THREE officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) were injured when they repelled a gunfire attack at a forest in Edo State. NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, saying armed hoodlums blocked all roads at Opuje community, in the Owan West Local Government Area (LGA) of Edo State to prevent the anti-narcotic operatives from accessing the forest warehouses where tons of processed psychoactive substances have been stored for distribution nationwide ahead of the coming Christmas and New Year season. “Some of the warehouses containing about 6,000kgs of cannabis were first taken down in…
Author: Peter Noah KC
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NEW Heartland coach Kennedy Boboye can finally heave a sigh of relief after guiding the Naze Millionaires to their first victory of the season in the Nigeria Premier Football League, thanks to a shock 1-0 win over Bendel Insurance in Owerri on Wednesday. Austin Osayande’s 51st minute goal ensured victory for Heartland to put an end to their run of 11 games without a win. Heartland’s first win of the season came three games into the reign of Boboye, who took charge of the team on match-day 10 and began with a 1-0 defeat at home to Enyimba, before forcing…
SUPER Eagles forward Victor Osimhen has added yet another award to his growing list of accolades after scooping the Footballer of the Year prize for 2023 at the AIC Oscar del Calcio Awards. Osimhen was instrumental for Napoli as they raced to their first Serie A title in 33 years earlier in the year. The Nigerian scored 26 league goals to land the gong at the Italian Footballers’ Association Footballer of the Year award ceremony on Monday night. “Victor Osimhen is the 2022/23 Footballer of the Year,” the awardees tweeted while announcing the 24-year-old as the winner. Apart from winning…
SOME Nigerian football stakeholders say they are set to engage former and current officials of the Nigeria Football Federation in a fresh legal battle over alleged corruption and misappropriation of football development funds. News Point Nigeria reports that the funds, according to the stakeholders, include FIFA’s $8.6m 2014 World Cup grant, $10m 2018 World Cup grant among other streams of FIFA and CAF developmental funds, as well as sponsorship money from corporate bodies between 2014 and 2022. Chairman of Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria Task Force, Harrison Jalla, in a statement obtained by our correspondent on Monday, alleged that the…
YUSUF Abdullahi stole the show on match-day 11 of the 2023/24 Nigeria Premier Football League scoring all the goals for Kano Pillars as the former champions thumped Gombe United 5-2 at the Pantami Stadium, Gombe, on Sunday. It was an emphatic return to winning ways for Abdul Maikaba’s side, with Abdullahi leading the ring in the comprehensive win. He stuck Pillars in front as early as the 11th minute and made it 4-2 with three more goals at halftime. With the game already going to bed, Abdullahi further extended Pillars lead with the fifth goal just after the hour mark…
SUPER Eagles Captain, Ahmed Musa has hinted on a return to the Nigeria Professional Football League at a point in his career. Musa started his professional career in the NPFL with Kano Pillars, winning the top scorer award in the 2009-10 season before moving to VVV Venlo the following season. The 31-year-old returned for a brief stint with Kano Pillars in 2021. He has now expressed his desire to play in the NPFL once again at some point in his career. “I will always talk about the Nigerian league because I was once their product. And that placed me where…
THE defending champion of the UEFA Euro, Italy, have been drawn alongside Spain and Croatia in Group B ahead of next year’s tournament, which is set to take place in Germany. Italy defeated England 3-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in full time to win their first major tournament after their 2006 triumph at the World Cup in Germany. In Group A, host Germany were drawn alongside Scotland, Hungary, and Switzerland. The Netherlands, France, and Austria should be another fixture to look out for in Group D. See Full Draw: Group A: Germany, Scotland, Hungary, Switzerland Group B: Spain,…
NIGERIA is now ranked 42nd in the latest ranking released by world football governing body, FIFA, yesterday. This latest ranking shows that the three-time African champions have lost two places from their rating announced at the end of October. The Super Eagles were involved in two competitive matches in November, drawing their first two 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe – two nations below them in the FIFA rankings. The Super Eagles are the sixth best team in Africa behind Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt. Nigeria’s Group C rivals in the 2026 World Cup African qualifying series,…
THE President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ibrahim Gusau, has promised the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee to the Nigeria Football League. VAR is a system that helps referees to decide better about players’ fouls, if a goal was valid, red card decisions, in football matches. Gusau gave the assurance during the maiden retreat of the management and staff of NPFL in Abuja. He said the NFF will start the process of introducing VAR into Nigerian football by sending some referees to countries that have already put VAR into practice to study its application and usage. “I can assure…
SUPER Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro, told the Nigeria Football Federation Technical Committee not to teach him his job but rather pay him and his team their outstanding allowances. Peseiro allegedly said this while reacting to the NFF Technical Committee Chairman, Shariff Ahlan’s comment in the wake of his future as Eagles coach, stating that the Eagles job is bigger than the Portuguese. Ahlan told Peseiro in a meeting in Lisbon, Portugal in October that the Eagles had been struggling due to his poor technical abilities. “You’re busy too pay me my allowances but not busy to tell me what I…
