Nigeria Sports Arena

NFF President Amaju Pinnick has expressed confidence that the Senior Men National Team, Super Eagles, will qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals.   The qualification series for the 2017 Cup of Nations (to be hosted by Gabon) will be concluded in September 2016, but the Eagles have what is seen as a group-decider, double-dose against the Pharaohs of Egypt in March, while the qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, to be staged in Russia, begin in October 2016.   Pinnick spoke on Channels Television program, ‘Sports This Morning,’ on Thursday, where he also explained that a holistic solution being packaged for the women’s game in the country has been slowed down by the poor state of the economy, which hit hard at the company that was willing to pick the bills of the proposed expatriate Coach for the Super Falcons.   Nigeria’s number one football administrator paid glowing tributes to the contribution of i...

Nigeria international left-back, Gloria Ofoegbu underwent a successful knee operation last week, as predicted by women football sources. It was revealed by a close pal of the overlapping Rivers Angels star that the Imo-born player has been expected to go for a medical operation to fix her knee. According to the source, all is well with the former Nasarawa Amazons player after she went under the knife on Thursday at the Reddington Hospital in Lagos. “Gloria Ofoegbu went for an operation on Thursday. The operation was successful. She is in high spirit at the moment. “The doctors will give an update on her progress. She is expected to be out for more than ten weeks,” said the source. Efforts to reach the ex-Falconets defender has been abortive as she didn't pick her calls when we sought to speak to her on the success of the surgery.

The Five week-old Nigeria National League (NNL) has continued to produce interesting results with Nembe City running goals riot by thrashing visiting Gateway United of Abeokuta 4-0 in one of the matches played over the weekend. The Victor Rumsom Baribote-financed club has maintained an impressive home record this season after it suffered the same 0-4 defeat in the hands of Julius Atete FC in Week 2 showdown in Benin City, Edo state. The sweet 4-0 victory over Gateway has put Nembe City in a good stead to bounce back to the Premiership cadre from where it dropped out last season. Indeed, it was a good weekend for host teams as they made the best use of the home turf advantage by winning well except Kogi United FC which managed a 1-1 draw with Plateau United FC at Confluence Stadium,  Lokoja. Among the victorious teams is Gombe United FC that dispatched Zamfara United two nil, the same score line that Spotlight FC beat Adamawa United. Other clubs that recorded 2-0 win are Supre...

Yet again, the   on-going Nigeria National League (NNL) has continued to produce interesting results as home teams had near clean sweep by defeating all the visiting clubs at the weekend with Ikorodu United walloping Bussdor 4-0 at home. Elsewhere Plateau United hammered Jigawa Golden Stars 3-0 while Remo Stars defeated rivals Prime FC of Ogbomosho 3-1. Adamawa United destroyed visiting Kogi United 2-0 but Head Coach of  Kogi United, Yomi Godwin Elijah has lamented the manner his team lost to Adamawa United in the tough duel on Saturday. "It wasn't a good result for us, we deserve to pick something from this match as my boys played better and created their own chances, we were just unfortunate to lose," Elijah said. Yobe Desert Warriors beat Spotlight FC 2-1, the same goal margin Supreme Court beat Kaduna United in Abuja. The Apex Boys as Supreme Court is called who are on seven points, now seat on top of the table in their pool. Technical Adviser of Supreme Court, ...

Supreme Court FC at the weekend defeated Kaduna United 2-1 to extend their winning streak in one of the match day 4 of Nigeria National League, NNL decided  inside Area 3 playground in Abuja. The Apex Boys who are now having seven points seat on top of table in their pool. It was an action packed encounter which lived up to its expectation with both side giving good account of themselves before Abuja teaming fans who turned out en mass to catch glimpse of soccer show. Visitors, ex-premier league side, Kaduna United opened scoring early in the proceeding and held on till the end of first half. While the other half lasted, both teams held on until 72nd minute when substitute, Eric Eric leveled up with a fine finish straight to the net from a tight left angle. From then, the Apex Boys took full charge of the tricky game before midfielder Emmanuel Gbemi fired another shot to keep his side ahead till the match ended. Technical Adviser of Supreme Court, Coach Fatai Osho who made se...

Kogi United Head Coach, Yomi Elijah has praised his boys' resolve and discipline during their goaless encounter against Supreme Court FC in the Week Two of the Nigeria National League, NNL. The match played at Area 3 football pitch, Abuja on Friday saw both sides created few scoring chances but failed to convert them. The Confluence State club displayed excellent maturity as they defended real hard to deny Supreme Court boys from scoring. Elijah who praised his boys for their composure noted that the result would spur them to do better in their subsequent matches. "We thank God for this result and I want to thank our players for their wonderful display, they deserved this point because they worked for it, I praise them well," Elijah begins. "Our first match was unfortunate as we dropped two points at home (against Spotlight FC) the draw we had here has restore our confidence and I'm very confident in them that we will do better than this in other games,...

