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The
Ogun State Football Association (FA) yesterday elected a new executive
headed by Gani Majekodunmi and eight others to run the affairs of the
association for the next four years. The elections were held at Alake
Sports Centre, Ijeja, Abeokuta the state capital.

The new chairman
defeated former Green Eagles Captain, Segun Odegbami who had earlier
shunned the screening exercise of the electoral committee, held 24
hours before the election.

Though he did not file a letter of withdrawal, the former Nigerian international also did not attend the election yesterday.

The election was
conducted by the Kunle Oluwusi-led electoral committee and supervised
by national officers of the Nigeria Football Federation, as well as
stakeholders in the football administration and sports journalists.

The results

Majekodunmi won the
election by polling fifteen of the seventeen votes cast by accredited
delegates. In a similar vein, all other elected officers won the
election convincingly. They include; Nojimu Lasisi who was elected
Vice-Chairman after his opponent also failed to show up for screening.
Others include J.A Adeola, Lekan Monsuru, Akinwunmi Kolawole, Kolawole
Popoola, Johnson Oluwaseyi and Gbenga Segun, as members of the board of
the FA.

In his acceptance
speech, Majekodunmi who is a member of the National League Interim
management Committee said the new board will work tirelessly to develop
grassroots football through the creation of an in-depth scouting
network in the state, so as to source for talent within the state,
adding that training and re-training of all stakeholders will be given
proper attention.

“I want to assure
you that my committee would adhere strictly to the NFF status in all
respect as we are in a position to advise government in terms of policy
formulation that would assist football development in Ogun State and
Nigeria at large. I want to assure you all that collectively we will
move Ogun State forward,” he said.

New executives for Referees Council

The Ogun State
Football Referees Council has also elected new executive. They include;
Sunday Oladipo as Chairman, Oba Odunsi (Deputy Chairman), Lawrence
Babatunde(Vice-Chairman 1), Christopher Adu(Vice-Chairman 2), David
Olasore(General Secretary), Amos Alani(Assistant General Secretary).

Maigari’s warning

In a related
development, the NFF has warned the FAs of Imo and Yobe States to
conduct elections into it executive committee or risk sanctions.

Aminu Maigari, NFF
President speaking on Tuesday said that failure to conduct elections in
Imo State may attract sanctions to the top Nigeria Premier League Club,
Heartland FC of Owerri before the end of January. “There is no reason
why the elections should not hold. One or two states cannot hold the
entire nation to ransom. All the other states have concluded their
polls with only one or two who have already fixed date for their own
elections”.

Maigari further
said both states have been formally notified, “I have directed that
letters be sent to the FA of the two states as we are not going to be
condoning anymore excuses”.

Maigari said the issue of Yobe was different as they had conducted
elections before: “Yobe State claimed to have conducted their elections
but we found out they did not do this the proper way,” said Maigari. An
electoral committee headed by Kamar Abdulkadir had earlier conducted an
election in Damaturu on January 7 with Mohammed Sani Abdulrahman
emerging as winner. The elections were later voided when it was
discovered that they were not conducted according to the NFF statutes.

Nigeria’s
flagbearers in both the Champions League and Confederation Cup
tournaments have been mandated to produce, among other things, security
guarantees and the medical certificates of their players by Africa’s
football governing body, CAF. Enyimba and Kano Pillars will be
representing Nigeria at the CAF Champions League, while the duo of
Kaduna United and Sunshine Stars will be doing likewise at the CAF
Confederation Cup.

Enyimba and Kano
Pillars will commence their respective quests in the Champions League
this weekend with the latter taking on Mighty Barolle of Liberia in
Monrovia, with Enyimba, champions of Africa in 2003 and 2004, locking
horns with Michel de Ouenze of Congo in Brazzaville. And according to
the assistant general secretary in charge of competitions at the
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Mohammed Sanusi, valid medical and
insurance papers, as well as security guarantees are mandatory for
these clubs in line with directives from the continental football body.

