Nigeria Content Online

World
number one, Rafa Nadal, suffered a rare second-set meltdown before
recovering to beat plucky Slovakian, Lukas Lacko, and join rival Roger
Federer in the Qatar Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Nadal, who has been
suffering from a fever this week, took the first set on a tiebreak
after both men had traded breaks before collapsing in the second, where
he won just 11 points. It was the first time Nadal had lost a set 6-0
since February 2009 when he was beaten in the final of the World Indoor
Tournament in Rotterdam by Britain’s Andy Murray. The Spaniard
recovered brightly at the start of the final set to race into a 4-0
lead but dropped his serve for a fifth time in the match before closing
out a 7-6 0-6 6-3 victory. “It was really, really difficult,” said
Nadal, who is seeded to meet Federer in the final and will play Latvian
fifth seed Ernests Gulbis for a place in the last four. “Lukas played a
great match and if he plays at this level it is going to be difficult
for everyone to beat him.”

It was a slightly easier evening for Federer, who overcame a break
in the second set to take a 7-6 7-5 victory over Swiss compatriot Marco
Chiudinelli. “It was really difficult today, under the circumstances,”
said Federer, who closed out the match with a smash. “Playing such a
good friend is so rare for me. I’m happy the match is in the past and I
can look forward.” Federer, twice champion here, will face sixth seed
Viktor Troicki in the last eight after the Serbian eased past Russian
Teymuraz Gabashvili.

Third seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, making
his comeback from injury, moved into the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-4
defeat of Ukraine’s Sergei Bubka, son of the former Olympic pole vault
champion of the same name, and will face Spanish seventh seed,
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, for a place in the last four.

Ferrari
team principal Stefano Domenicali considered quitting after a strategy
error in the final grand prix of last year cost Fernando Alonso the
Formula One championship.

The Spaniard went
into the Abu Dhabi season-ender in the lead in the standings but an
early pit-stop backfired, leaving him to finish the race seventh while
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel won to take the crown.

“I asked myself if
it was right or not to stay. It seemed a reflection I had to do, a
responsible one. I’m not attached to the hot seat,” Domenicali told La
Repubblica on Tuesday.

“However, I reached
the conclusion that to resign would have been an error.” He said he had
not feared the sack but did not sleep for two days after the race.

Domenicali, whose
team will unveil their 2011 car at the end of January after it passed a
series of mandatory crash tests last month, is now raring to go for the
season having admitted Red Bull were “objectively” quicker than the
Italians last year.

“I know the team and I think I am the right person to capitalise best on what we have done in these months,” he said.

“From a methodology
point of view, at Maranello we have changed almost everything and I’m
certain that soon we will see the results of all this work.” The
sport’s most successful team, who finished a distant third overall last
year with Alonso and Brazilian Felipe Massa, said on their website
(www.ferrari.com) that their factory was fully back to work after the
Christmas break.

“The new season
beckons, with the launch of the new car planned for the final week of
this month, while testing gets underway on February 1 at Cheste’s
Ricardo Tormo circuit near Valencia,” the team said.

Alonso and Massa
will take part in a media event with Italian MotoGP rider Valentino
Rossi, now with Ducati, in the Dolomites next week.

Former
world number one Justine Henin continued her comeback from a six-month
injury absence as Belgium whitewashed Kazakhstan 3-0 at the Hopman Cup
mixed team event on Tuesday.

Henin saw off
stand-in Sesil Karatantcheva 6-4 6-3 to put Belgium ahead and Ruben
Bemelmans upset the much higher-ranked Andrey Golubev 6-4 6-4. The
Belgians then won the mixed doubles 4-6 6-2 10-8.

The win kept alive
Belgium’s hopes of qualifying for Saturday’s final as winners of Group
A, though they will have to beat top seeds Serbia in their remaining
group match to stand a chance.

In just her second
match since Wimbledon because of a serious elbow injury, Henin was
still a little rusty but had too much experience and nous for world
number 140 Karatantcheva.

Having only arrived
in Perth late on Monday as a replacement for the injured Yaraoslava
Shvedova, Karatantcheva did an admirable job and had Henin worried when
she broke to lead 3-1 in the second set.

But the seven-times
grand-slam champion regained her composure to reel off five straight
games to clinch victory, before joining Bemelmans to win an
entertaining doubles.

“It’s not that easy especially after the injury so I am working hard to come back,” Henin said.

“It’s the first two
matches so I know it’s going to take a bit of time but it’s just great
to have the opportunity to play a few matches and have competition
again.” World number 178 Bemelmans had pushed Lleyton Hewitt in his
opening match and took his game up another level as he outplayed
Golubev, ranked 142 places above him.

The 22-year-old
looked nervous when he squandered three match points on the Golubev
serve at 5-3 but held on to serve out for one of the best victories of
his career.

