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Thank God for my
buddy, Sadiq Abdullahi, Nigeria’s Tennis Ambassador, who, by any
standard, is one of the most successful international tennis players,
this great nation has produced. Abdullahi drew my attention to Segun
Odegbami’s column of January 23, published by one of the nation’s
sports papers.

He called me from
his base in the USA, as is his custom, to discuss modalities and
strategies being put in place for the Save Nigerian Sports Initiative
(SANSI). Abdullahi is one of the rejected who should be firming up
grass roots tennis development in Nigeria, but is not considered
valuable by those that are in charge of tennis in Nigeria. Another
rejected stone, also domiciled in the USA is my darling sister – Pat
Itanyi, who has been massively, but very silently, contributing to the
development and promotion of athletics in Nigeria. Like Abdullahi,
Itanyi is not considered as a person capable of serving her father land
by the powers that be. She spends time calling, upwards of 45 minutes
on various occasions, passionately discussing issues concerning the
state of athletics in Nigeria and how SANSI can fulfil the purpose for
which it has been ordained by God.

By the way, as far
as I am concerned, I will continue to remind fellow Nigerians, that the
Lord God Almighty is the greatest Sports Person on this universe. And
it does not matter whether you – the reader of this write-up, believe
it or not. God is in control of sports in Nigeria and when He decides
to do what He alone can do, there will be deliverance for sports in
this country. It is only a matter of time and of course the efforts
made by those, who are genuinely concerned about the future of Nigerian
sports, to cry to God and say ‘enough is enough’ of the shenanigans,
going on in the administration and management of Nigerian sports.

I have good news
for Abdullahi and Itanyi and all those ignorantly rejected by the cabal
temporarily killing sports in this great country. The good news is that
it is the rejected stones that will eventually form the pillar, needed
to uphold and lift sports to the height of glory, in Nigeria.

This is one of the reasons, why we cannot afford to give up now.

The so-called Fans Assembly

I then searched for
Odegbami’s write-up, only for me to discover that we went through the
same unpleasant experience on the morning of Thursday, January 20, by
being unfortunate to have listened to the same radio programme referred
to as the “fans assembly” or ‘back-pass’ in which members of the public
call in and make contributions to issues concerning sports, especially
in Nigeria. I was also driving to my office as I traumatically listened
to the programme. I must confess that I used to be a honourable member
of that ‘assembly’, until I became “dishonourable”, after my views on
the issue of age falsification was considered reactionary and
absolutely unpatriotic, during one of such programmes in 2009. Since
then I decided never to be part of that ‘assembly’.

The ‘speaker had
set the ball rolling by telling Nigerians to contribute to the issue of
age falsification by age grade players, who represent Nigeria in
international competitions if they would allow or encourage their wards
to perpetrate such demonic act.

Majority of those
who participated in the phone-in programme saw nothing wrong in age
falsification. I got miffed and called in, to make my position known,
only to discover that I had stirred the hornet’s nest with my
contribution. My consolation however is the fact a few other patriotic
Nigerians, supported my submission.

The concern I have
is that if parents (fans) publicly endorse such acts of deceit,
corruption, falsification, immorality, thievery, misplaced priority,
ignorance and the lust for money, then it is not too difficult for the
discerning mind, to figure out what is happening to Nigerian sports.

When matured
adults, parents especially, are not mindful of the dangers inherent in
the acceptance of fraud, greed, mediocrity and ignorance, when the
socio-political, economic, academic and spiritual values of sports are
not only trivialised, but subjected to being shamelessly raped by those
who are supposed to uphold and defend such values, then, it is not
likely that there is the guarantee of a bright future for Nigerian
sports. When about 150 million people allow a few individuals to
continue toying with the their God-given passion, which is sports and
the only thread binding this nation, endowed with so much sporting
potentials, enough to rule the world of sports, then, it is time for us
to wake up from our slumber in Nigeria. It is necessary, because even
animals – dogs for instance, do not take it too lightly, when human
beings mess around with what they are passionate about.

Fellow Nigerians,
the future of Nigerian sports, the future of our children and the
future of this great nation, is being toyed with right now. It should
not be so. But how did we get ourselves into this ruckus? What can be
done to salvage the situation?