Remo Stars Football Club travelled to the South South area of the country to face Anambra based side Cardinal FC in the round 64 of the Federation Cup. Head Coach Uche Okagbue has expressed satisfaction over his team's preparedness for the Cup game in Warri. Okagbue who heads down to Warri with his 18 man squad, said it's agame to show his team's readiness for the league Season. "We want to progress in the Federations Cup and we have to start with the game against Cardinal FC in Warri. "We have to command the game from the 1st minute, dominating the game will be key for us and it will encourage us to impose our game on our opponents." "We want to improve on the club's record in this competition and we have to take it one game at a time as this game would also help in getting our match rhythm before the start of the league. "The Sky Blue Stars qualified for the round of 64 as Ogun State Champions after defeating Gateway United in the finals ...

Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC)  defeated Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) reigning champions Kano Pillars 1-0 in Ibadan at the Lekan Salami Stadium in the rescheduled game of Match Day 3. Dream Team VI forward, Junior Ajayi scored the only goal of the nervy encounter in the 11th minutes of play when he collected a pass from Rasheed Olabiyi ,he turned inside his marker and put the ball beyond the goalkeeper with a terrific finish. Two minutes after the first goal, Shobowale cuts inside from the right, he pulled the trigger with a left-footed effort, but his shot went over the cross bar. Shobowale and Tony Edjomariegwe were a torn in the flesh for Shooting Stars, they troubled the home team defence with swift dribbles and runs, but 3SC defenders stood tall to deny them of their chances. Few minutes to end first 45 minutes, Tony ghosts past two Shooting defenders, squared out the ball but non of his teammate was there to apply a finishing touch on the ball. ...

Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side Lobi Stars of Markudi goalkeeper Terkaa Melai has revealed that he will be returning to action in May. Melai copped an ankle injury before the start of the 2014/2015 NPFL season in training when he was preparing for the new season alongside his team mates two months ago at the refurbished Aper Aku Stadium in Makurdi. The Shotstopper disclosed in an interview that he will be making a return to full action in May, he also added that he has been training on his own for the the past to weeks in a bid to gain full match fitness before joining the team. "The past two months has been challenging for me due to the injury I picked up in training at Aper Aku Stadium but thank God I'm back I'm fit again, injury is one thing players don't pray for but whenever it comes we accept it in good faith and look for away to get out of it. "I have been training on my own for the past two weeks now, I will be joining the team any ti...

Players of Dolphins FC, led by their captain, Sunday Rotimi have tendered an apology to the club management, Nigerians and people of Rivers State.   Dolphins failed to travel on time for a CAF Confederation game last weekend in Tunisia as players refused to get on the bus to the airport because they wanted more than they were offered as out of station allowance, or estacode as it is more popularly called in Nigeria   The team subsequently missed its flight to Lagos, then Tunis and were walked over by the time they got to the stadium.   Captain of the side, Sunday Rotimi has in turn apologised for the role of the players in the saga,   “On behalf of my players, I want to apologise to the club management and also Nigerians concerning the game in Tunis.   “It’s unfortunate that we left Nigeria to Tunis and couldn’t play the game.   “I deeply apologiese to all Nigerians and especially people of Rivers State,” Roti...

The Nigeria Football Federation has re-confirmed that Super Eagles’ goalkeeper and skipper, Vincent Enyeama, will win his 100th cap for Nigeria if he features against Bolivia in an international friendly Uyo next week Thursday. Reacting to a story in a section of the media that Enyeama has played only 98 caps, NFF spokesman Ademola Olajire said on Monday that Enyeama has won 99 caps and will earn his century when the Eagles file out against Bolivia at the Akwa Ibom Stadium, Uyo on March 26. “There is no doubt that a lot of people have done extensive research on this matter. However, we insist that he has won 99 caps. Some persons appear to have omitted from Enyeama’s file, the Nigeria/Jamaica friendly match at Loftus Road, London on May 18, 2002, when Enyeama came in for Ike Shorounmu at the start of the second half,” Olajire clarified.

  Dolphins will play their CAF Confederation Cup 1st round match against Club African in Tunisia on Saturday, March 14, 2015.   The Confederation of African Football, CAF had fixed the weekend of March 13-15 for the game but latest reports reaching Dolphins from the Nigeria Football Federation have confirmed the game will be played on Saturday, March 14,   Kick off time for the game is 3pm local time at the Stade de Olympics in Tunis.   Dolphins have never played against Club Africain or any Tunisia side in any of the CAF Competitions.  

By-Adepoju Tobi Samuel Live from Benin Republic Two times African champions, Enyimba Int'l has arrived the capital city of Benin Republic, Contonu ahead of Sunday's Caf Champions League fixture against Buffles du Borgu. The team has been in a closed camping in Ota, Ogun state which is just two hours drive to Contonu. An advanced team led by the club chairman and board member of the Nigeria Football Federation, Felix Anyansi on Friday ensure logistic was perfect, for the players and officials to be lodged at a comfortable hotel. The advanced team fumes over poor level of logistic and accomodation their host offers them.  "We are not satisfied with the reception of our host, we treated them like a King when they visited Nigeria. We invested alot of money making them comfortable, it is sad this is what we get from them," Anyansi fumes. "We are more experience and such act is not enough to distract us, though we expect all teams in this competition to be profes...