“Though I lost my first match I stayed positive and it was great
today,” Bemelmans said. “I played very well and it’s my best win in
terms of ranking.” Top seeds Serbia were to take on hosts Australia in
the day’s other Group A match.

Nigeria’s
U-20 men’s team, the Flying Eagles, will today know who their group
opponents will be at this year’s African Youth Championship as the
draws for the biennial tournament comes up today in Tripoli,

Libya.

Already, John Obuh,
coach of the team is in Libya to have firsthand knowledge of who his
side will face at the Championship scheduled to take place from March
18 to April 1, 2011.

Aside Nigeria,
seven other African youth teams are in contention for the African crown
and a place in the World Youth Championships scheduled to hold in
Colombia later this year.

Other participants include reigning Champions Ghana, Cameroon, Egypt, Gambia, Lesotho, Mali and hosts, Libya.

The eight teams are
to be grouped into two Groups- A & B and at the end of the first
round, the top two teams in each group will get automatic tickets for
the World Cup in Colombia whilst still competing for the African crown.

Strengthening the team

Before his
departure for Libya, Obuh, who is still basking in the euphoria of his
WAFU Cup victory with Sharks FC called up 35 new players to begin
camping for the Youth Championship.

According to him,
the move to invite the new players was to give an opportunity to
previously untested players and see if they can fight their way into
the team.

“My team is still a
work in progress that is why we are still trying out new legs for
different positions and only settling for the best,” he said.

He added that he has a mission to present a good team which will make Nigeria proud at the AYC.

To secure a berth
to Libya, the Flying Eagles team made up largely of the 2009
silver-winning the Golden Eaglets team defeated their last opponents,
Mauritius, 4-1 over two legs.

The Flying Eagles, bronze winners, at last year’s edition held in
Rwanda are considered the most successful side in the biennial
championship thanks to successes in 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1989 and 2005.
They have been tipped for success at the championships.

Maria Sharapova
underlined her pulling power on Monday with Auckland Classic organisers
confirming they had sold out all of the day sessions for the entire
tournament just minutes before she stepped on court for her first round
match.

A limited number of
tickets for the three night sessions were left available, though all of
Sharapova’s matches will be played during the day and organisers said
it was the first time the tournament, with a total prize pool of just
$220,000, had been effectively sold out by the first day.

Sharapova, making
her first appearance in New Zealand, received an enormous cheer from
the 3,200 fans packed around the revamped centre court, before the
former world number one overcame a nervous start to beat Alberta
Brianti 6-2 6-3.

First timer

The 23-year-old
Russian, who will now meet Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic in the
second round, said she had been pleased at the Auckland public’s
reaction to the tournament.

“I was surprised
yesterday when I came to practice even all the people with the
qualifying matches,” she told reporters after her victory over the
Italian.

“From a player’s
perspective that’s really exciting … it’s my first time here and I
didn’t know what to expect, but it has been really great.”

While Sharapova’s
presence has undoubtedly helped drive the ticket sales, the draw also
includes two-time grand slam title winner Svetlana Kuznetsova who also
made it into the second round after a 6-4 6-2 victory over local
wildcard Sacha Jones.

The 25-year-old
Russian, who had what she described as a year to forget in 2010 and
finished outside the top-20 for the first time since 2004 and will meet
China’s Peng Shuai in the next round, also praised the crowd for their
support.

“I have played many
courts and crowds, but I tell you this is a lot of people for the
tournament, even for the qualifiers, there were lots of people,”
Kuznetsova said.

“I was surprised at how many people came here, but the people
obviously love tennis and love to watch. It’s a pleasure for all of the
players to come and play in front of the crowd.”

After
previously agreeing to an out of court settlement with the current
board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Harrison Jalla
President of the National Association of Nigerian Footballers (NANF)
has stated that his body will be resuming its legal battle with the
football body.

According to a
statement issued from the NANF’s secretariat, the NFF board as
presently constituted has always been illegal and will not be allowed
to continue in office.

The statement read
in part: “The National Association of Nigeria Footballers (NANF) has
instructed its Lawyers to relist suit NO FHC/L/CS/962/10 THE REGISTERED
TRUSTEES OF NANF VS NIGERIA FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION BEFORE JUSTICE OKON
ABANG and initiate contempt proceedings against Aminu Maigari and his
illegal Board for flouting the court order of September 6, 2010
annulling the August 26 Elections into the NFA Executive Committee and
its congress,” the statement read in part.

“The NANF also
further instructed its Lawyers to seek the assistance of the Inspector
General of Police as ordered by the court to enforce the order and
ensure Aminu Maigari and his group vacate the glass House as soon as
possible.

“Meanwhile those
conducting Elections into the state Football Associations are engaging
in an Exercise in futility. Also anybody or group who attempt to
organize or conduct Election on the 12th of January 2011 into the
position of Chairman of Chairmen and the position of Chairman of the
Nigeria Premier League would be acting.”

