Nigeria Content Online

Red
Bull champion Abdul Aziz Turki Al Faisal was the pride of all Saudis in
particular and Arabs in general with his world class victory.

Achievements are
recognised indeed by their size and importance on the global scene, and
this is exactly the kind of achievement achieved by Abdul Aziz, the
first Saudi to take part in the GT3 European championship. His
historical victory added the element of pride to his athletic career
and wining an international medal in the name of his country.

Abdul Aziz won the
championship title in the first GT3 European championship round
organized in the Algarve international circuit in Portugal. He came
first with his co-pilot Edward Sandstroem on a BMW Z4 on the Need for
Speed Schubert team. With this success, Abdul Aziz Al Faisal became the
first Saudi to participate and win a GT3 European Championship Race.

The team’s
happiness was completed when Csaba Walter and Claudia Huertgen of the
same team came in second after the Graff Racing team on a Mercedes-Benz
SLS AMG driven by Mike Parisy and Philippe Giauque was penalized for
violating the stopping rules. Third place went to the Faster Racing DB
motorsport team also driving a BMW Z4. With that BMW won the first
three places in the launch of the GT3 European championship.

Car was a breeze

After his victory, Red Bull champion Abdul Aziz expressed his feelings saying:

“When I came into
the race, I did not know if the car I had just over taken was from the
competitor’s team. I then asked the engineers on the radio, and as soon
as they informed me that it was one of our competitiors’, I increased
my speed. There wasn’t a lot of pressure; the car was easy to drive.

Edward did a good
job in maintaining the tires and he had to advance from the start. As
for me, I brought the car to the finish line. The problem in such races
is that you don’t know your position. I used the radio a few times to
check my position and to see if I needed to move forward, the answer
was ‘no, just keep your position’. I suffered from the cars lagging
behind since they were not moving aside so I can overtake them when the
blue flag was raised, I worried about their moves. In reality, I drove
the car to the finish line.” “This victory is very important for the
Gulf region and especially for KSA where car racing is growing rapidly.
It’s a new sport that started in 2004 with the Formula 1 in Bahrain. I
competed for 2 years in the Porsche GT3 Middle East championship,
winning the title last year and coming in second, this year. In fact,
my participation in this international championship is a very important
step. Frankly the victory was quite unexpected. But we have a great
team and great colleagues as well as a highly performing car”, he added.

Excellent performance

Edward Sandstroem,
the Red Bull champion’s co-pilot and member of the Need for Speed
Schubert team, said: “I am very happy to be a member of this team
especially with the presence of my colleague Abdul Aziz Al Faisal and
his excellent performance during the race. I am also very happy with
the results we achieved especially at the beginning of the season. The
car is better than last year when we struggled a lot and our journey
was hard if it were not for the tires that had helped us a lot. Now
it’s easier because we have all the factors for success. I thank the
Schubert team which has exerted a lot of effort. Now we have a stronger
car than last year, and we have become on the same level with other
cars, so we are able to compete for the title”.

Former
FA chairman David Triesman has accused FIFA executive committee members
Jack Warner, Ricardo Teixeira, Nicolas Leoz and Worawi Makudi of asking
for favours in return for their votes for England’s 2018 World Cup bid.

Triesman was giving
evidence to a British parliamentary inquiry into the reasons why
England failed in its bid to secure the finals which were awarded to
Russia last December.

He said Warner, of
Trinidad and Tobago, asked for £2.5 million to be “channelled through
me” for a school while Paraguayan Leoz requested a knighthood.

Teixeira asked him
“What can you do for me?” and Thai Makudi wanted control of the
television rights for a proposed Thailand v England friendly.

“I will take my evidence to FIFA,” Triesman said.

‘Shocking accusation’

FIFA president Sepp
Blatter responded to Triesman’s comments. “I was shocked but one has to
see the evidence,” Batter told a news conference in Zurich.

“There is a new
round of information, give us time to digest that and start the
investigation by asking for evidence on what has been said.

“I repeat, we must
have the evidence and we will react immediately against all those in
breach of the ethics code rules.” Blatter said the executive committee
members were not elected by the same Congress as him.

“They are coming from the others (other confederations), so I cannot say that they are all angels or all devils,” he said.

Meanwhile, further shock claims were highlighted by MPs at the culture, media and sport committee in the House of Commons.

