Nigeria Content Online

Ronaldinho confident of being selected for Brazil

Ronaldinho claims
he will make coach Dunga’s final Brazil World Cup squad and take part
in this year’s tournament in South Africa.

The Milan playmaker
has been constantly overlooked by Dunga this season, despite being the
assist leader in Italy’s top flight and improving over 600 places in
the Castrol Rankings since September.

“I’ll tell you a
secret: I can’t imagine a World Cup without Ronaldinho on the pitch,”
suggested ‘Dinho in an interview with Chi.

“It seems
impossible, even if I consider the risk of not being there I feel bad,
very bad. Then I say with certainly I will honour my country at the
next World Cup and I, along with my national team, will win.”
Meanwhile, his club side are now third favourites for the Scudetto
after falling behind Roma and Inter in the Serie A standings.

“The Scudetto? It’s finished only when we are out mathematically,” continued the former Barcelona man.

“I am compelled to believe in the championship. Each game will be a battle and I am ready.”

‘Five or six injured players can’t be in the squad’

Spanish national
team coach Vicente Del Bosque hopes that the majority of the players he
is hoping can represent La Roja in this summer’s World Cup will be able
to overcome any physical ailments to be included. But he has
acknowledged: “In the case that some players are not able to play,
there are excellent alternatives.” In comments reported by Marca, Del
Bosque spoke of his hope that in the remaining month before the World
Cup, “all players will be in fine health”.

Furthermore, the
coach dismissed the notion of any controversy regarding Fernando
Torres’ knee operation, stating: “He [Torres] decided on an operation
with the counsel of his club. He could not play in the condition he was
in.” However, in the event that players are not ready in time for the
competition, Del Bosque warned: “I cannot include five or six injured
players in the World Cup squad with the hope that they will recover in
time. In the case that a player would not be able to play, there are
many others who can step in.” Currently, Fernando Torres, Cesc Fabregas
and Andres Iniesta are all suffering from extended injuries that could
put their World Cup hopes in jeopardy.

Sibusiso Zuma hopes to win South Africa squad place

Sibusiso Zuma has
been playing his football at club level in Denmark, with FC
Nordsjaelland and he recently revealed his confidence in capturing a
place in the 23-man squad to be announced by South Africa coach Carlos
Alberto Parreira ahead of the World Cup in June.

“If I play well for
the club, I can decide for myself if I go to the World Cup. They know
me in the coaching staff, and I have worked a lot with the coach before
so he knows what I stand for,” Zuma told Kanalsport.

“It is up to me to
prove that I can still get into top form. I am not that far away, but I
still need some hard work.” The striker revealed that he would not
simply be making the team to warm the bench, stating that he would be
an important part of the coach’s plans.

“I don’t go just to
be part of the squad. I have played in the World Cup before, so I have
experienced it.” After expressing his confidence of potentially making
it into the squad for the World Cup, the Bafana hopeful suffered an
injury at his club, which is likely to keep him out of action for a few
weeks, well into May.

After the injury, he told Kanalsport: “The timing is all wrong. My
form was getting better. I don’t know if I can make it to the World
Cup, but I still hope I have a chance.” Time will tell whether the
South African star will find space in the final 23 players destined to
defend the host country’s colours at the World Cup, but this latest
injury is likely to be a major setback for Zuma.

The Disciplinary
Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will, on Thursday,
meet in Abuja to decide on the statement of the Delta State Football
Association Chairman, Amaju Pinnick, which the federation considers
capable of putting the NFF and its leadership to ridicule.

The Committee
agreed last week to give Pinnick, who is also Chairman of the Delta
State Sports Commission, one last chance to appear before it after he
failed to turn up for the scheduled date of April 15 in Abeokuta.

In a letter signed
by the Assistant General Secretary (Competitions), Mohammed Sanusi,
also Secretary of the Committee, the NFF warned that it would be the
last opportunity for Pinnick to defend himself against the allegations
before it takes a decision.

“We wish to express
our disappointment on your inability to honour the invitation extended
to you. We have also observed that your letter did not indicate when
you will be available to be heard, neither did you attach your travel
plan for the committee to consider,” wrote Sanusi.