Wait a minute, I was going to discuss issues raised by Odegbami’s
column, but got so carried away. We will continue later but it is well,
because there is plenty of hope.

With the departure of Fernando Torres to Chelsea, Liverpool’s
new recruit, Luiz Suarez, has to hit the ground running.

The Uruguayan international must be prepared for the physical approach
that their opponents today, Stoke City, are famous for.

Care-taker manager of Liverpool, Kenny Dalglish has labelled the
encounter an examination:

“My next managerial challenge on the pitch comes against Stoke
City at Anfield on Wednesday night,” Dalglish said on the club’s website.

“I’ve always had to adapt to facing different styles as a
manager; in my first time at Liverpool we had to play the likes of Millwall,
who had Teddy Sheringham and Tony Cascarino and played a very direct game, or
Wimbledon, who were led by John Fashanu.

“Whether it’s Arsenal’s passing style or Stoke’s long throw, you
have to try to deal with it and combat it. And let’s credit Tony Pulis with
doing a good job at Stoke. It’s common sense for a manager to select a style
that suits his players.”

Despite it being an ‘examination’, Liverpool need a good result
to move on from the sale of Torres, a sale that has angered some fans. In the
first match in November 2010, Stoke won 2-0 courtesy of goals from Ricardo
Fuller and Kenwyne Jones.

Liverpool though are on a mini revival, having won their last
two Premiership games, 3-0, away to Wolves; a match in which Torres scored
twice followed by a scrappy 1-0 win over Fulham.

Although record signing, Andy Carroll will not be available due
to injury, Dalglish will gladly welcome Kop hero, Jamie Carragher, back into
defence, even though he might not start.

Unlucky at Anfield

Stoke, who are in 10th position and could move ahead of
Liverpool with a win, start a run of three matches in seven days with this
visit to Anfield. Manager, Tony Pulis is not happy about the fixture congestion
and the added fact that his side have never won at Anfield.

“We have got the short straw because we go to Anfield on
Wednesday night and then Sunderland on Saturday morning. I’m a bit disappointed
at the FA Cup and its placing in the calendar with the smaller clubs not having
squads as strong as the top sides,” he said.

Fulham are in form

With the 4-0 hammering handed to Spurs in the fourth round of
the FA Cup, Craven Cottage could become a slaughter slab for Fulham, who host
Newcastle.

Going into today’s game, Captain Kevin Nolan, with ten goals
will be the fulcrum of Newcastle’s attack, which has had to do without Carroll
since November with Nile Ranger, Leon Best and Shola Ameobi being the
replacements.

Peter Lovenkrands has also put in some shift even though all the
afore-mentioned strikers have not scored 11 goals in total.

Fulham are also bedevilled by a lack of attacking talent, having
scored just 25 goals in 24 matches this season. Mark Hughes has tried to
bolster his attacking options by obtaining former Chelsea striker Eidur
Gudjohnsen on loan from Stoke.

With Key striker Bobby Zamora sidelined for most of the season
with a broken leg, manager Mark Hughes will no doubt be hoping Gudjohnsen can
help take some of the pressure off midfielder Clint Dempsey, who tops Fulham’s
goal scoring list with eight.

The Magpies were not involved in the FA Cup shenanigans and
should be adequately rested for the trip to Craven Cottage. Dickson Etuhu has
gotten over a slight ankle knock and should come into contention for the
holding midfielder role.

Birmingham v Manchester
City

Obafemi Martins is likely to be handed a debut for his new club
Birmingham as they come against the billions of Manchester City. Alex McCleish
and his boys were pounded 5-0 by Manchester United last weekend and they will
not hesitate to seek some form of pay-back on their neighbours, even though
United will be cheering them on. Martins scored 39 goals for Newcastle in 108
matches and knows the terrain of the Premiership very well, which is the main
reason that McCleish went for the Nigerian.

City were shockingly beaten by Aston Villa on January 22 and
will want to get their Premiership title push back on track with a win. They
are now in third position, four points ahead of Chelsea, even though they have
played a game more.

Birmingham are 17th on the table with 23 points, a point above Wigan. They
have qualified Carling Cup final with a 3-1 win over West Ham and followed that
with another come-back 3-2 win over Coventry City in the FA Cup. McLeish will
want that winning mentality to be transferred to the Premiership match against
City. To achieve that, they have to find a way to keep Edin Dzeko, who scored
his first goal against Notts County, in check. That may not be an uphill task
with Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli injured.