Speaking on Tuesday
in Abuja at a meeting with representatives of two of the four clubs,
Sanusi informed Enyimba’s chairman, Felix Anyansi-Agwu and his Kaduna
United counterpart, Sabo Babayaro that the stipulated conditions for
taking part in CAF competitions must be strictly adhered to by the
teams. Kano Pillars and Sunshine Stars failed to send representatives.

Medical certificates

“Medical
certificates of fitness and insurance that cover all the 25 players
that you have registered are very important,” Sanusi said. “CAF will
not accept anything less.

“You must also be
prepared to extract from your state government a letter of security
guarantee for visiting teams, duly signed by the state governor.

“You must also be
ready to take good care of your players and officials while playing at
home and abroad, as well as the players and officials of visiting
teams, and also fulfil the mandatory obligations for match officials,”
he added.

The clubs are also
mandated to provide standard playing pitches, as well as good and
functional dressing rooms at their home ground. In addition, a
functional fax machine and photocopier must be at the stadium along
with adequate security before, during and after every match. Also at
the meeting, the NFF presented new CAF flags to the clubs present.

In a related development, CAF has released the names of the match
officials for this weekend’s matches involving Kano Pillars and
Enyimba. Officials for the game in Monrovia are from Guinea Bissau
while the officials for the tie in Brazzaville are from Chad. The
winner at the end of the two-legged tie between Kano Pillars and Mighty
Barolle will come up against the winner of the game between Morocco’s
Wydad Casablanca and Ghana’s Aduana Stars in the next round, while the
winner of the Enyimba-Ouenze game will square up against either Union
Sportive de Bitam of Gabon or Les Astres de Douala of Cameroon in the
next round.

Talented
Boys FC have emerged winners of the 2011 edition of the Street Strikers
Football Championship after defeating Owoya Babes in the final.

The city-wide
championship organised by Red Bull, ended this past weekend at the
popular Gbagada Playing Field and saw Talented Boys emerging 2-0
winners over their opponents.

The six-a-side game
that brought the three-day soccer fiesta to an end did not produce any
goal at full time. And it took a penalty shoot-out to separate the two
sides.

Earlier, Manchester
FC had defeated Choice FC 3-2 to claim third place in the semi-final
match, also through a penalty shoot-out.

At the end of the
tournament, the participants expressed their joy at being allowed to
showcase their talent with proper organisation.

The tournament saw participating teams featuring six players and two substitutes per game.

Speaking on the reason behind the continuation of the event which
also took place in 2010, a representative of Red Bull noted that “the
2010 edition was well received with a lot of positive feedback and so
we decided to once again give people a chance to experience the thrills
associated with the nationally loved sport.”

Obinna
Nsofor will hope to lead his club, West Ham to a first cup final in 30
years as the Hammers try to save their season by making it to Wembley.
The Nigerian was shown a straight red card at Upton Park in the first
leg of the Carling Cup semi-finals. And the sending off almost
jeopardised the Hammers’ chances. He was sent off for lashing out at
Larsson behind play and that handed the initiative to the Blues but the
Hammers had the last laugh as they won the game 2-1.

Today, away to St.
Andrews, West Ham will be boosted by the fact that Nsofor is available
– he has served his suspension. The Nigerian striker, who was a force
when West Ham beat Manchester United 4-0 in November, seems to keep his
very best performances for cup games as he assisted three of the
Hammers’ goals that night.

Another player, who
has re-discovered some form of late is wing-back, Julien Faubert and he
believes that their performances in attack will be what will save the
season.

“It is a nice
semi-final and we have the chance to go to Wembley,” said the French
man, who impressed against Everton on Saturday, confirming the Hammers’
desire to get to the hallowed ground of English football.

“It will be a hard game away in Birmingham, but I think we can go there and do something.

“If we go there to
play football and try to score, I think we have a chance. If we try to
defend, we can concede a goal, so I think we have to go there and work
hard and then we’ll have every chance to win and go through.”

