FOLLOWERS of the Nigeria Premier Football League have applauded the NPFL board for not wasting time in punishing reigning champions Enyimba and leaders Enugu Rangers over the violence which disrupted their potential 2023/24 match-day 35 title decider in Enugu on Sunday, The PUNCH reports. What could have been the biggest game of the season ended embarrassingly at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium when Enyimba players walked off in protest of a late penalty awarded to the hosts and the fans in turn descended on the pitch to wreak further havoc. The league body acted swiftly on Monday by awarding three points…
Author: Peter Noah KC
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THE Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh, has summoned the Nigeria Football Federation and demanded a detailed technical report on the Super Eagles’ following their last two disappointing performances during the 2026 World Cup qualifying series in the June window. The Super Eagles managed to secure only one point from a possible six, following a 1-1 draw against South Africa at the Godswill Akpabio stadium in Uyo and losing 2-1 to Benin Republic in Abidjan in their third and fourth games of Group C. These results leave the Eagles with a total of just three points from a possible 12…
THE week 35 Nigerian Premier Football League match between Rangers International Football Club of Enugu and Enyimba Football Club of Aba has become the most anticipated football game in Nigeria if not the whole of Africa. Known as the Oriental derby, the match between the two most successful clubsides in Nigeria has always been a big fixture, but Sunday’s game is even huger with the league title in the balance. With just three games remaining for this NPFL season to come to an end, Rangers is leading the log with 61 points and is closely followed by Enymba and Remo…
THE Super Eagles of Nigeria played out a 1-1 draw with the Bafana Bafana of South Africa at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo. Coach Finidi George opted to start Southampton forward, Paul Onuachu to lead the lines instead of Victor bOnifcae of Bayern Leverkusen, with another surprise inclusion in the likes of Fisayo Dele-Basiru in the heart of midfield. Nigeria were hoping to avoid a third consecutive draw in the Group C World Cup qualifiers, however, South Africa’s Themba Zwane had something else in store as his 28th-minute strike beat Stanley Nwabali for an early lead. Hugo Broos’ men…
ADEMOLA Lookman is delighted to have chosen Nigeria over England for his senior international career, describing it as the best decision he ever made. The 26-year-old Atalanta forward, who is expected to play a key role for Nigeria in Friday’s 2026 Caf World Cup qualifying fixture against South Africa at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, said this in an interview with the Times on Tuesday. “I wanted to build a career internationally. The decision was something that I thought about for a long time before making it. To play for Nigeria is an honour first of all and the…
SUPER Eagles most in-form player, Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi and Maduka Okoye will this morning arrive in Uyo where the three-time African champions are camping for the crunch World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin Republic. This newspaper gathered from a top official of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that the three players were to arrive yesternight and fly into Uyo this morning to join the rest of the squad. “They will arrive tonight (yesterday night) and will fly into Uyo tomorrow (today),” said the official. Meanwhile, the atmosphere around the camp of the Super Eagles was described by…
THE ongoing nationwide strike action by workers on the auspices of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) has delayed the arrival of the remaining Super Eagles players to camp in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, ahead of their 2026 World Cup qualifiers. This newspaper reports that Maduka Okoye, Semi Ajayi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Calvin Bassey, Frank Onyeka, Alex Iwobi, Ademola Lookman and Paul Onuachu were being expected to join their teammates in camp on Monday. According to the team’s New Media officer, Promise Efoghe, the players, who are already in the country, had not been able to travel to Uyo…
PLAYERS of the Super Eagles have been advised to simply mime the new National Anthem instead of fretting over singing it during the CAF World Cup qualifying tie against South Africa at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo on June 7. The advice came from some concerned Nigerians in their response to a Facebook post by former Nigeria goalkeeper Peterside Idah, who expressed his concern about the players’ ability to sing the old anthem reintroduced by the federal government on May 29 following approval by the National Assembly. “I hope these Super Eagles players will not disgrace us while the…
SUPER Eagles players have been arriving in trickles at their Uyo camp since it opened on Friday ahead of the two crucial 2026 World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin Republic. Although the Director of Media and Communications of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ademola Olajire, said the team’s camp opens on Monday, our correspondent gathered that players started arriving at the team’s camp on Friday, as well as head coach Finidi George and his assistants. According to sources in Uyo, the players in camp as of Saturday are Nigeria Premier Football League trio Sodiq Ismail, Kenneth Igboke (who was…
REAL Madrid withstood a Borussia Dortmund barrage to win the Champions League for the 15th time as Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior struck late in a 2-0 win at Wembley on Saturday. Defender Carvajal headed in from Toni Kroos’ corner on 74 minutes before Vinicius fired home to extend Madrid’s record as the most successful club in the competition’s history. Madrid have now won their last nine European Cup finals and won the competition six times in the last 11 seasons. However, not for the first time in that run, they had to rely on some good fortune as underdogs…