Super Eagles coach,
Samson Siasia will today in Lagos meet with sports editors at a
roundtable organised by beverage and confectionery company, Cadbury
Nigeria.

The event, billed
for the company’s corporate headquarters on Agidingbi in Ikeja, Lagos
will see the Eagles helmsman, engaging the journalists on his plans for
the national team.

Bimbo Alabi,
Cadbury’s, Senior Brand Manager, Medicated Candies of Cadbury Nigeria,
said Siasia will have the opportunity to discuss his vision and plans
for the Eagles with senior editors.

“Tom Tom, as the
official candy of the national teams, has come up with this idea in
order that the Nigerian Coach can have the opportunity to interact
meaningfully and constructively with very senior persons in the media.
These very experienced persons will be open and sincere with the coach
and it is our belief that at the end of the session, both sides would
have gained tremendously,” Alabi said.

The roundtable is organised every month by Cadbury Nigeria PLC.

Siasia was invited
for the round table based on the fact that he is presently Super Eagles
coach and also because recorded a string of firsts, including being the
first indigenous Coach to earn the princely sum of five million naira
per month, as well as being the first Nigerian coach to have a say in
the appointment of his assistants.

The Super Eagles are
billed to play Guatemala’s senior team in an international friendly
match at the Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Florida, USA on the ninth of
February before taking part in an invitational Green Bowl Soccer
Tournament in Michigan and Texas between 12th and 20th February.

Siasia is building a new team following Nigeria’s poor outing at the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa.

Cadbury Nigeria PLC, through TomTom, has firmly identified with Nigeria national teams of all categories.

Suspended FIFA Executive Committee member, Amos Adamu will today
find out whether his appeal against the ban placed on him by the world football
body has been successful.

This will be disclosed at a hearing to be held at FIFA
headquarters in Zurich.

Adamu was banned for three years by FIFA’s ethics committee back
in November after being found guilty of breaching the world body’s rules on
bribery.

The Nigerian had been subjected to investigation after he was
caught on video soliciting cash from undercover reporters in exchange for his
vote ahead of last December’s voting to choose the hosts of both the 2018 and
2022 World Cup tournaments.

However, Adamu wasn’t the only member of FIFA’s 24-man Executive
Committee caught in the bribery scandal as Reynald Temarii from Tahiti was also
incriminated.

The Tahitian however got a lesser punishment from the world
body. He was banned from football related affairs for one year for breaching
ethics guidelines.

Both men opted to appeal their respective bans to FIFA’s appeals
committee, leading to today’s hearing.

Expecting a fair hearing

Adamu is confident he will be cleared by the world body’s
appeals committee over charges of attempted bribery.

In a report carried by a number of sports websites, Adamu, who
is also being investigated by Nigeria’s anti corruption agency, the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission, says he expects to get a fair hearing, and
ultimately, vindication.

“I don’t want to say too much about the appeal but I know I’ll
get a fair hearing,” Adamu was quoted to have said.

“It is important that I clear my name in this matter and I
believe that will be done at the meeting.”

In a separate interview with a Nigerian sports paper on Monday,
the same day he left for Zurich, the former Director General of the National
Sports Commission (NSC) said:

“I believe the appeal will go well. The truth will surely
prevail,” before adding, “I want to thank those who have shown their support.”

If Adamu scales through at the end of the day and his ban is
overturned by the world body, he will get a chance to reclaim his seat on the
FIFA executive committee, but not automatically, as he will have to first
secure a seat on the executive committee of the Confederation of African
Football, CAF.

And he will have the opportunity to do that on February 24 in
Khartoum, Sudan during CAF’s congress. Owing to Adamu’s suspension, former
chairman of the Nigeria Football Association, Ibrahim Galadima, nominated for a
position in both CAF and FIFA.

Galadima may step down for Adamu if at the end of today the latter is
cleared of all charges by FIFA’s appeals committee.