A FORMER Nigerian international Samson Siasia has revealed that the Super Eagles are not ready for the 2023 African Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast. The Super Eagles failed to win their first two matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Zimbabwe. Siasia believes the team is disorganised and not ready to impress at the 2023 Nations Cup and the 2026 World Cup. “Like the majority of Nigerians, I am worried about the Eagles’ lackluster performances so far. Struggling against countries like Lesotho and Zimbabwe is not a good sign of a team ready to win…
THIS newspaper has gathered that the Nigeria Football Federation is considering the future of Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro, with the coach likely to be disengaged soon as the search for his replacement has commenced. Our correspondent learnt that the Technical Committee of the federation was not pleased with the performance of the Eagles under the Portuguese and was desperate to hire a local coach. Since taking charge of the Eagles in 2022, Peseiro has won six and lost six of his 15 matches in the dugout with the three-time African champions scoring 31 times – with 10 coming in…
REIGNING Nigerian Premier Football League champions recorded their third straight win of the season after recording a hard fought 1-0 win away at Heartland in Owerri. It was their first Oriental derby win since June 2015. After a goalless first half that saw The Elephants dominate play and missed chances to score through Chijioke Mbaoma before he was replaced in the second half. With the game looking to end goalless, Enyimba coach Finidi George made some tactical changes which immediately paid off. He replaced Stephen Chukwude for Mbaoma who scored the match winner with his first touch of the game…
SUPER Eagles forward Taiwo Awoniyi has been ruled out for “months” with a groin injury and will miss Nigeria’s outing at the delayed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) billed for early next year. “It’s bad news on Taiwo, he’s had to have surgery and he is going to be out for months,” Nottingham Forest Head Coach Steve Cooper said Thursday. “We’ll support him and try to get him back as quick and as fit as he can be, but it’s a really unfortunate situation and a blow for him.” The striker picked up the injury in Nigeria’s 1-1 draw…
RWANDA pulled one of the biggest shocks of the Africa qualifying series for the 2024 World Cup when they beat South Africa 2-0 on Thursday. With Nigeria getting two points from their first two games in Group C of the qualifiers, the fears of a second consecutive World Cup miss was on the horizon. But goals from Innocent Nshuti and Gilbert Mugisha ensured all three points for the Amavubi Stars at the Huye Stadium in Butare, Rwanda. The win means South Africa did not pick up six points from two games which could have them firmly in control of the…
A BOARD member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Nse Essien says the federation won’t be able to pay the Super Eagles Head Coach Jose Peseiro his compensatory fees if he were to be relieved of his job. The Portuguese coach has been under pressure of late after his side played out consecutive draws against Lesotho on Thursday and Zimbabwe in their Group C, World Cup qualifiers a few days later. Many Nigerian football fans had expectations that the Super Eagles would almost waltz through the group, however, the teams ranked, 151st and 125th took the lead in their encounter…
FOLLOWING another unimpressive performance against Zimbabwe in the 2026 World Cup qualifier, some fans have once again slammed the Super Eagles labelling their display a shameful outing, The PUNCH reports. Jose Peseiro’s men put up an underwhelming performance as they laboured to a 1-1 draw against the Warriors in the second game of the qualifiers. The draw means the Eagles have just two points from a possible six points having drawn their first game against a lowly-ranked Lesotho side at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Thursday. Peseiro made six changes from the side that drew to the Crocodiles…
TITLE holders Kano Pillars earned their first win of the second phase of the Ardova Handball Premier League 2023 in Lagos. Kano Pillars dispatched Benue Buffaloes 33-24 to stay fifth in the men’s standing. Lagos Tojemarine Academy continued in their good form as they defeated Correction Boys 29-22. Lagos Seasider Boys struggled to defeat Confluence Stars 24-22 while Safety Shooters eased past Police Machine 29-19. League leaders, Niger United outscored bottom-placed Bendel Dynamos 36-17 as De Defenders secured a vital 25-22 victory over Sokoto Rima Strikers. In the women’s category, defending champions, Safety Babes maintained their winning streak this season…
VICTOR Osimhen has made the final list for the 2023 CAF Best Player award, a statement from the football body has shown. “CAF has announced the shortlists for the men’s categories for the CAF Awards 2023,” the African football governing body said on Friday. The Napoli forward, who is the overwhelming favourite, is the only Nigerian to make the cut and will be aiming to cap off an impressive year in which he won the Italian Scuddeto and top scorer gong in the league. A few weeks ago, Osimhen finished eighth in the 2023 Ballon d’Or awards held in the…
SUPER Eagles coach, José Peseiro, has come to the defence of his shot-stopper Francis Uzoho, insisting he has faith in the 25-year-old as they prepare to face Lesotho in the World Cup qualification tie on Thursday. Since the exit of Carl Ikeme, Nigeria’s goalkeeping department has struggled to find a suitable replacement. South Africa-based goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi and Maduka Okoye have been the targets of severe criticisms on social media as the latter has been harassed by online trolls over his looks to death wishes upon him and his loved ones. It has been no different for Uzoho as his…