Tory MP Damian
Collins said that evidence submitted by the Sunday Times, which the
committee will publish, claimed that FIFA vice-president Issa Hayatou
from Cameroon and Jacques Anouma from the Ivory Coast were paid $1.5m
(£917,000) by Qatar.

Collins said: “The
Sunday Times’ submission, and this is to be published by us later,
claims that $1.5million was paid to FIFA executive committee members
Issa Hayatou and Jacques Anouma who went on to vote for Qatar.” FIFA’s
ethics committee last year banned two other executive committee members
after a Sunday Times investigation into World Cup bidding.

Collins said the submission claimed Qatar specifically employed a fixer to arrange deals with African members for their votes.

Nigeria’s
Under-20 team, the Flying Eagles, on Tuesday suffered a shock 4-3
defeat at the hands of the Junior All Whites of New Zealand at the
Suwon U-20 Cup.

It was the first
loss at the four-nation tournament for the Flying Eagles and ended
their hopes of claiming top prize at the tourney which came to a close
yesterday in South Korea.

John Obuh’s side
had earlier beaten hosts South Korea 1-0 in their opening match of the
tourney before pulling off a 2-2 draw with Uruguay over the weekend.

For their part, the
Junior All Whites began their quest at the Suwon Cup with a 1-0 loss to
Uruguay before succumbing by the same score line to South Korea, and
were expected to follow a similar path against the Flying Eagles in the
encounter played in the early hours of Tuesday, Nigerian time.

And the Junior All
Whites appeared to play along with the laid down script when Uche
Nwofor struck from 25 meters out to put the Flying Eagles ahead after
just 18 minutes on the clock.

But New Zealand
clawed their way back to level terms when Cameron Lindsay curled an
equaliser in from the edge of the box, just minutes after Dakota Lucas
failed to convert from close range.

The Flying Eagles
then had two opportunities to restore their lead before the end of the
first half but were denied, first by New Zealand goalkeeper Stefan
Marinovic and then by the offside flag.

But 15 minutes into
the second half, the Junior All Whites struck through captain Nick
Branch who volleyed a Marco Rojas free kick past the helpless Danjuma
Paul.

The lead was short lived as quick fire goals to Nigeria earned the Flying Eagles a 3-2 lead with 25 minutes left.

Delightful

But two goals
within the space of seven minutes, the second as a result of a poor
clearance by the Nigerian goalkeeper, saw the Junior All Whites
claiming their first win of the tournament which delighted their coach,
Chris Milicich.

“Today was very
pleasing for no other reason than we’re learning how to win,” said
Milicich. “We’ve had two really close results and in this one we’ve
come back twice to get the result.

He added: “This is
a team that beat Korea, drew with Uruguay and were trying to win the
tournament. They tried to beat us with everything they had. They are
African champions and we stood toe to toe with them and came out on the
right side of the ledger.”

The Suwon Cup
served as a preparatory tournament for all four teams who will later in
the year take part at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia.

The Nigerian team is expected back in the country on Thursday and
will thereafter observe a two-week break before commencing preparations
for the World Cup where they will come up against Guatemala, Croatia
and Saudi Arabia in Group D.

The
national team of Liberia in the on-going West Africa Football Union
(WAFU) yesterday embarked on intensive prayers as they managed to roam
into the semi-finals of the championship taking place in Abeokuta, Ogun
State Capital.

The players had
played two matches in the competition losing the opening encounter to
Super Eagles by 1 goal, while they (Liberia) in their second match at
the Moshood Abiola Stadium defeated their Togo counterpart by 2 goals
to one.

However, at their
training session yesterday the team on arriving the pitch embarked on
what could be described as firebrand prayers which lasted for about 30
minutes with passionate appeal to God, to see them through to finals of
the match scheduled for Saturday.

At the stadium,
players in company of their coaching crew converged on the half side of
the pitch, which was allocated to them for training, while the host
Super Eagles was training on the other half side.

Before embarking on
their training, they commenced intensive praise worship given thanks to
God for their victory over Togo, and further call on God to be with
them in their next encounter which is expected to take place between
them and winner from Group A match which is between Ghana and Togo.

Not stopping there, the Liberia Team in their prayer session also
passionately appealed to God, to take them to finals, and subsequent
winning of the trophy. However, their next match scheduled for Thursday
will determine their better chances in getting to the finals .

Manchester
United captain Nemanja Vidic reckons Barcelona will start as favourites
to win the Champions League final at Wembley on May 28.

