Development  Mr  Sunday Dare  has re affirmed the commitment of the FG to the development of women football in Nigeria.  The Minister gave the assurance during the draws of the maiden edition of the Betsy Obaseki women football tournament  held in Benin on Sunday. The Betsy Obaseki women football tournament is sponsored by the First Lady of Edo State, Mrs Betsy Obaseki as her own contribution to the development of the game in the country alongside the private sector.   According  to the Minister, "This competition is a re-affirmation of the important place of women's football in our country and also an attestation  of the status of Edo State as the home of Football in Nigeria.  "Coming just a few days after Nigeria successfully hosted the  the First Lady, Dr.  Aisha Buhari Cup in Lagos only confirms Nigeria's leading role in women football on the continent and the importance  attached to the development  of the girl child." The Minis

Sunday Dare, the Youth and Sports Development Minister has poured encomiums on Nigeria's senior women basketball team- D'Tigress for their victory at the 2021 Afrobasketball championships in Cameroon. The Nigerian ladies, now African queens of the court, captured their third consecutive Afrobasketball championships title on Sunday after beating Mali by 70-59 in the final. The performance of D'Tigress was so dominant all through the championships that many bookmakers had tipped them to retained their crown even before today's final. An elated Sports Minister Sunday Dare said Nigeria's victory is confirmation of her dominance of the sport in Africa. "Clearly now Nigeria's dominance of the sport is indisputable. This is the evidence that Nigeria's women basketball can be ranked as a World class programme. We have to sustain this momentum. This is remarkable, winning the Afrobasketball Championships for an unprecedented third time. "I salute the team(D

Former president of the Nigeria Judo federation, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has decided to pull out of the race to become president of the Weightlifting federation of Nigeria. This decision was reached after due consultation with friends who advised him to pull his weight behind another contestant, Lawrence Iquaibom, a former commonwealth champion in the sport.  As Africa Pillar of Sports, Kalu reckons that he needs to play the big brother role to a former Olympian who has indeed invested his passion and money into developing the sport at state and National level and should not be seen as an elder who wants to reap where he has not sowed.     "My intention was clear from the onset. I wanted to return Weightlifting to where it used to be. This is one sport that can give us medals at major international competitions. Everyone know what i achieved as president of the Nigeria Judo federation and now, as Chief Whip of the Nigeria Senate, i thought I could support Weightlifting, as part of

Defending champions, Kwara State Internal Revenue Services, KWIRS will have to use many tax collecting skills if they are to retain this year's Independent Cup.  KWIRS and five other teams, including Kwara State chapter of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, SWAN, Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, First Bank Plc and Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC will be participating in the football and Table Tennis events which is expected to start on Tuesday, 28th of September.  The preliminaries stages will be decided on 30th of September while the final will be played on Independence Day which is Friday, 1st of October at the Indoor Hall of Kwara State Stadium.  The competition aimed to celebrate Nigeria Independence and to emphasize the importance of freedom to people is organized by Phreestyle Sport Limited and supported by Kwara State Sports Commission. The Brain Behind Phreestyle Sport Limited, Shogo Shodunnke told sports writers in Ilorin

    Former U-17 attacking midfielder Akinkunmi Amoo, has been rewarded for his fantastic display on match day 20 of the Swedish Allsvenkan, after being named player of the week, in the match against Goteborg on Thursday night.    The 19-year-old was in a league of his own, producing series of fine display for the host as he scored once and assisted another to help    his side secure a vital    3-0 win over Goteborg; a performance which caught the eyes of series of renowned media outlets in sweden and europe at large.   According to Sweden based media outfit Discovery+ Sport, the performance of the 19-year-old was enough to name him the best player, as his all round display was a joy to watch.   “After being outside of the starting eleven for a period, Amoo is back with a message against IFK Goteborg. It was a goal, an assist and there were other contributions. For the fine and match-deciding effort, the Hammarby player is the player of the round" says Discovery + Sport   The forme

Former Flying Eagles and AS Trencing explosive winger, Ahmad Ghali has revealed that he is ready for the next Slovak Super Liga challenge, against FK Pohronie    coming up tomorrow, at the Futbalovy Stadion Ziar nad Hronom. AS Trencin manager, Peter Hlinka,has included Ghali in tomorrow’s squad for the matchday nine of the ongoing Slovakian Super Liga, against bottom-placed team, Pohronie. Speaking ahead of the game which he described as a difficult game, the 21-year-old attacker said that he is ready to help his team overcome Pohronie, who he believes can be dangerous on their days. “Tomorrow game against Pohronie will be difficult game in their Stadium, even though they are in the last position but they are good opponents boths defensively and offensively. “As a team, we have really worked hard this week to be ready for the game and we are ready to give everything tomorrow and win the game.” Since he made his Fortuna Liga debut for Trencin against Pohronie on 13 June 2020, after his