Pinnick had been
invited by the NFF Disciplinary Committee to make clarifications on
statements credited to him and published in some national dailies, in
which he accused the Federation of over-bearing in handling the issue
involving the management of Sharks Football Club of Port Harcourt.

Dr. Sanusi wrote further: “Thus, you are by this letter invited to
appear before the committee on the 22nd April, 2010 at the NFF
Conference Room, Abuja at 4pm. Please note that this is the last
opportunity for you to defend yourself, as the committee will take its
decision on 22nd April, 2010.”

Bayern Munich
refused to discuss Franck Ribery’s involvement in a French police
investigation into a prostitution network ahead of Wednesday’s
Champions League semi-final first leg against Olympique Lyon.

Ribery was replaced
by defender Philipp Lahm at a news conference on Tuesday following the
playmaker’s appearance as a witness in the police probe.

“Our press chief said we will not talk about that,” said defender Daniel van Buyten when asked about Ribery.

“Franck … has
invested a lot in this season and wants to finish strongly as we are
still fighting for three titles.” Ribery was substituted in the second
half of Bayern’s 7-0 demolition of Hanover 96 on Saturday because of
muscular problems and did not train on Monday.

Just fine

“Franck looks fine and he completed full training today,” said Bayern assistant coach Andries Jonker.

“He looks to be at
a good level and it looks now that he can last the match tomorrow.”
Jonker stepped in for Dutch coach Louis van Gaal who travelled by car
to Amsterdam to attend a funeral. He is due to return to Munich later
on Tuesday or on Wednesday morning.

Bayern are chasing a German first — a Champions League, Bundesliga and domestic cup treble.

The Bavarians are
without captain Mark van Bommel and defender Holger Badstuber through
suspension but Lahm said appearing in his first Champions League
semi-final was enough motivation to overcome any absences.

“It does not happen
every year that you are in a Champions League semi-final and we have a
good chance to reach the final,” said the Germany full back.

“What we want to do is not to concede a goal. We would like 1-0 or
even 2-0 which would be a very good starting position for the return
leg.”

Jose Mourinho’s
Inter stunned defending champions, Barcelona 3-1 to move closer to the
final of the UEFA Champions League. Goals from Wesley Sneijder, Maicon
and Diego Milito cancelled out Pedro Rodriguez’s 19th minute goal which
had put Barcelona ahead and suggested that the Catalan team was poised
to run away with an away victory.

The loss is Barcelona’s first defeat since February this year and
the heaviest defeat inflicted on the Spanish and world champions since
2009. This result certainly endangers Barcelona’s hope of retaining the
trophy it won last season. Coach Pep Guardiola and his boys need to dig
really deep to beat Inter at least 2-0 in the return match to have any
hope of playing in the final.

Coming into Game 2, they were your classic no-hopers.

The Utah Jazz
entered its first-round NBA playoff series without its starting small
forward. In Game 1, it lost its starting centre.

Someone named
Kyrylo Fesenko was in the starting lineup Monday night. Radio guys ran
around trying to figure out how to pronounce his first name. (Think of
former Princeton University coach Pete Carril’s last name.) A Sunday
headline in Utah’s Deseret News read: “Face it, Jazz season all but
over.” Veteran Jazz coach Jerry Sloan just shrugged. “We’ve been doing
it all year,” he said.

Facing a
prohibitive deficit if they lost, the Jazz summoned the toughness of
their coach and made it a series with a gutsy 114-111 victory over the
Denver Nuggets that sends the series to Salt Lake City even at a game
apiece.

“We’re
short-handed, but our season’s not over yet,” said Jazz point guard
Deron Williams, who led his team with 33 points and 14 assists.
“There’s a lot of basketball to be played.” Now it’s the Nuggets who
must regroup. Their defense was absent-without-leave for much of the
game. You don’t win in the playoffs that way.

“We just gave them
too many layups,” acting Nuggets coach Adrian Dantley said. “They got
to the rim too easy.” Carmelo Anthony, the hero of Game 1, fouled out
of Game 2 with 32 points. But after making 18-of-25 shots in Game 1, he
made half as many, 9-of-25, in this one.