First leg

West Ham took a
first-half lead at Upton Park through Mark Noble, but Liam Ridgewell’s
reply followed by a straight red card to Victor Obinna almost turned
the tide in Birmingham’s favour with just over half an hour remaining.

However, a blunder
from Birmingham goalkeeper Ben Foster in the 78th minute gave the
Hammers an unlikely 2-1 win in the first leg. Foster failed to gather
Carlton Cole’s tame shot, thereby handing under-fire Avram Grant’s side
a valuable lead heading into today’s second leg.

Tricky tie

The game is
expected to be a tough one as Birmingham will be out to rebound quickly
from the 5-0 thrashing they received at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Under-pressure manager Alex McLeish said the squad will be focused on
today’s game. The Blues are also pining to make a first major cup final
in 10 years.

“As a team we don’t
like losing and so we’ll be hurting for a good few hours but we have to
dust ourselves down and focus on the game on Wednesday,” said McLeish,
speaking to Birmingham website.

It is also another
opportunity for the Midlands side to move on in the current season,
which has been poor compared to last season. “It’s a huge opportunity
for us. We will give it our all.”

2010 World Cup final referee Howard Webb will take charge of the match, which will be his 31st for the season.

Dimitar Berbatov struck twice as Premier League leaders Manchester United recovered from two goals down to beat promoted Blackpool 3-2 in a thrilling game on Tuesday.

United were staring at their first defeat of the season after Blackpool dominated the first half and Charlie Adam corners created headed goals for defender Craig Cathcart and striker DJ Campbell.

United manager Alex Ferguson sent on Ryan Giggs as a substitute and the veteran’s influence crushed Blackpool’s dreams of a major upset in their biggest game for 40 years when Berbatov volleyed in on 72 minutes and substitute Javier Hernandez equalised with a cool finish.

With Blackpool’s players visibly tiring, Berbatov snatched all three points for his side with a clinical strike in the 88th minute to send United five points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table.

“We always have a chance with the spirit we have in the club,” Ferguson told ESPN. “We didn’t play well in the first half but you know we will always keep going.

“We knew they would get tired in the second half, we kept playing our football and got some more penetration. Ryan gave us composure, Hernandez was a threat with the timing of his runs and Berbatov has been doing that for us all season.

“In the end it doesn’t matter how you get the win.”

It was a match that felt like a cup tie, such was the obvious disparity between the sides.

The team sheets came out on a simple black and white printout rather than the colourful document produced at Old Trafford.

The stand shook when the fans leaped around in celebration, while Blackpool manager Ian Holloway had said in his programme notes he had to “commandeer the chairman’s office because my office is a little too small to be entertaining Sir Alex”.

INFERIORITY COMPLEX

Any inferiority complex was quickly put aside after the opener which had fairytale written all over it as Cathcart headed in at the far post against the club where he spent his youth days before being sold to Blackpool in the close season.

Campbell’s goal came after another Adam corner was headed on inadvertently by Darron Gibson into the Blackpool striker’s path for his sixth goal in his last seven games.

It looked like a major upset was on the cards with United struggling to create any clear chances and apparently on the verge of losing their unbeaten record.

Blackpool were denied what looked like a certain penalty following a clumsy foul by United defender Rafael da Silva and the replacement of Wayne Rooney with Hernandez midway through the second half livened up the visitors’ attack.

Berbatov’s first strike proved the turning point and Hernandez calmly converted Gigg’s fine pass before the Bulgarian’s 19th league goal of the season completed the sort of revival that champions are made of.

Rafael was carried off with what looked like a nasty injury following a clash of heads and after he had received lengthy treatment on the pitch, United hung on through 10 minutes of stoppage time to secure only their third away league win of the season.

In the day’s other Premier League match, Aston Villa won 2-1 at Wigan Athletic through goals by Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young to climb to 13th in the table.

I am not a
physiotherapist, or sports scientist. I am not even a medical
practitioner. But since experience – it is agreed, is the best teacher,
I believe I am adequately equipped to share the little I know about
sports exercise and the benefits.