As Manchester
United prepare to play Aston Villa today, the players will be looking
at keeping their unbeaten record in the league going. With no loss in
24 matches, and 14 matches left in the league, the Red Devils must
seriously be contemplating emulating the ‘Invincibles’ of Arsenal, who
went unbeaten in the 2005/06 season.
Though United have
made things difficult for their fans in their last two matches by going
down before staging revivals, their opponents, Gerrard Houllier’s
Villains are staging a mini-revival of their own. They have won the
last three matches and are looking to have regained some confidence
with the buying of Darren Bent to lead the line. Last season, Villa
beat United with a goal from Gabriel Agbonlahor and the striker scored
his first goal of the season in last week’s 2-1 over Wigan.
Nemanja Vidic was
the hero at the first meeting in November when he equalised in the 85th
minute to earn his side a 2-2 draw. Now departed to Sampdoria, Federico
Macheda had reduced the deficit four minutes before Vidic headed the
leveller. Villa will need to pay attention to Dimitar Berbatov, who is
on a high with 19 goals already in his kitty. Wayne Rooney is also
pushing hard for a goal and the form of Mexican, Javier Hernandez, will
make Alex Ferguson think deeply before naming his team. The Mexican
scored the winner against Southampton on Saturday in the 2-1 come-back
win in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Ferguson has
promised to re-instate his first set of defenders as Rafael is not
suffering any further complications on account of the concussion he
suffered against Blackpool. Ferguson said on his club’s website that:
“Rafael should also be okay; he got the all-clear on Friday and Patrice
Evra had a family bereavement so we left him out at Southampton.
“Vidic should be
alright. Rio (Ferdinand) started running on Thursday and hopefully will
be okay by Tuesday. We should have our back four back against Villa.”
Injuries might hinder Sunderland
There will be tones
of revenge when the defending champions take on Sunderland today at the
Stadium of Light. In the first instalment, the Black Cats dismembered
the Blues 3-0, with goals from Nedum Onuoha, Asamoah Gyan, and Danny
Welbeck. But like injury had decimated Chelsea’s ranks before that
game, and had John Terry, Frank Lampard and Michael Essien were
missing.
Injury might also
play a role in determining the outcome of the match today but the shoe
is now on the other foot. Danny Welbeck, who tormented Chelsea at
Stamford Bridge, is out for two months and the club has had to sell
Darren Bent to Aston Villa, when the player put in a transfer request.
Steve Bruce has moved in the transfer window by buying Sulley Muntari
and Stephane Sessegnon from PSG of France to shore up the midfield and
attack respectively.
Sunderland also
have Fraizer Campbell, defender Michael Turner, and captain Lee
Cattermole out to various injuries. Chelsea centre-back, Alex,
continues his recovery from surgery and Roman Abramovich has showed
that he can still splash the cash with a bid for Liverpool’s Fernando
Torres and David Luiz, from Benfica. Sunderland are placed sixth on the
table and are just four points behind Chelsea, who are in fourth place.
Arsenal need to keep up the chase
Arsenal are on a
terrific run of form and have booked a Carling Cup final ticket against
Birmingham. Robin Van Persie is back and scoring goals so Arsene Wenger
is in a more buoyant mood as he welcomes an Everton side that has found
goals hard to come by. Their leading scorer, Tim Cahill, could make a
return after the finish of the Asian Cup. But Sunday’s injury to player
of the season, Samir Nasri, could unhinge all the good that has come
from a very good month of January.
The Gunners must
keep up the pressure on runaway leaders, Manchester United, who sit
comfortably five points from their closest rivals. Sebastien Squillaci
will be absent as he starts a suspension after his red card against
Huddersfield, and Thomas Vermeelen is not yet ready to make a return to
action. Sagna is also suffering from a concussion also and might not be
fit to start against the Toffees.
Arsenal has had to
work very hard in the first meeting at Goodison Park in November.
Right-back, Bacary Sagna scored a first goal for the Gunners in two
years and Cesc Fabregas scored the second three minutes after the
half-time interval. Everton reduced the deficit with a last-minute
consolation when Tim Cahill pounced.
Though the Toffees have found it hard to get goals, they have lost
fewer games than every other team outside the top six teams. Placed
14th on the league table, they need all the points to climb into
European competition places. Sunderland, who sit sixth, are 10 points
better off even though they have played a game more.