United lost to Barca in the 2009 final and are out for revenge on English turf.

“There will be no
surprises because they haven’t changed their style in years but they
will be a tough prospect and definitely the favourites in the final,”
the Serbia centre back told Belgarde’s B92 television website
(www.b92.net).

“Maybe we have a
little bit of an advantage in logistics because we are closer to the
venue, but we know that their fans will turn up in numbers just like
our own.”

Vidic, who scored
in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Chelsea which all but secured United the
Premier League title, said his side were still completely focused on a
record 19th domestic crown.

Blackburn before Barcelona

“We haven’t had
time to think about Barcelona yet because we have to concentrate on our
next game away to Blackburn and make mathematically sure that we’ve won
it,” he said.

“Only when we have
done that can we turn our attention to Barcelona, I’ve seen them
several times this season including their semi-final tie against Real
Madrid.”

United, who are six
points ahead of Chelsea with two matches left in the Premier League,
need only one point from their last two games against Blackburn and at
home to Blackpool to secure their 12th league title under manager Alex
Ferguson.

Vidic, who was
named captain this season, revealed anxiety had crept into United’s
dressing room after Chelsea were able to cut a 15-point deficit with
nine wins in 10 games prior to their visit to Old Trafford.

“The pressure was
immense after they whittled down our big advantage to just three points
before the showdown, but it makes the victory that much sweeter because
we are on the verge of winning the title after beating our closest
rivals,” he said.

“It means a lot to
me that I scored but the team comes first and the most important thing
is that we are now in a commanding position to cross the finish line
first.

“As the team’s captain I just try to do the same things I’ve always
done and be at my best all the time, because being the United captain
is a great honour and I know I have to repay the faith vested in me by
the club.”

Roger Federer
rejects the idea that the balance of power in men’s tennis has tipped
towards Novak Djokovic after a 32-match winning run and believes he can
still beat Pete Sampras’s record for time spent as world number one.

The Swiss world
number three, who has a record 16 grand slam titles to his name, has
been left in the shade by Rafa Nadal for much of the past 12 months and
has now seen Djokovic supplant him as the Spaniard’s main rival.

However, Federer
feels he can reclaim his throne and move ahead of American great Sampras
who spent a total of 286 weeks as world number one to Federer’s current
285.

“It’s still
important for me to get back to being world number one,” Federer told
reporters in Italy ahead of his second round match against France’s
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Rome Masters. “I mentioned after Wimbledon it
was a goal of mine.

“It’s still very real and possible. I think I can do it if I win one of those grand slams.”

First in seven years

Serbia’s Djokovic
could become the first player other than Federer or Nadal to hold the
top ranking since 2004 if he wins the Rome Masters this week, but
Federer remains confident he can still challenge the top two.

“They (Djokovic and
Nadal) are playing better than me but I’m close to winning those
tournaments,” said Federer, who lost to Nadal in the semi-finals of the
Madrid Masters last week.

“It’s not as if I’m losing in the first or second rounds.

“I feel I’m playing
well myself. Apart from Novak not losing all year not much has changed
in the game. Everybody can play well on all surfaces these days.

“It doesn’t feel
more different apart from having three more questions to answer at a
press conference, but they deserve their press and it’s all good
stories.” While the 29-year-old did not watch Djokovic’s straight sets
defeat of Nadal in the Madrid final Sunday, he felt the Serb would have
it tougher in Rome and Paris.

“It was surprising
to see Rafa lose on clay but it was just one tournament,” he said. “It
was a quick clay court so he (Djokovic) had a better chance of beating
Rafa.” This year the Rome Masters, which for the first time in decades
features men and women in one tournament, takes place after the Madrid
Open.

“I think that’s a better schedule,” said Federer. “You don’t have to
go (to the French Open) from altitude. Rome is more similar to Paris
than Madrid so it’s easier to get off to a good start there.”

President Goodluck
Jonathan yesterday, stressed the need for the country to promote
efforts that forge unity of the country, such as sports, without which
the country would find it difficult to develop.

He made the call
during the lighting of the torch for the national sports festival at
the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The festival will hold in Port Harcourt,
Rivers State in July this year.

During the
ceremony, the torch of unity was handed over to officials of the
Federal Capital Territory for the start of its tour round the 36 states
of the federation, with Rivers State as the final destination on the
day the festival begins.