The Jazz spent much
of the time between Games 1 and 2 talking about being more physical
with Anthony, although Sloan tried to downplay it, saying he couldn’t
change the laid-back personalities of swingmen C.J. Miles and rookie
Wesley Matthews.

The Nuggets should have listened.

The Jazz came out
flopping, as if the notion they could play Melo physically with their
willowy defenders had actually been an inside joke.

Four of Anthony’s
personal fouls were offensive – in both senses of the word. The
flopping worked, as it often does in the NBA, because – let’s be honest
– the referees reward it about 10 times more often than they should.
Guy falls, whistle blows. It’s a Pavlovian response.

While Utah may take
credit for Anthony missing many of the same shots he made Saturday
night, sometimes basketball isn’t that complicated. Sometimes the
defense is responsible for shots not falling and sometimes it’s not.
Sometimes shooters just get hot. And sometimes they get cold.

Getting offensive

Dantley tried
repeatedly to point this out as people asked what was wrong with the
Nuggets when they lost their regular-season finale by 22.

In Game 1, he said
Monday, “We played the same way we did against Phoenix offensively, but
Melo made shots.” The same was true of Utah in the first half of Game
2. Williams made all five of his first-quarter shots, and Carlos Boozer
was 8-of-11 by intermission. The Jazz shot a stunning 68 percent from
the floor in the first half.

Although the
Nuggets’ defensive priority had been to play Williams better in
transition, Ty Lawson seemed to be the only defender who could stay in
front him and he picked up two fouls in nine first-half minutes.
Although Williams seemed to score at will, the Nuggets did induce him
into seven turnovers.

Boozer is almost
impossible to defend when he’s hitting his fadeaway jumper because he
gives ground to create space for his shot.

Midway through the third quarter, the Jazz was up 14 and looked ready to pull out the classic shorthanded victory.

But even on a night when his shot wasn’t falling, Anthony refused to submit.

After he fed J.R.
Smith for a 27-foot 3-pointer to cut the deficit to seven, Melo faced
up Boozer at the other end, batted his pass into the air, caught it,
dribbled upcourt, had it slapped away, chased it down, got it back,
dribbled into the lane and laid it in over two defenders.

Then he danced back
up the floor urging on his teammates: “Let’s go! Let’s go!” Smith
pointed to the nonexistent watch on his wrist as if to say, it’s about
that time.

Not this time. The Jazz did what it had to do. Now it’s up to the Nuggets to return the favor.

New York Times News Service

South Africa on
Tuesday unveiled a 19 billion rand transport upgrade for the World Cup
including revamped airports, a high speed urban train and a new bus
system.

Officials denied
too much had been spent on the soccer spectacular, saying the new
infrastructure would leave a lasting legacy in a country where the
majority black population was starved of public transport under
apartheid.

President Jacob
Zuma opened the greatly expanded Johannesburg airport — already
Africa’s biggest — which officials said would handle 28 million
passengers a year and more than 60 flights a day.

Journalists also
travelled on the gleaming new Gautrain, which will link the posh
district of Sandton, where many World Cup fans will stay, and the
airport.

The train would run
on this leg before the World Cup, starting on June 11, officials said.
It will be expanded to central Johannesburg and Pretoria next year.

“We have not had
wonderful public transport in South Africa,” Deputy Transport Minister
Jeremy Cronin said after the airport opening ceremony.

“Government has
identified the privilege of hosting the World Cup as an opportunity
also to lay down the beginnings of a wonderful public transport
system,” he said.

Soccer’s governing
body FIFA last year flagged transport as a concern but officials said
the system was ready and would be able to handle the world’s
most-watched sporting event.

“Hassle-free transport”

“We are quite
convinced that international visitors to South Africa will have a
wonderful experience culturally, sporting wise and also a hassle-free
transport system and that there will be a legacy left for ordinary
South Africans,” Cronin added.

Airports in Cape Town and other host cities have also been refurbished and a brand new one built in Durban.

Transport Minister
Sibusiso Ndebele said 570 buses had been purchased for the World Cup,
110 of them to provide an inter-city service.

“Government has
invested more than 19 billion rand on public transport infrastructure
for the World Cup to ensure that the tournament leaves a rich legacy
for our country and continent,” he added.