  Nigerian International, Stephen Odey, bagged another brace    against Fremad Amager yesterday in the third round of the Danish Cup, as he helped Randers FC progress to the next phase of the competition. Danish Cup defending champions, Randers FC continued from where they stopped over the weekend, where they recorded a 3-2 victory over FCNordsjaelland in the league, with another 3-2 triumph in the Danish Cup on Wednesday evening, at Sundby Indraestpark Stadium. Odey netted the first goal of the match, 15 minutes after the hosts opened the scoresheet, and completed his second brace for Randers in his fourth appearance in their colours on 45 minutes. The KRC Genk striker, who is on loan to the Horses with an option to buy at the end of the season, is looking forward to another remarkable outing this weekend, as his team set to host Danish Superliga top side, FC Midtjylland at the MCH Arena.

  Former Golden Eaglet winger Akinkunmi Amoo has revealed that he is not a player shy of scoring with his head after his 5th league goal earned Hammarby IF, a hard fought 1-0 victory over    Varbergs, on Monday night. The 19-year-old headed home from a Astri Slimani cross, despite not been the tallest in the field with the attacker showing great skills and composure to score his only goal, of the keenly contested match.  Speaking to the club media after the match,    heroic Akinkunmi Amoo, expressed confidence in his ability to score more goals with his head; But laughed off suggestions that,    his hight could limit him to score more goals with his feat, than his head.  “If you watch the game from the beginning, I headed a lot of balls, so it doesn't mean when you are short you can’t head ball accurately. I timed balls well against Varbergs and went for it,” Amoo added.  The tricky winger went on,    to also praise his side spirited efforts in the game whilst also hailing his coac

On Thursday, 23rd September, the Honourable Minister for Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, will deliver a keynote address at the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Side Event on Social Business, Youth and Technology. The address, which will be delivered virtually, will focus on "Social Business Towards a Sustainable Revival of Post-Covid 19 Economy." The Minister is expected to draw on his extensive wealth of experience in engaging with young business owners, investors, entrepreneurs and innovators across the African continent and beyond. This is the second time in two years that Mr. Dare has been asked to speak at this particular high-level event. In his keynote address at the 74th UNGA, he said the Youth in Africa’s biggest nation, Nigeria, are in a position to help solve major challenges of the world. He added that Nigeria will rely increasingly on its Youth population to develop smart products and solutions to conquer the challenges and pr

  Former Golden Eaglets forward Akinkunmi Amoo was the match hero for Swedish side Hammerby IF as he scored the game’s only goal to earn his team a 1-0 win over Varbergs BoIS. Still smarting from the shock 4-1 loss in their last league outing away at Djurgadens, head coach Milos Milojevic rang in the changes with Amoo returning the starting XI having sat out last week’s embarrassing loss. The 19-year-old hit the ball running from the blast of the whistle and was involved in the game’s first real chance when he combined with Astri Slimani to set up skipper Bojanic but the midfielder failed to keep his effort on target.   The visitors then grew into the game and had chances of their own twice but the hosts goalkeeper was up to the task as he kept his cool to keep the game goalless after the hour mark.   With the half time whistle seconds away, the tricky Nigerian opened scoring as he robbed defender Joakim Linder off the ball before setting up Selmani who then crossed graciously to the h

Barrister Churchill Oliseh has revealed that the FC Ebedei Stadium in Sagamu meets all FIFA and CAF requirements as it can host high profile international FC Ebedei Stadium Is FIFA And CAF Standard - Oliseh Barrister Churchill Oliseh has revealed that the FC Ebedei Stadium in Sagamu meets all FIFA and CAF requirements as it can host high profile international matches. The President of the reputable and professionally managed football club in Nigeria also confirmed that it took the contractors less than four months to deliver the world-class project. According to him, "The FC Ebedei Stadium was one of our biggest priorities, we liased with different experts in the field and opted for the very best. "We used premium FIFA quality astroturf grass produced in Europe with high tech underlay and shock pads for the pitch. "The technology is to help protect players against the side effects of other types of artificial grass and base. "The spine of the grass enables sliding w

  Nigerian International,Stephen Odey opened his goal account in the colours of Randers FC against FC Nordsjaelland in five-goal thriller, in Matchday nine of the Danish Super Liga on Sunday. The former FC Zurich forward, who made his first appearance for Randers on Thursday, against AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Europa Conference League, at the AutoC Park Randers Stadium, scored two first half goals as he helped his team to 3-2 victory over Nordsjaelland. Odey put his team in front in the 8th minute of the game, and completed his maiden brace in Denmark, with 11 minutes to wrap up this first 45 minutes to wrap up the match in an emphatic fashion. Lasse Berg Johnson provided the two assists. Odey, 23, who joined the Horses on loan from KRC Genk during the summer transfer window with an option to buy at the end of the season, will be looking forward to another memorable outing, when his team face Fremad Amager in the third round of the Danish Cup.