In last week’s
column, tilted ‘SAVE OUR HEROES’, I wrote inter-alia, that – “it is not
about how many millions we have in our bank accounts, or shares we have
bought. It is not also about the number of landed property we have
acquired over the years, it has to do with taking very good care of our
bodies. Don’t be deceived please, no matter how rich you are; if your
body is not in good condition, it is not likely that you will live to
enjoy your wealth…”

The question is – how does a human being keep his body in good or healthy condition? The answer is simple – exercise.

Exercise is defined
as a physical activity and movement, especially when intended to keep a
person or animal fit and healthy; or a series of movements or actions,
designed to make the body stronger and fitter. Unfortunately, most
Nigerians intentionally or ignorantly indulge themselves in the
sedentary style of living and I make bold to say that this is partly
responsible for the state in which we find ourselves and the state of
the nation today. It is sad because even some of those who claim or
pretend to be involved in sports exercise are doing the wrong things.
As a matter of fact some of them are destroying themselves gradually.

I visit the
National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, once in a while, especially on
Saturday and Sunday mornings. The initial impression you get, is that
of thousands of people involved in keep-fit exercises, from aerobics to
jogging, walking, playing of tennis, basketball, football, and
volleyball. You also see a lot of martial art groups. There are also a
number of bicycle riders and roller skaters. Those involved in these
exercises range from the socially-disadvantaged (area boys), to
students, amateur/professional athletes, professionals like lawyers,
engineers etcetera. There are also business men and chief executive
officers, most of whose belly size make them easily identified.

Defeating the purpose

I sincerely do not
intend to be disrespectful. It is just that I feel strongly led to
concentrate on them today, for so many obvious reasons and I believe
that there is the urgent need for us to educate ourselves on the need
to do things pertaining to healthy living correctly.

Please permit me to
make a positive digression, very quickly, by sharing a personal
experience on the benefits of exercising the body. A few months ago,

I experienced a
very excruciating pain on my back, after travelling back home to
Nigeria, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Dubai. I had this same experience
a few years ago, travelling from the West Coast of the U.S.A. via
Chicago, Europe to Lagos. I spent thousands of naira purchasing pain
killers and receiving treatment from the physiotherapist, before Coach
Sule Bello of the National Sports Institute, took me through some very
basic exercises and encouraged me to concentrate on them. I did and to
the glory of God, the pain disappeared after a few days of consistent
exercise. That was after the trip to the U.S.A.

This last
experience was however different, because one of the courses I studied
in the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, was sports physiology, which
has to do with the study of how an athlete’s body functions, especially
as it reaches the limit of performance and endurance, so I knew exactly
what to do. I was no longer ignorant.

The same back ache
started, apparently because of the unnecessary long distance flight
from Sao Paulo up to Dubai and then back down to Lagos. I pray
something is urgently done to correct this anomaly. My first night back
home was horrible. I was so tired I almost found it impossible to
sleep, especially with the back ache and the jet lag effect. So I
remained in bed the whole morning until it was mid day when the sun was
at its best. I put on my running kits and took to the road. Thank God I
live in a private community where I enjoy the luxury of jogging anytime
I wish to do so. It was a very warm afternoon and so I embarked on what
we call ‘walk-a-jog’, for about 45 minutes, within which I covered
about 5 kilometres. After going through some stretching exercises for
about ten minutes, I drank a lot of water, had a warm shower, before
lying down on my bed. It did not take me five minutes before I slept
off and by the time I woke up, the back ache was gone. I did not take
any pain killing medication. Thank God, for sports exercise and wisdom.