In the 2003/2004 Season, Taiwo Ogunjobi, then Secretary-General of the NFA, in tandem with my good friend Mike Itemuagbor,

official marketer
of the NFA consummated league sponsorship and signed-off to MTN. The
equation suddenly changed. Political weight and other muscles, high
level connections an electrician would be envious of and government
apparatchik pushed MTN aside.

It has happened again in a very deplorable manner.

Back at one The NPL
has allegedly cancelled a contract duly entered into with MTN. All the
many issues that beset the NPL could not summon its Congress to parley
not even the Chairmanship dispute, but the sponsorship matter did. It
will be very instructive to know who footed the bill for the NPL
Congress that held in Abuja to repudiate the title sponsorship given to
MTN even in the face of a legal suit. Perhaps a review of what has
been, what should be and what in civilised climes sponsorship truly is
will suffice at this point.

In 1993, I went to
Cadbury to ask for sponsorship for the Football League with a bill of
just N5.5million. On offer was two million, five hundred naira for
title sponsorship and three million naira for leveraging the rights.
The Cadbury officials I spoke with then told me all kinds of put-off
things including the fact that the price was too much but I knew better
than that.

One year later,
having lost the bid to be official food drink of US ‘94 World Cup bound
Super Eagles, Cadbury took my proposal to the NFA to request the league
sponsorship rights. The NFA promptly accepted a cheque for N2 million
and Cadbury became title sponsor of the League.

Cadbury’s title
sponsorship lapsed in 1995 without any visible exploitation and quite
curiously, at a press briefing to announce its discontinuance, the
organisation moaned loudly that it got nothing from the sponsorship.
Then many of us wondered how they expected to benefit from just paying
for and then warehousing the property.

Origins

In 1996, a
discerning Pepsi Co International sought and got my assistance for the
obtaining of the sponsorship rights of the Pro-football League.
Together with their brand custodians, Insight Communications Ltd, we
fought a bloody battle against late intruders, Coca-Cola and got the
title sponsorship rights for Pepsi. It was ground breaking achievement
for football.

Eighteen million
sponsorship was powered by about nearly thirty million leveraging spend
by the sponsor. Pepsi national marketing Manager, Iain Nelson, a man
who knew his onions gave vent to many creative and innovative
leveraging planks for the sponsorship.

This was the face
and experience of the Pepsi League sponsorship until the fifth
columnists visited the League and Pepsi sponsorship of it.

The NFA with Tijani Yusuf as Secretary-General snuffed the life out Pepsi’s sponsorship of the league thereafter.

Warehousing not sponsorship

Then came the
battle of the GSM Companies. In 2003, with a deal seemingly locked in
by MTN, Glo suddenly emerged as league sponsorship rights owners. I
will not go into all the shenanigan that went down. Taiwo Ogunjobi, NFA
Secretary-General “got” instructions from the Presidency as we were
told and Glo edged-out MTN.

After years of Glo
sponsorship in which the stories were always that of expression of
dissatisfaction by both sponsor and the sponsored, and in which we saw
nothing near what Pepsi did in terms of exploitation and financial
obligations of the sponsorship being addressed promptly, the league
sponsorship is haemorrhaging again.

Who then are the
undertakers of the league? The Presidency whose name is ever often
called into the fray and sworn by when evil is about to be perpetrated
in our football? A sponsor who would rather warehouse the property than
leverage it? Paid drummers and rented commentators who stand facts on
their heads and swear by a sleeping sponsor yet cannot give us a good
reason for the position they have taken beyond talking through their
pockets?

Shameless inverters
of truth have been on pages of our news papers telling us hogwash about
MTN not being a Nigerian company and so cannot sponsor the league.
Since when did that become a criterion for the league sponsorship? We
all saw what the MTN sponsorship made of the FIFA World Cup 2010 in
South Africa, throwing up thrills, excitement, style and delivery of
the event. Ought we not to avail our football the opportunity to grow
and blossom instead of compressing it into yet another Nigerian ill-fed
and undernourished activity?

MTN’s bid was
through an agent, Total Sport International, so what? How does that
vitiate the right to title sponsorship which they won and had a
contract duly executed? The local laws on Agency and Supplies certainly
recognise the role of an agent, which does not appear to have been
breached in this transaction. All that balderdash we are being served
now is to fan the ego of a narrow interest at the expense of our
football and the growth of the NPL. If any party feels short-changed
the law courts are there for redress instead of the Shakespeare’s
Malviolo style clowning going on.