Calm and calculated, focused and concentrated, quiet and achieving. These are some of the adjectives that best describes this bullish goalgetter called Mallam Shehu Dikko.  Dikko has once again added a feather to his big cap by putting together a showpiece reception for FIFA president Gianni Infantino and his vice, Patrice Motsepe who is also the president of the confederation of Africa football.  Wednesday's event held at the Sky Lounge of the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos was the perfect platform for LMC chairman and second vice president of the Nigeria football federation to show the world his managerial, administrative and organizational qualities.  On a very short notice, Dikko left tongues wagging as to how he was able to achieve these much in just under one week.  The event had in attendance FIFA and CAF presidents, two service ministers of the federal republic of Nigeria, seven serving FA presidents from across Africa, Central Bank president Godwin Emefiele, Africa's ri

  The Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and the  Commonwealth Games under the auspices of the Commonwealth Sports Foundation Nigeria will organize an exhibition to enable some indigenous games to demonstrate their sports.  The programme which, will take place on Saturday, 25th September 2021 at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, will be declared open by the President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) Engineer Habu Ahmed Gumel with the following sports on display: Abula, Ayo, Dambe, Kokowa and Arm-Wrestling. The Commonwealth Games Federation is the organization responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games, the Commonwealth Youth Games and the delivering on the vision of the Commonwealth Sports Movement to build peaceful, sustainable and prosperous communities globally by inspiring the Commonwealth.   Commonwealth Games Federation is made up of countries and territories previously under the British Empire.  The Commonwealth Indigenous Sports event is one of

  Newly invited Super Eagles player, Innocent Bonke is set to make his first appearance in the prestigious UEFA Champions League this evening in Sweden. Having made 18 appearances for Swedish top side, Malmo FF this season, manager Jon Dahl Tomasson has included Nigerian midfielder, Bonke in his squad for Group H match against Juventus, coming up tonight at the Eleda Stadion. The 25-year-old defensive midfielder who made his debut for the Super Eagles of Nigeria with a bright performance against Cape Verde in 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, has disclosed that he’s ready for the big game after his full recovery from injury in his last league game. Bonke said while speaking to CKDMedia in an exclusive interview ahead of the game against Juventus, “I recovered fast and thanks to the medics in my team, so as to be available for an important first game of the Champions League group.  “It’s every players dream to play in the Champions League and World Cup, and I’m not an exemption.  "It

 

Chairman of Katsina state football association, Aminu Kurfi, popularly called Balele by his admirers is the new moving train of Nigeria football.  In 2014 and 2018, the former chairman of Katsina United, listened to superior arguments and decided to give peace a chance as he stepped down on both ocassions, to allow Kano state FA Chairman Sharif Inuwa an easy return to the executive committee of the Nigeria football federation.  When asked by friends and colleagues, Balele said he is bidding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.  Ahead of the 2022 NFF Elections, there were rumors that Balele is being considered by the north as their sole candidate for the presidential seat but the Kurfi born politician who has been tipped by many to become governor of Katsina state in the nearest future, was quick to dispel these rumors linking him with the NFF top job, rather he is now focused on becoming the North West candidate on the board.  An economist with over 20 years experience i

By Adewale Ajayi A top official of Remo stars football club of Ogun state has boasted that the club have what it takes to beat Bendel Insurance and claim one of the NPFL Slots available but he insists, that they want to do so in style at the Rangers stadium.  The official who spoke on condition of anonymity, threatened that Remo stars will only file out for the match with Insurance, if and only if the match is played at the Rangers International stadium in Enugu.  He wondered why anybody will want to take the match to the UNEC stadium, when it is very obvious that this is the star match of the day as the other fixture involving 3SC and Ekiti United is a no match.  When this reporter sought to know why Remo stars don't want to play at the UNEC center, the official said the pitch at UNEC is very bad and that the venue is not ideal for a match of this magnitude. He stressed further that matches involving Remo stars and Bendel Insurance in the just concluded season have always brought