The Kaduna State
governor, Patrick Yakowa whose state hosted the last national sports
festival, handed over the torch to the minister of sports, Taoheed
Adedoja who in turn handed it over to Mr Jonathan.

He then passed it
over to the Rivers State governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi who then
handed it over to the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Bala
Muhammed.

Mr Jonathan noted
that sporting events bind youth together, irrespective of differences
in ethnic affiliation, religion or other persuasions and stressed the
need for it to be strengthened.

“Sports brings
unity to both young and old. To camp our young ones together will bring
that spirit of unity, especially after the election,” he said. “It is
like the unity schools that united Nigerians together because each
person bonded with the classmates and by the time they leave school,
they have friends across the states and sections of the country.

“The country
belongs to us and unless we are together as one, the nation cannot go
far and that is what sports does, it unifies us. This flag of unity
must continue to fly and the unity torch must continue to burn.”

Nigeria’s sports image

The President
pointed out that Nigeria was noted for sports and can easily be
remembered by all countries around the world, especially for football
and asked that all be put in place to sustain the reputation of the
country.

Mr Adedoja
commended the government of Kaduna State for the quality of the
organisation put into the last national sports festival. He said he was
sure nothing more would be expected from Rivers State, whom he said had
shown commitment to hosting it.

Mr Amaechi promised that the state is ready to host the games and
have committed everything to ensure that the best comes out of the
festival.

Baron Pierre De
Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics, would have been laughed
to scorn were he alive in present day Nigeria.

Coubertin’s ethos
emanates from a purist’s conscience, one acutely aware that triumphs in
sport are pyrrhic, if not built with the fundamental blocks of
integrity and diligence.

His honourable
view, that “the important thing in life is not the victory but the
contest”, does not resonate in the consciousness of our sports
administrators. If it did, they would know that we, as a country,
should bury our heads in shame and have nothing to celebrate over
“winning” the African Youth Championship in South Africa.

Our “victory”, on
May 1st in Johannesburg, is a tragic testimony to our persistence in
folly, as the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) and Taoheed Adedoja,
the sports minister, hosted a lavish gala for the Flying Eagles that
“won” the championship with over aged players.

Two years have not
even passed since the Golden Eaglets fraudulently earned a silver medal
at the 2009 U-17 World Cup, with the Nigerian Football Federation
knowingly including two twenty something year olds – Fortune Chukwudi
and Stanley Okoro – in that squad.

Adokiye Amiesimaka,
an elder friend and learned colleague, presented incontrovertible
evidence to the country proving this. And, unsurprisingly, it has not
been challenged to this day.

His revelation,
made whilst that tournament was on, as I functioned as a member of the
official FIFA delegation, stirred the hornet’s nest, as the NFF
unleashed their rabid attack dogs on Amiesimaka.

“How can a sane person write something like that at this time?” asked Taiwo Ogunjobi.

It is ironic that
Ogunjobi, one of Amiesimaka’s detractors at the time, whilst a board
member of the NFF in 2009, is the one squirming under a criminal
indictment in a Federal High Court that could see him end up in jail.

In contrast,
Amiesimaka, a 1980 African Cup of Nations winner, served Nigeria with
distinction, dignity and honour. And the man certainly has cojones. He
is not shirking away from the onerous task of reminding us that
Nigerian football’s marriage to falsehood continues, making prescient
remarks about the current Flying Eagles class.

“Stanley Okoro, for
instance, has no business in that team. He cannot be anything less than
33 or 34 (and yes, he is the same player that was in the 2009 U-17
team!).”

“Olarenwaju Kayode
was my player in the Sharks feeder team in 2002, and played alongside
Fortune Chukwudi, so he cannot be less than 29 or 30…”

“Abdul Ajagun was
one of the highest goal scorers in the league. He was in Command
Secondary School in Kaduna and dropped out of school, in SS2, in the
1990s, and so cannot be U-20,” Amiesimaka points out.

A culture of silence

Six years ago,
whilst still a BBC journalist, I had documentary evidence, derived from
two different passports, that Obinna Nsofor, currently on loan with
English Premiership side West Ham, falsified his age whilst playing for
Nigeria at the 2005 African World Youth Championship in Benin.

Privately
confronting Ibrahim Galadima, the erstwhile Nigeria FA chairman, with
the evidence, he ordered – and ensured – that the player be dropped
from the team that went on to win a silver medal at the 2005 World
Youth Championship in the Netherlands. It was a rare moment when truth
prevailed.