In concluding my
disapproval at the turn of event in the matter of title sponsorship of
the NPL, I venture to say that the Glo sponsorship has been gravely in
warehousing of the title sponsorship rights these many years which only
compounded the many problems that have snuffed life out of the NPL. And
it is not the kind of sponsorship I nor any reasonable man recommends
for the league.

A real and honest
sponsorship; this is what our football and the NPL need, not an
ego-war. If anyone can say sponsorship of the League in the last six
years met the criteria set above he or she should raise his hand.

The present imbroglio is not good for the game.

Someone please stop that small interest group in the name of God.

UEFA president
Michel Platini has stepped up the pressure to adopt his idea of a
winter World Cup co-hosted in several Gulf countries in 2022 by saying
it was untenable to play in the “55 degrees” desert summer heat.

Platini, a member
of the FIFA Executive Committee who gave the World Cup to Qatar last
month, has said the finals should be spread around the region, an idea
Qatari Mohammed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football
Confederation, has rebuffed.

FIFA has said that
at the moment there are “no concrete plans” to switch the timing of the
finals from the summer to the winter months but that statement carries
little weight.

FIFA president Sepp
Blatter said this month he “expected” the finals to be staged in winter
but the Qataris have not yet formed an organising committee for the
finals and detailed debate has not started.

Platini told
Wednesday’s edition of the French sports daily L’Equipe: “It’s
imperative to have the best possible conditions for the players, the
spectators and all those who intend to go to Qatar in 2022. It (a
winter World Cup) is not such a stupid idea is it?

“The best way to promote this competition is not to play it in 55 Celsius (131 Fahrenheit) degree heat.

“I’m in favour of
playing it in winter and sharing out the matches among several Gulf
countries. This would be good for the development of football in the
region.” Qatar won the right to stage the finals in Zurich last month
and is currently hosting the Asian Cup, the continent’s top
international tournament comprising 16 teams.

The conditions are good for soccer in Qatar in January, although several matches at night were played in very cold weather.

Referring to a
summer World Cup, Platini added: “The stadiums will be air conditioned
but the streets and the beaches won’t. When it is 55 degrees no one
goes out, while when it’s 30C degrees (86F), like in January, it’s
different. For all football lovers, a winter World Cup in several Gulf
countries would be ideal.

“I was in South
Africa (for last year’s World Cup) and at five in the evening it was
cold and already dark. In June/July 2022 in Qatar, it will be
oppressively hot.” Platini agreed that holding the World Cup in winter
would mean a change to the international soccer calendar, adding: “It’s
a complex problem. “We will know the dates of the tournament long
enough in advance to decide to stop (domestic) football for a month or
a month and a half.

“Whether it is in January, in October or in March, we can do it. Where’s the problem?” Platini asked.

Current
Nigerian League champions, Enyimba FC will today begin their quest for
honours in the 2010/11 Orange CAF Champions League competition when
they confront Congolese side, Saint Michel du Ouenze in one of the
day’s crunch fixtures.

The Aba Elephants
who are having a torrid season on the local front would have to forget
their domestic worries going into today’s game. Currently placed 13th
in the Nigeria Premier league with 16 points from 12 games, the
two-time African champions will have to step up their game if they hope
to go far in this year’s Champions League or perhaps complete a hat
trick of trophies in the continent’s biggest club competition.

Tough task

The Chairman of the
club, Felix Anyansi Agwu, said he does not expect an easy ride over
their host who are the current champions in Congo.

“We know they are
the defending champions of their domestic competition so that means
they are a solid side,” Anyansi Agwu told SuperSport.com.

“Whenever teams
play against us domestically or on the continent, they tend to raise
their game because of the name, Enyimba. We have achieved so much and
teams go the extra mile when they play against us.”

Already Enyimba’s
first choice player in right back position, Samuel Tswanya has been
ruled out of today’s game as he failed to recover from a knock he
picked in the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) game against Warri Wolves a
fortnight ago.

Nonetheless, the
team’s coach, Okey Emordi, is confident that his lads are capable of
getting the desired result in today’s match.

“It’s been a
difficult season no doubt, but I have the belief that if we can get
something together as soon as possible, we will do our best to avoid
defeat,” he said.