Ndebele said South
Africa would provide World Cup fans with a ground transportation system
that “is reliable, easily accessible, safe and secure, convenient and
affordable.” Cronin confirmed two or three passenger liners would act
as floating hotels during the month-long tournament.

There have been
concerns that airlines may not be able to handle the fan traffic but
Skhumbuzo Macozoma, a transport specialist from the local organising
committee, said “right now we don’t have any alarm bells.” The number
of foreign fans expected was recently sharply cut from 450,000 to
200,000 because of the world economic crisis, high costs and alarmist
reporting about violent crime.

But officials
denied this may result in over-investment in the World Cup because the
transport system would remain for the future and extra planes were
being leased rather than purchased.

“There is no message that says we have spent too much,” Macozoma

Nigeria midfielder Mikel Obi looks set
to miss Chelsea’s English Premier League encounter against Stoke City
at Stamford Bridge after aggravating a knee injury against Tottenham
Hotspurs last weekend.

Mikel hobbled off the pitch after
33minutes in the Blues’ 2-1 loss and will now be expected to be out for
10 days as his club hopes to win their last three games in the race to
win the title.

The Super Eagles star has played a key
role in the club’s league campaign this season, particularly in the
absence of Michael Essien, who has also been another influential figure
in the team’s midfield.

Chelsea expects Essien to be back for
the Stoke clash, after being out of action since injuring his knee in
January while featuring for the Black Stars of Ghana at the African
Nations Cup in Angola, but their defeat at the White Hart Lane last
Saturday further underlined the impact of their Nigeria international.
The Tottenham loss was the Blues’ sixth league defeat this season, and
it was only in the 2-1 defeat at Everton in February that Mikel
featured for more than 60minutes.

Mikel may lack the versatility and
attacking guile of Essien but the former Lyn Oslo star has proven to
been the secret behind Chelsea’s resilience in the defence this season
as the holding midfielder. The Blues midfield collapsed following his
substitution at Spurs and it was no surprise skipper John Terry had to
be sent off following two yellow cards. Mikel’s replacement, 33
year-old Ballack, could not match the pace of the Tottenham midfield
led by Croatian playmaker, Luka Modric and even Deco had to pay more
attention to support the defence rather than orchestrating Chelsea’s
attack.

Impact

Without their Nigerian enforcer to
shield the backline, the Stamford Bridge side have often struggle to
escape defeat. Chelsea’s first loss in the league was at Wigan last
year after Mikel was forced off at half time following a knee injury.
It left the club’s midfield in shambles and exposed their defence in a
game where Petr was sent off. The match ended 3-1 for the hosts as the
Lactics pounced on the Blues’ weakness in the middle. Even the presence
of Essien could not prevent the defeat.

Mikel was still out injured as the
Blues suffered their second loss against Aston Villa in October last
year despite having Essien for another 90minutes at the Villa Park.
Despite playing a key role in the 3-0 demolition of Arsenal in November
in a strong midfield that included Essien, Ancelotti decided to bench
Mikel in his team’s next league match at Manchester City and it
backfired. Chelsea were down 2-0 before the Italian manager called on
the Nigerian to replace Ballack on 64minutes but the match 2-1. The
pressure on the defence sprung up again as the centre back duo of Terry
and Ricardo Carvalho were cautioned before the introduction of the
Eagles star into the game.

Chelsea fourth defeat also suggested
Mikel’s cannot be ignored. Manchester City were leading 2-1 at Stamford
Bridge before Ancelotti removed the former Flying Eagles star for
Belletti on 60 minutes. Both Belletti and Ballack failed to rescue the
midfield and they both got their marching orders as City went on to win
4-2 in February this year.

Mikel, who celebrates his 23rd birthday tomorrow, however played for
76minutes before being replaced a minute after Louis Saha scored the
winner in the Blues’ 2-1 defeat to Everton at the Goodison Park. He has
been cautioned three times in 25 league appearances this season.

The new minister of
sports Ibrahim Isah Bio yesterday revealed that there will soon be a
sports summit, the first of it kind in Nigeria, to find solutions to
the problems facing sports and produce a road map that will take
Nigeria back to the pinnacle of sports.