Back to the
National Stadium scenario I was trying to paint before I digressed.
Some of the ‘big men’ who take part in what they describe as exercises,
oftentimes leave the stadium with more ‘poison’ in their bodies. It is
common knowledge that immediately after the exercises, they embark on a
liquor-drinking, fried turkey/chicken/meat eating exercise. This takes
more time than the sports exercise they are supposed to concentrate on.
I do not think this is proper. A percentage of the money wasted this
way, can be wisely spent to purchase functional running canvases,
instead of the cheap ones I see them wear, that I know can damage their
ankles and knees, which can eventually affect their waist and back. A
word is enough for the wise.

Meanwhile, it is well.

So, our four musketeers facing charges of misappropriation of funds are not Nigerians after all?

So, Sani Lulu, Amanze Uchegbulam, Taiwo Ogunjobi and Bolaji Ojo-Oba have become citizens of the Federal Republic of FIFA?

It is really
interesting to discover that these individuals who have risen from
obscurity to prominence of the back of NIGERIAN football, will begin in
their old age, to exhibit symptoms of senility in midlife.

It was amusing to
hear them last week tell an Abuja High Court that they were beholden to
no one but FIFA in the matter of funds belonging to the Nigeria
Football Federation allegedly misappropriated by them.

In their view it is
only FIFA’s Court of Arbitration in Switzerland that can question them
on how football federation funds were spent.

It would have been
a different matter if they were protesting their innocence. Then, it
would have been a case of whether we believe them or not. As it is,
they are repudiating the authority of the laws of the land, which is
quite a serious issue.

Anyway, this cast
of mind is not surprising. It is in keeping with the tradition of their
godfather who habitually threatened Nigeria with FIFA ban until the
earth caved in under his feet in October.

Personally, I am
not surprised that this is coming from these men even though I seethe
with anger at their temerity. Their stewardship at the NFF is well
known. That Nigerian football is in crises today derives substantially
from their poor management of the game.

Many recall that it
was Lulu’s blind ambition to return to office that sent Nigerian
football hurtling into the cauldron of conflict from which it has yet
to recover nearly one year after he was forced out of office.

It is matter for
serious regret that men fed and nourished by Nigerian footbal; men, who
outside the game cannot lay claims to any outstanding achievement in
society, will turn round and poke their fingers in the eyes of the same
game that has provided them with a platform for relevance.

No pedigree

For if truth be
told, besides being officials of the NFF, what other images do the
names Sani Lulu, Amanze Uchegbulam, Taiwo Ogunjobi and Bolaji Ojo-Oba
conjure in the minds of the global football community.

At least when
people within and outside Nigeria hear the names Austin Okocha, Segun
Odegbami, Adokiye Amiesimaka and Patrick Ekeji, they will know that
these are individuals with bona fide claim to relevance having played
football at the highest level.

The African U-17
Championships ends in Rwanda today and Nigeria has not been part of it.
The implication is that the country, which won the U-17 World Cup four
years ago and finished in second place two years later, will not be at
the tournament this year. And there is no prize for guessing who should
be held responsible.

Had Lulu and his
henchmen presently disowning their fatherland had the decency to put
structures and programmes in place to facilitate the discovery and
nurturing of young football talent, we would have been spared the
embarrassment of missing out on a tournament in which we have an
impressive pedigree.

Instead, they elected to carve out fiefdoms and empires, strutting around the Nigerian football landscape like colossuses.

Their latest caper,
vexing as it is, should provide Nigerians some comic relief. It is one
of the mysteries of the legal profession that lawyers take on even the
most ridiculous of briefs.

Sometimes you
wonder why a counsel will not advise his client on the futility of a
particular course of action. Well, I guess they are in the business of
making money and so are not concerned with such trifles.

We wait to see
where this latest faux pas will get Lulu and his associates. We will
see whether the emperor who presides over affairs at the glass house in
Zurich will give them a pat on the back for their affirmation of his
supremacy over the Nigerian state.

In the interim, I weep for Nigerian football and the hordes of young
men and women whose livelihood depend on it. They have been serially
betrayed by these four musketeers and their successors, men who are
incapable of dealing straight and thinking deep. In their hands the
game has been brought to its knees and there doesn’t seem any hope for
the moment of its getting back on its feet.