GOVERNOR of Cross River State, Bassey Otu, has rewarded Super Eagles player, Terem Moffi, with N10m for his role in Nigeria’s second-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire. Moffi, along with his father and younger brother, received the gift in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State during his visit to the governor. Governor Otu praised Moffi, who is from the state, for representing Cross River State admirably and serving as a positive role model for the youth. He promised to continue supporting the Nice of France player and emphasised his administration’s dedication to…
THE Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has donated N1 million each to players of Edo Queens and N5m each to the coaches after they won the Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL). Obaseki said this on Thursday when he received the Edo Queens’ victory parade which terminated at the Government House in Benin City, the Edo State capital. He commended the team for breaking the 29-year-old Edo jinx in women’s football by winning the trophy for the first time. “To our wonderful girls and the coaching staff of Edo Queens, you have created history. Your achievement has made an indelible…
NAPOLI hitman Victor Osimhen will not play in Nigeria’s 2026 World Cup qualification games against South Africa and the Benin Republic. The reigning CAF Footballer of the Year was listed in the squad to face South Africa on June 7 and the Squirrels of Benin Republic three days later. But on Tuesday, the team confirmed that Osimhen will miss the matches through injury. Camp update: Africa Player of the Year, Victor Osimhen is injured and out for 4 weeks. Super Eagles’ Coach Finidi George has called up Enugu Rangers’ left back Kenneth Igboke for the WC qualifiers against South Africa…
NIGERIA’s representative at the ongoing 2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL), Rivers Hoopers BC, achieved the historic feat of reaching their first-ever semi-final at the tournament after earning a tough 92-88 victory over former BAL Champions US Monastir of Tunisia in the quarter-final. Rivers Hoopers went into the quarterfinal encounter on the back of consecutive defeats; against US Monastir in the final game of the Sahara Conference, and AS Douanes (Senegal) during the classification round at the BAL Playoffs in Kigali, Rwanda. On the other hand, US Monastir were riding the wave of four straight wins. However, it was the KingsMen,…
EGYPTIAN giants Al Ahly won a record-extending 12th African Champions League title after beating Esperance 1-0 in the second leg of the final in Cairo. The first leg had ended goalless in Tunisia last Saturday, and the hosts took an early lead when Rami Rabia’s header from Hussein El Shahat’s corner deflected off Esperance midfielder Roger Aholou and into the bottom right-hand corner. Wessam Abou Ali struck the side-netting and Percy Tau fired narrowly wide as Al Ahly looked to extend their lead before the break, while El Shahat was denied by visiting goalkeeper Amanallah Memmiche. Yan Sasse curled off…
NIGERIA’s Head Coach, Finidi George, has named his squad for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa and the Cheetahs of Benin Republic. Leading the names on the 23-man list is the in-form Atalanta forward, Ademola Lookman, whose hat-trick on Wednesday handed his side the Europa League trophy Victor Boniface of Bayer Leverkusen is not left out of the squad after being instrumental in the Bavarian side winning their first league title in 30 years while going unbeaten for 51 games in the process. Also on the list are Victor Osimhen, Alex Iwobi,…
FINIDI George’s assistant coach at Enyimba, Yemi Olanrewaju, will step into the new Super Eagles coach’s role as head coach of Enyimba for the remainder of the season, following the exit of the ex-international from the helm of the reigning Nigeria Premier Football League champions. Olanrewaju’s appointment was confirmed by the club in a statement on Thursday, one week after Finidi was unveiled as the Super Eagles coach by the Nigeria Football Federation. “In light of coach George’s departure, Enyimba FC is pleased to announce the promotion of assistant coach Olanrewaju Yemi Daniel ‘Yema’ to the position of head coach…
WORLD football governing body, FIFA, has made changes to the officiating team of the 2026 World Cup qualifying match between Benin Republic and Nigeria which is scheduled for the Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny in Ivory Coast on Monday, June 10. The changes have sent packing Ethiopian official Bamlak Tessema Weyesa, who was originally designated as referee for the encounter scheduled to kick off at 4pm. In his place, Gabonese official Pierre Ghislain Atcho will now be the referee. Weyesa’s compatriots Temesgin Samuel Atango and Tigle Gizaw Belachew have been retained as assistant referee 1 and assistant referee 2 respectively. However, another…
THE final of the 2024 Europa League has three Nigerians chasing glory at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin in Ireland on Wednesday (today) when German champions Bayer Leverkusen take on Italian side Atalanta. The Super Eagles stars convene in Dublin, where Leverkusen will try to complete the second leg of an incredible treble, while Atalanta are seeking to win their first-ever European trophy. A fortnight ago, trio Ademola Lookman, Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella all saw their clubs make their way to the final of this year’s Europa League final with high-flying German champions Bayer Leverkusen coming from behind to draw…
THE Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) organisers have revealed the dates for the remaining games of the season, which is scheduled to conclude on June 23 with Matchday 38 fixtures. It will be recalled the current season commenced on 30 September 30, 2023 after initial delays. This season saw the league body entering into a partnership with technology firm GTI Investment, Propel Sports Africa and MTN to sponsor the league, with an exclusive broadcast right that shall cover eight live games every weekend and 300 throughout the season, thus making the NPFL the first African football league to deploy artificial…