The Board of the Nigeria National League rose from its meeting of February 9, 2015 and resolved as follows: The Board thanked the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the League Management Company (LMC) for their support to the League in the just concluded season and solicit further cooperation and assistance in the coming League season. The Board commended the Chairman of NNL and the Secretariat for the manner in which they piloted the league, especially at the most trying period of the Nation's Football. The Board noted with concern the increasing of must win attitude of clubs in the just concluded League season and warned all clubs to play by the rules in the 2014/2015 League season. Also resolved that harder disciplinary measures would be put in place to discourage hooliganism, match fixing and other related football malpractices.   The Board reiterated that on no circumstance would any club be permitted to withdraw from the league, the board further resolved that all club...

The League Management Company (LMC) has announced a registration deadline of February 20 for clubs to submit their licensing documents for the 2014/15 Nigeria Professional Football League season which will commence on March 7. The documents include proof of no debts carried over, financial guarantee and medical passport of players. Salihu Abubakar, the LMC Chief Operating Officer (COO) announced this in a statement on the LMC official twitter handle and said the clubs have been put on notice that mid-week fixtures will hold to accommodate the socio-political developments in the country. “As part of the registration process for the new season, Clubs are to mandatorily provide a quarterly Financial Performance Guarantee of N50m which is a condition for licensing to participate in the league. Clubs that are in a position to provide a one-off Performance Guarantee of N200m is also encouraged to do so”, Abubakar stated. Clubs must provide the Financial Performance Guarantee on...

The Flying Eagles will take on Nigeria National League (NNL) side Spotlight of Katsina in another test game on Wednesday. The match will be played at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna and it will kick-off by 11am. Spotlight, who have defender Mustapha Abdullahi with the Nigeria U20 side, are gearing up for promotion to the Nigeria top flight in the forthcoming season. The Katsina club, who placed 10th on the Nigeria National League Division A table, have made several top signings to match their ambitions. Spotlight have been on a pre-season training tour of Kaduna and have so far won three and drawn three of their matches. Their own loss thus far was to Jamba Aacdemy, who beat them 2-1. The Flying Eagles, who are getting set for the 2015 African Youth Championship in Senegal in March, are also likely to battle league champions Kano Pillars by the weekend also in Kaduna. The Nigeria U20s are also slated for an expanded Super 4 tournament in Abuja, which will begin on Thursday, J...

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Thursday morning announced the contract termination of Super Eagles head Coach Stephen Keshi and appoints Amodu Shuaibu as interim coach, Salisu Yusuf and Gbenga Ogunbote will be his assistant while Alloy Agu will be the goalkeeper trainer. The NFF executive board members held long hours a meeting at the Transcrop Hilton Hotel in Abuja the board unanimously agreed to part ways with the Big Boss and his technical crew. Speaking with cross section of the press shortly after the meeting at 1am Nigeria time on Thursday, first vice President of the Federation, Barr. Seyi Akinwunmi said the Federation appreciated Keshi and will give due support to him and his technical crew. "You could recall Keshi and his technical crew contract expired after the World cup, and the Federation have decided not to renew their contract," Akinwunmi revealed. "The Federation appreciated his effort for the success he achieved and the development of our ...

A good hearted Libreville-based Nigerian businessman, Chief George Uche, has offered a handsome cash reward to the Golden Eaglets if they win next weekend's African Under-17 Championship finale qualifying match against Gabon. Uche who owns a thriving freight business in the Gabonese capital said he was impressed with the performance of the team despite the odds placed before them before their 1-2 loss to Gabon on Sunday hence the reason behind the dinner reception he hosted before their departure. Apart from doling out $500 to the players, Uche has pledged the sum of One Million French Francs (about Three Hundred Thousand Naira) to the team should they make good their promise to beat Gabon and pick one of the tickets to Niger 2015 Championship. Prince Udofia, Golden Eaglets' coordinator  has therefore, commended Uche's magnanimity while  calling on eminent Nigerians as well as Corporate Nigeria  to  rally behind the team in their quest to qualify for the CAN ...

Acting President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Chief Mike Umeh has cleared the airways has he called on sections of the Nigeria media to stop misinterpreting a letter from the world football –governing body, FIFA, which was received on Thursday . Umeh disclosed in a letter made available to olawale.blogspot.com last night urging the Nigeria press to do away with any form of misinterpretation of the letter sent to the NFF from FIFA, stating that the letter does not in any way restore Maigari to office owing to the fact that Maigari has long tendered his resignation letter before the arrival of FIFA letter,  and they FIFA are aware of his resignation. “I want to use this opportunity to urge the media to refrain from misinterpreting the letter from FIFA. As a body, the Executive Committee of Nigerian Football Federation has gone through the letter and noted the contents" Umeh declared. “We have noted, among others, the section in which FIFA talk...