Author: Peter Noah KC

AKWA United player and 2023/24 Nigeria Premier Football League Rookie of the Season, Sani Suleiman, has joined two-time Slovakian champions AS Trenčín on a two-year deal, as per All Nigeria Soccer. Suleiman, 17, has signed a pre-contract with the club, which will be activated in September when he turns 18. He joined Akwa United in January from Wikki Tourists and scored 11 goals in 19 appearances to help the Promise Keepers avoid relegation. Suleiman’s impressive performance in the NPFL earned him two nominations for the League Bloggers Award (Player of the Season and Rookie of the Season). He lost the…

FORMER Arsenal midfielder, Alex Iwobi, has released his debut single. By this feat, Iwobi joins the likes of Davido, Wizkid and others in the Nigerian music industry. The single titled, “Don’t Shoot”, was produced by the Nigeria International with fellow footballers Chuba Akpom and Medy Elito. In an interview with Standard Sport, the Fulham player said although his main focus would continue to be football, making music gives him the freedom of being someone else. He described music as “a certain way of just expressing yourself and letting yourself be.” The track’s lyrics, according to Iwobi, was aimed at encouraging…

ISRAEL Adesanya and Asisat Oshoala are two of five Nigerians included in ESPN’s list of the greatest African athletes of the 21st century. Oshoala made the cut as a six-time African women’s player of the year winner, while Adesanya was a former UFC middleweight champion currently striving to reclaim his title. ESPN recently released a list of African talent who have made significant contributions in various sports. Oshoala is famous for her remarkable success at club and country levels, as well as her leadership in women’s football in Africa. Former Super Falcons striker and four-time African Women’s Player of the…

THE Secretary-General of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Tunde Popoola, has said that Nigeria’s medal hopes at the Paris Olympics largely rest on female athletes such as Tobi Amusan and Ese Brume. Despite participating in the Olympics since 1952, Nigeria has only secured a total of 27 medals, including just two gold medals, both won in 1996 in Atlanta. This remains the country’s most successful outing, with Chioma Ajunwa winning gold in the women’s long jump and the football team, led by Kanu Nwankwo, clinching the second at the expense of super powers Argentia and Brazil. “The men dominated previously, but…

THE Minister of Sports Development, Sen John Owan-Enoh, on Thursday, said the Federal Government has approved more than N12 billion as the budget for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Owan-Enoh also told newsmen in Abuja that preparations for the games was on top gear. This newspaper reports that the Paris Olympics is scheduled to hold from July 26 to Aug. 11 in France. Similarly, the Paralympics is expected to be held from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8. According to Owan-Enoh, all hands are on deck to ensure that the approved funds are released to the athletes as soon as…

NIGERIA’s Super Eagles have dropped again by one spot in the FIFA World Ranking to place world 39th in the July ranking. In the ranking table by the world football governing body, the Nigerian team still maintained the 1,498.93 it had in June. The team suffered a massive drop in the June ranking from 30th to 38th after lacklustre performances in the World Cup Qualifying matches. The drop on the global stage in July however did not affect the team’s position on the continental stage as the 5th behind Morocco, Senegal, Egypt and Cote d ‘Ivoire. On the global scene,…

THE Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has increased its prize-money for the forthcoming 2024-2025 season to N200m. It will be recalled that the winners of the 2023-2024 NPFL campaign, Enugu Rangers, went home with N150 million prize naira. Following the league’s annual general meeting involving the NPFL board and all the 20 clubs in Lagos on Tuesday, July 16, the Chairman of the NPFL board, Gbenga Elegbeleye told reporters that N50 million has been added to the prize money presented last season. Elegbeleye also revealed that the best player and best coach of the season will go home with N1…

REIGNING Nigeria Premier Football League champions Enugu Rangers will begin their quest in the 2024/25 season against newly-promoted side and President Federation Cup champions El-Kanemi Warriors in the first game of the season on Saturday, August 31. Match-day one fixtures for the incoming season were made on Tuesday during the Annual General Meeting of the NPFL board and club owners in Abuja, where the clubs also agreed on the August 31 proposed date for the start of a new season as well as a 38-game format for the league. Chairman of the NPFL board, Gbenga Elegbeleye also announced that the…

PRESIDENT of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ibrahim Gusau, asserts that the federation will later this year organise CAF license C and B coaching courses for men’s football coaches in the country. This is coming on the heels of the CAF license C course exclusively organised for women, which began in Abuja on Monday. The last time a CAF license course took place in Nigeria was in 2017, when about 80 coaches took part in a two-week C license course in Abuja. As the women’s course marks the return of CAF courses to Nigeria, Gusau said two more courses for men…

THE National President, Horse Racing Federation of Nigeria (HRFN), Alhaji Mustapha Abubakar-Bida, says a world cup for the sport will soon be organised in Nigeria. “There will be participation from all the countries of the world like it is being done in Dubai,” Mustapha-Bida told this newspaper on Thursday in Kaduna. He spoke to this newspaper on the sideline of the ongoing four-day of the Hope Renewed 1st year Anniversary Horse Racing Derby. NAN also reports that it is themed: ‘Hope Renewed 1st Year Democracy Derby 2nd Edition Under Division System Race’. The epochal sport meet was organised by the…