Reunion

Coincidentally, one of the Star players for the Congolese team, Sam Ledor is a former Enyimba player.

Ledor has already
promised his former teammates a tough time in today’s tie as he reckons
with the princely treatment being given to him by Saint Michel.

“My team has done
so well for me, and I am grateful to them. I owe them a duty to put in
my best regardless of who is involved,” he said.

Ledor further
hinted that some people in Congo have asked him to take up Congolese
citizenship so that he could play for the national team.

Ledor won several League titles and a Federation Cup title with Enyimba.

A total of 44 clubs
will be involved in action in the preliminary round whilst holders TP
Mazembe and eight other clubs namely; Entiente Setif(Algeria), Al Ahly
(Egypt), Ittihad (Libya), Stade Malien (Mali), Hilal (Sudan), Merrikh
(Sudan), Esperance (Tunisia) and Dynamos (Zimbabwe) are exempted from
this stage of the competition.

The second leg matches is scheduled for February 11-13 with winners advancing to the 1/16th round.

Though
they have been awful away from home getting only one point outside the
Nnamdi Azikwe stadium, Enugu Rangers will be seeking to maintain their
perfect home run when they face Warri Wolves today in the star fixture
of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) for the weekend.

Currently fifth on
the log, the Flying Antelopes will be hoping to replicate the form that
has seen the side score an impressive 17 goals in six home matches.

However, that will
be a tough task against a side like Warri Wolves that are currently
third on the league table and have not done too badly on the road,
winning once and drawing two games. The Enugu-based team must be at
their best to maintain the enviable record it shares with Sunshine
Stars and Dolphins FC; the other two teams yet to drop points at home.

A victory for the Alphonsus Dike-led side will see it upstaging their opponents from the third spot.

Other matches In
other games, Shooting Stars will be home to city rivals, Crown FC and
this is one of the four derbies in the Premier League this season.

Crown are living on
the edge after sacking their coach, Ganiyu Salami, at the weekend and
losing two key players in Harrison Egbune and Asuquo Phillip to
title-chasing Sunshine Stars. 3SC look good to pick maximum points in
this game as they will not want a repeat of their last home game in
which they were held 1-1 by visiting Kaduna United.

More games

At the Gateway
International Stadium in Ilaro, Sunshine will be up against Lobi Stars
and one thing that will be paramount in the mind of Coach Gbenga
Odubote of Sunshine will be to close the gap on the current league
leaders Dolphins FC, who lead them by four points, but will be playing
away to Ocean Boys in Yenogoa.

A win for Sunshine Stars will leave them with just one point off the top spot they occupied as at the end of last year.

In the lower ranks of the league, 16th placed Zamfara United will be home to Juth FC who are second from the bottom.

In four meetings
between the two sides in the topflight over two years, The Healers have
won just once against Zamfara United. Surprisingly, JUTH have picked
three draws on the road from four games but have capitulated at home by
losing two games. Zamfara lost just once at home to Kaduna United but
looks good to claim the maximum points in this tie.

The last fixture of the day is a game between two former champions,
Ocean Boys and Dolphins FC, who are currently on top of the league and
are sure to remain there at least for this week despite today’s result.
The Port Harcourt side currently has a four point gap on the top a feat
no team can achieve for this weekend.

Two
premier league sides with differing tales to tell meet today in the
fourth round of the FA Cup. Fulham lost to Liverpool on Wednesday but
gave a very good account of themselves and should have at least
finished on level terms if not for some wayward shooting by Belgian
forward, Dembele. Today they will have to step up with the visit of
Tottenham. The London side have been playing some eye-catching stuff
and are fifth on the league table. Dickson Etuhu should return to the
Fulham team after a bout of injury but his replacement, Steve Sidwell,
gave a good account on his debut for the Cottagers. Tottenham are in
danger of losing Gareth Bale to a back injury but have the good luck of
having bought Steven Pienaar from Everton.

Harry Redknapp told
Reuters, “He’s been to see a specialist and it shouldn’t be too long, a
bit of work on it and he should be okay.

“He’s never, ever
needed an operation. That’s the last resort when you have a back
problem. He has a little back injury that went into a spasm, but he
should be back in 10 days.” Roman Pavlyuchenko and Benoit Assou-Ekotto
should return to the team after the both missed the trip to Newcastle.