Speaking in
response to calls by journalists for a sports summit, Bio agreed that
the call was in line with his thinking and machinery will soon be set
in motion for the summit.

Bio was sad at the
level of decay of facilities in stadia across the country, especially
the National Stadium, Lagos, the neglect of sports at the grassroots,
lack of programme and planning for elite athletes, among other
problems, and he agreed with member of the sports family on the need to
urgently have a sports summit where they will sit and examine the
challenges of sports and the way forward.

A five year plan
will be decided at the Summit as regards the development of sports in
Nigeria. All members of the sports family, administrators, coaches,
sports journalists, athletes and others are expected to add their
inputs.

Bio said the
outcome of the summit will be the Bible of sports in Nigeria, “new
minister may come and go but the policy and guideline fashioned out at
the summit will remain, they may thinker with, there won’t be any
radical change in the sports policy that the summit will fashion out.”

Attempt at disguise

Unlike other
ministers before him, Bio got to the National Stadium at 10.00 am.
Journalists who had expected the minister to be late but he surprised
them by coming early as promised.

Due to the
minister’s visit, the Stadium Manager, Alalamu Abolore stopped petty
traders from displaying their wares but the garbage heap could not be
hidden from the ministers, and he promptly told the manager to clean
the mess in the stadium.

When one of the
boxers who trains everyday at the stadium was asked why he was absent,
he said they were told on Monday not to come to the stadium to train
because of the visit of the Sport Minister. Yemi Adepoju one of the
stadium trader who did not display her wares said one official said
they don’t want to them to hang around, as the usually dirty
environment must look clean for the August visitor.

Perhaps the
minister knowing that all might not be as it seems, when addressing the
press said he is not on a doctored visit, and he will not let the DG
direct him to what he wanted him to see, but that he will go inside the
stadium to see the level of rot himself.

State of facilities

Bio who could not
hide his disgust for the state of facilities which has been allowed to
degenerate by successive ministers promised to give the edifice a face
lift before going into partnership with would-be investors.

“The facilities
does not speak well of the country and much needs to be done to improve
its state. If we want to produce athletes that would win medals for us
in international events then we have to provide a conducive environment
for them to do so,” he said.

The minster visited the Sports village, which was built to aid camping of athletes.

At the sports
village, he complained about the soak away, water reservoir and dining
hall which had no dining table or chair. And he ordered that the place
should be put in shape in two weeks or its managers risk losing their
jobs. The minster also challenged the management on the sorry state of
the edifice, the gymnasium, table tennis courts and the main bowl
amongst many other places, in the National Stadium.

After the
inspection, while addressing journalist, he assured that he will not be
a football minister but a minster for all sports.

Football versus other sports

He added that his
focus will be primarily on sports in which the country has comparative
advantage and opportunity of winning multiple medals. “Football can
only fetch us a one medal, I will like to concentrate on sports like
athletics were we have many medals at stake, swimming, boxing,
weightlifting and the likes,” he said. The minster however pointed out
that the FIFA World Cup is his immediate concern, as the tournament is
barely 50 days away.

According to the
minister, a technical team has been sent to inspect the facility in
place for the Super Eagles camping in Durban while the team’s coach,
Lars Largerback is also expected to brief him on the readiness of the
team.

Bio enjoined everyone to unite in lifting sports in the county, as it has proved to be a unifying factor for the people.

He promised to be firm in his policies stating that there will be no sacred cows.

“There would be no
sacred cows, those that have been alleged on corruption would all be
investigated.” He hinted that the missing $236,000 from the Nigeria
Football Federation would be revisited and appropriate action taken.

Ask sporting buffs, they will tell you for free the problems
facing Nigeria sports today: lack of equipment, facilities or planning, aged or
aging players, age falsification, a partisan sporting press, inept and ill
equipped coaches and others problems too numerous to mention.

But while the above no doubt are true, the biggest problem
facing sports was aptly captured by Anthony Kodjo Williams, the former chairman
of Nigeria Football Federation: self serving and half baked administrators on
and off the field.

Williams tagged them ‘Alamala administrators’, since then they
have also added voodoo and other ‘unscientific’ ways of managing sports to
their style And as long as they are around, our sports will never move forward.

