FORMER Super Eagles winger and 1994 AFCON winner, Emmanuel Amuneke, insists he didn’t vote in the poll for the 2023 CAF Player of The Year award, which was won by Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen. Amuneke made this known in the wake of a backlash from Nigerians, after a video shared by CAF showed the Nigerian legend picking Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah — another of the final nominees along with moroccan Hachraf Hakimi — in the pecking order. Amuneke, who also coached Osimhen and his teammates to Nigeria’s fifth U-17 World Cup triumph in Chile 2015, has come under fire over…
Author: Peter Noah KC
FOOTBALL fans across Africa are in for a treat as pay-TV platform, StarTimes, secured the rights to broadcast the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup. The highly anticipated tournament kicks off on December 12th (today) in Saudi Arabia and will feature seven of the world’s top club teams vying for the coveted trophy. UEFA Champions League winners Manchester City, Copa Libertadores de América winners Fluminense, CAF Champions League winners Al Ahly and Karim Benzema’s Al Al Ittihad will lead the football show. The first match between Al Ittihad and Auckland City kicks off today at 7pm. All the matches will air…
VICTOR Osimhen has been crowned the 2023 African Footballer of the Year in a momentous event that solidified his status as one of the best players in the world. Monday’s award capped off a sterling year for the Super Eagles forward whose historic feat in the imperial Moroccan city of Marakesh ended Nigeria’s 24-year-old wait for Africa’s top individual prize. Legendary Kanu Nwankwo was the last Nigerian to win the award and that was in 1999. The prize is a recognition of Osimhen’s exploits for his Napoli club side and the national team where he is a key member. He…
NIGERIA’s Asisat Oshoala has added another feather to her cap, winning the illustrious African Women’s Player of the Year for a record-extending fifth time. The Barcelona star was crowned as the winner of the 2023 CAF Women’s Player of the Year to earn the feat. THE SIXTH! “This night, I would love to use this opportunity to thank everyone who has been part of my journey from grassroots football to the national level to the club side. Because without you, my coaches, and my teammates, there will be no me,” Oshoal said in her acceptance speech. “Football is a team…
THE traditional ruler of Akpabuyo Local Government Area of Cross River, Etiyin Maurice Edet, was on Sunday night abducted by gunmen at his residence in the council area. It was gathered that an aide to the traditional ruler was shot dead in the process of the kidnapping. The spokesperson of the state Police Command, SP Irene Ugbo, confirmed the incident but said details were unknown to her as of press time. A source, however, said that the traditional ruler’s aide was killed as he tried to prevent his principal from being abducted. Akpabuyo, notorious for criminal activities, is less than…
NIGERIAN football legend and former national team captain, Christian Chukwu, has lamented the current condition of the Super Eagles, saying that the country does not have a team for now. Chukwu, who was a guest on Channels Sports Sunday monitored by News Point Nigeria, also said that the Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro, should be based in the country to be able to discover local football talents to complement the foreign-based players. “Our coach should come and stay with us in Nigeria. We have a lot of talents in Nigeria, in our local league and when you don’t camp and…
NIGERIAN football stars shortlisted for the 2023 Confederation of African Football Awards are expected to arrive in Marrakech, Morocco on Sunday (today). Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen who is the favourite to clinch the award for the first time is nominated for the prestigious award alongside Egyptian captain Mohammed Salah and Achraf Hakimi from Morocco. The 24-year-old has been in fine form for Napoli in the past 12 months guiding the Serie A club to their first league victory in 33 years and scoring a league-high 26 goals in 32 Serie A games last season, and 31 goals across all…
DOMA United duo, head coach Akinade Onigbinde and goalkeeper Kingdom Osayi, have been named winners of the League Bloggers Awards for the coach of the month and player of the month respectively in November, for their excellent run in the Nigeria Premier Football League, Saturday PUNCH reports. Both coach and players were announced on Friday, the eve of their highly anticipated clash against former champions Kano Pillars in the Nigeria Premier Football League. Onigbinde edged last month’s winner and Remo Stars coach Daniel Ogunmodede, Lobi Stars Eugene Agagbe and Sunshine Stars Edith Agoye. Onigbinde guided Doma United to an unbeaten…
KANO Pillars captain Rabiu Ali has revealed why he prohibits his children from playing football even if they have the potential of becoming footballers in the future. The 43-year-old started playing football from his primary school days in Fagge, Kano and he also acknowledged that his children’s only chance of playing the game is also in school. “Although we faced difficulty from our parents during our time and for me, I said my children won’t play football as well because even in my house I don’t allow it,” Ali told this newspaper. Ali has been active in the Nigeria Premier…
SOME unknown gunmen on Thursday opened fire on the Sunshine Stars Football Club of Akure along the Benin-Ore Expressway. News Point Nigeria reports that the hoodlums shot at the bus conveying the team to Benin City, Edo State capital, where they were going to honour the Match Day 13 of the Nigeria Premier Football League against Bendel Insurance FC of Benin. It was also learnt the team manager, Mr. Seun Betiku, and an official of the team whose identity had not been confirmed as of the time of filing this report, were injured in the attack. The Media Officer of…
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…
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…