Rather than engage
in hard graft and create teams from the depth of talent available in
Nigeria’s secondary schools – the only place where you can find players
genuinely within the U-17 and U-20 age bracket – national coaches
regularly pick ‘teenagers’ playing league football, when it is a
rarity, even in the most advanced football nations, for a 16 year-old
to be playing against seasoned pros!

The euphoria – and
the spoils – of victory, has seduced Nigerian officials into becoming
complicit in a poisonous, insidious culture of cheating, which steals
the opportunities of genuine teenagers, with the talent to make a
successful career out of football and build a great future for Nigeria.

Our culture of
silence or, at best, inaudible discontent on age cheating, which is
eating away at the fabric of Nigerian football, does us a terrible
disservice.

It is time for those who really care about our game to stand up and be counted.

As Usman Dan Fodio, the 19th century Islamic scholar succinctly
pointed out, “conscience is an open wound and only truth can heal it.”

Arsenal’s last
lingering mathematical chances of winning the Premier League title were
finally extinguished on Sunday, when they lost 3-1 at Stoke City.

Goals from Kenwyne
Jones, former Gunner Jermaine Pennant and Jon Walters condemned Arsenal
to a sixth season without a trophy while buoyant Stoke head for the FA
Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley Stadium next Saturday.

Jones scored with a
simple chance after 28 minutes, when Arsenal’s defence, who have
struggled to deal with set-pieces all season, allowed him to steal in
at a corner and guide the ball home with his chest.

Pennant, who only
made 12 appearances for Arsenal in six seasons early in his career,
doubled Stoke’s lead with a stunning 25-metre strike after running
unchallenged at the Arsenal defence. The shot took a slight deflection
off Johan Djourou that left goalie Wojciech Szczesny floundering.

Robin van Persie
pulled a goal back for Arsenal late on to extend his run of scoring in
Premier League away matches to eight but Walters pounced on some soft
defending almost immediately to kill off the Gunners.

In earlier action,
Wolverhampton Wanderers improved their chances of staying in the
Premier League, when they beat local rivals West Bromwich Albion 3-1 in
a keenly fought derby, to pull out of the relegation zone.

Wolves capitalised
on poor defending by their neighbours, to score twice in 13 first-half
minutes through Stephen Fletcher and Adlene Guedioura, before Fletcher
added a third goal after another defensive mistake by Abdoulaye Meite
two minutes after halftime.

West Brom, who have
climbed to safety after a run of good results since Roy Hodgson took
over as coach in February, replied when Peter Odemwingie scored for the
fifth successive league match with a 55th-minute penalty after
Guedioura tripped Jerome Thomas in the box.

Although they are still not safe with two games to play, Wolves are
now 17th with 37 points, with Blackpool dropping into the bottom three
on 36. Wigan Athletic are 19th on 36 and West Ham United bottom with
33.

Players and
officials of the Super Eagles team to the ongoing West Africa Football
Union (WAFU) Cup of Nations, in their bid to ensure that they end up
victorious at the end of the tournament, yesterday morning, turned the
venue of the competition, the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta into a
prayer ground.

The Super Eagles,
led by their coach, Samson Siasia and other officials of the team came
onto the pitch at around 9.00 am for the day’s training session, ahead
of their remaining matches of the WAFU Cup of Nations. But before the
training session commenced, the team resolved to observe Sunday’s
religious service at the stadium.

NEXT was at the
stadium, and reports that as soon as they all converged onto the middle
of the pitch, Siasia, a Christian, drew their attention to the fact
that Sunday’s church service should not be ignored, hence, the need to
conduct a brief programme at the venue.

This was adhered to
by the footballers and in unison alongside with the officials, they all
embarked on an intensive prayer and praise-singing session, which
lasted for close to half an hour. They were all in high spirits singing
hymn songs and clapping to appreciate God.

NEXT further
reports that, part of their appreciation prayers include, thanksgiving
to God for making it possible for them to have won their previous two
games of the tournament against Liberia (1-0) and Niger (4-0), and
equally called on God to see them to victory in their subsequent
encounters so as to lift the cup at the end of the championship.

The Ogun State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Bukola Olopade was
not left out in the service, as he later joined the Super Eagles to
worship when he arrived at the stadium. The footballers and the crew on
completion of the service later engaged in a light training session
before retiring to their hotel.