Fulham have already
lost twice to Spurs this season but Fulham captain, Danny Murphy
believes the defeat was based on small margins. Murphy spoke on his
club site that, “I thought we were desperately unlucky in both the
games we played against them so far this season. We’ve also got nearly
a fully fit squad to choose from, other than one or two missing and
hopefully we’ll be able to give them a good game. We owe them one for
knocking us out last year.”

Adebayor to make his debut

The charge
continues for Jose Mourinho and his boys at the Estadio Reyno de
Navarra, where they have to face Osasuna today. Real Madrid managed a
slim 1-0 win over Mallorca last weekend courtesy of Karim Benzema’s
third goal for the club in 20 appearances and with the loan signing of
Emmanuel Adebayor completed on Thursday, Mourinho now has more options
in attack. He can decide to play the conventional 4-4-2 or continue
with the much vaunted 4-3-3 all-out attacking frame. Mourinho’s team
continued to show character with the 1-0 win over Sevilla in the Copa
del Rey first leg semi-final match. Adebayor is keen to get straight
into action. “I have no idea where Pamplona – the home city of Osasuna,
but they have told me it will be difficult to win there. I hope to
play,” Adebayor told Spanish radio station, Cadena Ser on Thursday.

“My first
conversation with Jose Mourinho was positive but we haven’t gone into
details yet (about his role),” the Togolese international concluded.

Meanwhile Osasuna
are just a point above the relegation places, so a loss could push them
furtively closer to the ignominy of the second division. The first leg
ended 1-0 in favour of the Los Blancos courtesy of a 48th minute goal
by Ricardo Carvalho. That match witnesses fans jeering the ‘Special
One’ but Mourinho said it was expected as his team did not perform
well. “The public can jeer if they want and I can respect it,” said
Mourinho.

“I work for the
total satisfaction of the public and they pay me to work and not to
criticise the fans. I will never say anything against the fans of Real
Madrid. Is it only at the Bernabeu where they demand more? I don’t know
any supporters of any big clubs that settle for less. “It is nothing
new for me.” Today the battle will be won by the team that shows the
most desire.

Inter Milan need all three points

After the first
loss had been digested by Inter’s new manager, Leonardo, it will be a
return to the safe surroundings of the San Siro to host Palermo, who
are two places below but separated by a point. Inter MilanMilan’s
defence of their Scudetto had decidedly gone off the tracks before the
Club World Cup triumph in Abu Dhabi. Samuel Eto’o made all the
difference in the first leg, when he scored two goals to cancel out
Josip Ilicic’s opener after 28 minutes. But Eto’o equalised in the 63rd
minute before getting the winner, seven minutes later at the Stadio
Renzo Barbera. Palermo chairman Maurizio Zamparini has blamed the
referee for that defeat and his players will be keen to pay Inter
Milanback. Zamparini said after the September 19 defeat that, “Maybe
the referee got heatstroke today, as if those incidents had occurred in
the Palermo area, he would’ve awarded four penalties against us. He
lost us the game.

“There were four
penalty incidents. Two were absolutely clear; two could’ve been given
or not given depending on the interpretation. It’s a bit much,
especially considering the penalty awarded against us in Brescia last
week was non-existent.” Juve are floundering Udinese humbled Inter
Milanlast weekend and get another chance to continue their
giant-killing act as they face Juventus today at the Stadio OLympico.
Juventus were roundly beaten 2-0 by Roma on Wednesday in the Coppa
Italia and Coach Luigi Del Neri will start looking over his shoulder as
his team is dragged towards mid-table existence. Juventus have been
performing below par in recent weeks and Del Neri knows that the
fortunes of his team must rebound or he could be out of a job very soon.

Battle of the Nigerians

Monaco are looking
down the barrel and their case could be worsened by the visit of
defending champions, Olympique Marseille to the Velodrome. Monaco’s
young Nigerian midfielder, Lukman Haruna has also not been having the
best of seasons. Marseille also have another Nigerian in Taye Taiwo,
bombarding down the left flank, so it could just become the tale of two
Nigerians. While Monaco need all the points they can get to stave off
relegation, Marseille need the points to keep pace with pace-setters,
Lille Metropole, who are six points better with 38 points.