They will do anything to resist change because, in the midst of
the confusion and disorganisation that reigns in sports, they amass millions
each year, while sports continue to die a slow and gradual death.

It’s all garbage

As new sports minister Ibrahim Isa Bio visits the National
Stadium today, he should gird his loins. About three decades ago, enchanted BBC
staff who came to cover the Lagos ’73 All Games told their local colleagues:
“This is not a Sport Stadium, but a Sport City.”

Today however, what Bio will see is Garbage City, where the only
activities that thrives there are the sale of alcohol and prostitution by
night, while officials of the NSC have turned the place into an events centre
where they rake in millions monthly from renting the various venues to
churches, mosques, wedding reception, musical shows, parking lots and other
forms of activities, and they never rendered account to the commission or used
the monies to repair the edifice.

Bio should think about ministers before him since the beginning
of this new republic in 1999 – Damishi Sango, Isaiah Aku, Steve Akiga, Musa
Muhammad, Simiala Sambawa, Bala Kao’je, Abdurrahman Gimba and the immediate
past minister Sanni Ndanusa, They all began their tenures by visiting the
National Stadium, Lagos. There, they always promised to do something; but they
all left without doing anything.

At the end of their tenures, the civil servants and sycophants
in the media, who praised them to high heavens while they were in office, would
be the first to castigate them the moment they are sacked.

I almost wept for my profession the Saturday Ndanusa was
removed, when I read venom being poured on the man by journalists who made
weekly trips to Abuja to wine and dine with him when he was minister, telling
him that he was the best thing that ever happened to sports.

These are guys who cheered Ndanusa on in his ambition to be
president of the Olympics Committee. And now that he is gone, they are telling
the world that his ambition to be NOC president was responsible for his lack of
focus.

Asking hard questions

Bio need to ask Sports Commission staff what the facilities
department in the commission is doing, if all the stadia in the country are in
such terrible shape.

The director of sports development needs to explain to Bio the
number of athletes they have developed in the last ten years. The minister
needs to ask why the commission’s main job has been reduced to preparing for
the Olympic Games, All African Games, Commonwealth Games, and other games and
championship, and its primary responsibility of discovering athletes has been
relegated to the background.

The federation chairmen should explain to the minister why the
only thing that occupies their time is the politics of who becomes the next
president of NOCs instead of developing their sports. They should explain why
many of them have not organised a single competition since the beginning of the
year.

The Athletics Federation of Nigeria owes athletes, officials,
former athletes and other members of the athletics family millions of naira.
That is a question waiting to be asked.

The minister also needs to ask the head of AFN who authorised
him to take a loan of N25 million from a former athlete. What is the approval
limit of the director general of the commission? Why would a federation
chairman take a loan of N25 million without the approval of the commission of
the board of the AFN?

Civil servants as praise
singers

Back to the managers at NSC, and other arms of sports, they
will, like they did to those before him sing tunes that are pleasant to his
ears.

A majority of those scheming to come back into the Nigeria
Professional League board and the Nigeria Football Federation will sing all
sorts of tunes to the minister ears, but he should ask them one question: what
have they done since their tenure began to justify re-election?

Sanni Lulu will point to the U-17 and U-20, but the minister
should ask him why the players that won the U-17 in 2007 are not doing well in
their respective clubs or for the country. What have they done with the
allocation in the last few years?

With election a few months away, they are asking the minister to
steer clear of the elections; that it will be government interference. But they
have forgotten that Sambawa, Amos Adamu and others used government machinery to
impose Lulu as NFF president.

Nduka Irabor had organised the freest and the fairest election
in the history of Nigeria sport, which returned Ibrahim Galadima as president,
but the election was annulled by the government and Lulu was imposed on
everybody. And now the same Lulu and his board members are talking about
government interference? They may have short memories, but we do not.

As for the men of the NPL, a majority of those fighting to be
NPL leaders are self seekers, only wanting to feed on sports.

Bio revolution

The bottom line is that this new sports minister’s revolution
will amount to nothing, if the present hawks in sports administration in
Nigeria are not sent packing.

Bio, do what will etch your name in history forever. Send the alamala
administrators out.