AS you read this piece, the world football governing body FIFA has banned Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) side, Katsina United from registering new players for at least three transfer windows. The punishment according to FIFA commenced on June 12, 2024. Except for those who are not conversant with the club’s recent battles with coaches and players over contractual agreements, the punishment from FIFA is not coming as a surprise. Katsina United are becoming notorious for unlawful termination of players and coaches’ contracts. Consequently, when the Players Status Committee of the NFF met to adjudicate on cases, Katsina United featured…

NIGERIAN clubs Enugu Rangers and Remo Stars had mixed luck when the draws for the 2025 CAF Champions League qualifying rounds were made yesterday in Cairo. Enugu Rangers, back in the elite African club competition for the first time since 2017, should be too strong for Zilimadjou from the Comoros in the first round during August. Assuming they clear that obstacle, Rangers would meet Saint Louis of the Seychelles or Esperanca Sagrada of Angola in September, and be favoured to succeed again and secure a group-stage place. Every contender aspires to qualify for the 16-club mini-league phase as that is…

NIGERIA’s representatives in next season’s CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup will know their preliminary stages opponents on Thursday (today) when the draw is conducted. Nigeria Premier Football League champions Enugu Rangers and Remo Stars will both seek passage to the group stage of the CAF Champions League while Enyimba and Federation Cup champions El-Kanemi Warriors will hope to make the group stage of the Confederation Cup. Enyimba are however drawn bye in the first round of the preliminary round of the Confederation Cup as one of the 12 highest-ranked teams in the competition. Nigeria’s other representative in the…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has backed the re-election bid of Amaji Pinnick into the Council of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA). Pinnick, two-term President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), was elected into the Council in March 2021 – the third Nigerian after the late Oyo Orok Oyo and Dr. Amos Adamu. “Mr. Pinnick is seeking re-election into the Council, and President Tinubu supports the bid for Nigeria to retain its seat in the Council,” presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said in a Tuesday statement. “President Bola Tinubu expresses strong support for Nigeria’s bid for re-election into the FIFA Council.”…

THIS newspaper has gathered that visa issues have hindered some of the invited Super Falcons players from arriving at their camp in Spain as the team continues preparation ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France. The Falcons camp opened in Spanish City on Friday but didn’t hold any training sessions until Sunday due to the small number of players in camp. On Monday, the Nigeria Football Federation confirmed that team captain Rasheedat Ajibade, goalkeepers Chiamaka Nnadozie and Tochukwu Oluehi, defenders Chidinma Okeke and Nicole Payne, midfielders Christy Ucheibe, Toni Payne, Deborah Abiodun and Jennifer Echegini, and forward Esther Okoronkwo…

WORLD football governing body, FIFA has banned Nigeria Premier Football League side, Katsina United alongside twenty-two other African clubs from registering players. The other clubs banned are DC Motema Pembe, TP Mazembe, Future FC, Al Masry, Zamalek SC, Horoya AC, Raja Club Athletic, Wydad Athletic Club, African Stars FC, Katsina United FC, Kiyovu Sports Association, Royal AM, and TS Galaxy FC. Others are Singida Big Stars FC, Tabora United, Club Africain, CS Sfaxien, Etoile du Sahel, US Monastir, Mbarara City FC, Buildcon FC, Indeni FC, and Lusaka Dynamos FC. A search on the FIFA website showed that Katsina United began…

HEAD Coach, Chris Musa Danjuma, has called 32 Falconets players to camp in Abuja for the first phase of preparations for the global tournament in Colombia. Those invited with just eight weeks to their first match of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup Colombia 2024 included four goalkeepers, eight defenders, eight midfielders and 12 strikers. Team captain Oluchi Ohaegbulem is top of the list, with first-choice goalkeeper Faith Omilana, defenders Shukurat Oladipo and Comfort Folorunsho also making the cut. Midfielders Chinyere Kalu, Adoo Yina and Rofiat Imuran, and forwards Janet Akekoromowei, Flourish Sabastine and Aminat Bello were also called. Nigeria…

LAZIO have confirmed the signing of Nigerian midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru from Hatayspor on a season-long loan, with an obligation to buy if he impresses. The 23-year-old, who shone in the Turkish Super Lig last season, scoring nine goals and providing six assists, passed his medical in Rome on Friday and completed the necessary paperwork on Saturday, kick-starting his Serie A career. The Manchester City academy graduate, who also had a stint with Sheffield Wednesday, expressed his excitement about the move as he looks to make a significant impact at the Stadio Olimpico. Lazio’s official announcement on Saturday was met with…

SUPER Falcons defender Halimatu Ayinde has been ruled out from the 2024 Paris Olympics following an injury. The defender was included in the team’s 18-woman list for the football events of the Olympic Games. However, the FC Rosengård star suffered a knee injury during training, meaning she won’t take part in the Games billed for later this month. “With a heavy heart, I announce I won’t be part of the Super Falcons for the Olympics,” she wrote on her X page on Thursday. “I’m deeply grateful to FC Rosengård and my teammates for their support and love. Best of luck…

THE Super Eagles have been drawn against familiar foes the Benin Republic in the qualification race for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). Placed in Group D, the Super Eagles face Benin Republic who defeated them recently in a 2026 World Cup qualifiers. In the draw ceremony held in Johannesburg, South Africa on Thursday, Nigeria will also play Libya and Rwanda – who are also part of the Super Eagles’ lot for the race to the World Cup in the USA, Canada, and Mexico in two years. The qualifiers for the 2025 AFCON will begin in September and end…