Shedding more light
on the matter, Jalla yesterday said he was on his way to Abuja
yesterday to inform the Inspector General of Police of the need to
comply with Justice Abang’s ruling.

“They have shown that they are not human beings and so we will treat them like animals,” said Jalla.

When contacted about the development, NFF President, Aminu Maigari said the former Flash Flamingo player can do what he likes.

“Let them go to
court. Let them do whatever pleases them. We are serving this country;
that’s all we know. We cannot allow an outside body to dictate to us or
tell us what to do,” he said.

Lawyers disagree

Two lawyers, Jiti
Ogunye and Wahab Shittu have however expressed different opinions on
the implication of the latest move by NANF.

For Ogunye, who has
himself initiated proceeding against Maigari and his team for flouting
a court order, once the court agrees to re-enlist the case then all
previous orders on the case remains how they are.

“The case was
withdrawn and struck out by the court it was never dismissed for want
of lack of merit. If they decide to go back to court and the court
re-enlists their case then the former rulings still stay,” he said.

However, another
Lawyer, Wahab Shittu stated that as much as the players’ union have the
right to go back to court got they will be starting their case on a
fresh note.

Harrison Jalla withdrew his case against the NFF on October 25 last
year after some concessions were made to the union in a negotiation
involving the former FIFA Executive member, Amos Adamu, and the House
Committee on Sports. The agreements have been breached, according to
Jalla.

Manchester
United on Saturday showed the stuff of champions – getting a positive
result when a negative looked more of a reality. Javier Hernandez’s
goal against West Brom was all that was needed for the Red Devils to
get an unlikely 2-1 victory at the Hawthorns. Alex Ferguson should not
make the mistake of playing Gary Neville against Stoke City’s Matthew
Etherington.

In the first
match-up at the Britannia Stadium in October, United won by the odd
goal but there were refereeing controversies in the match.

As Roberto Di
Matteo complained about the referee in Saturday’s loss to United so did
Stoke’s coach, Tony Pulis complain vehemently against referee Andre
Marriner in the loss to United in October. It had all seemed to be
heading for a 1-1 draw with Tuncay Sanli’s spectacular equaliser ten
minutes from time but Hernandez scored the winner with his head two
minutes from time.

Pulis’ complaint
was that Marriner decided not to show Neville a second yellow card for
two rash challenges on Etherington. He insisted the former England
international should have been sent off.

He said in October:
“Let me ask you this – if it was a Stoke City player playing at Old
Trafford and he’d committed two fouls like that, what do you think
would have happened? We just have to take it on the chin. We’ve played
nine games this season and four decisions have affected those games.

“Referees are going
to make good and bad decisions but when they’re making ones that affect
a game of football, and then it’s disappointing. We’re very
disappointed but if the shoe was on the other foot I think it would
have been different.”

The coach and his
players have to concentrate at Old Trafford as the table-toppers are
not in the mood to hand out belated Christmas presents. Stoke’s record
at Old Trafford is a miserable one with no win in 34 years. Though the
Potters have improved significantly this season, any good result from
Manchester will be seen as a bonus.

Ferguson agreed
that his team were lucky to get any result for the Hawthorns. “It is a
massive result for us today (Saturday), a lot of games you have to
battle and we had to do that today. As I said, of all the times we have
won leagues in the past we have had performances like this where they
have battled all the way.” And the Scotsman agreed that Neville was
lucky to escape a penalty and a red card.

“Gary was lucky to stay on. It was a penalty. At first I thought he had got a touch but when I saw it again, he was lucky.”

There are fitness
doubts concerning Wayne Rooney, Patrice Evra and Darron Gibson. Rooney
got kicked on his left ankle by Chris Brunt on Saturday with Evra and
Gibson also needing treatment after the game but Nani might be
available after a hip complaint.

Osaze needs a goal against Fulham

West Brom have had
a dip in form, losing their last four consecutive matches, even though
the team has been playing well. West Brom have lost to Aston Villa,
Bolton, Blackburn and United in their last games.

Added to that
statistic is that their highest goal scorer this season, Osaze
Odemwingie has been fluffing his lines in front of goal. The height of
the misses was his scuffed penalty kick against Manchester United on
Saturday. Odemwingie is still stuck on six league goals, with his last
goals coming on December 5 against Newcastle United. But despite the
miss, Odemwingie has been given the thumbs-up by one of his team mates,
Chris Brunt.

“Peter scored the
penalty at West Ham and when he put the ball on the spot and we were
all pretty confident he would score. He’s going through one of those
spells at the moment when nothing seems to be going right for him in
front of goal.

“I’m sure that will turn as long as he keeps working at it. He’s done very well this season so we won’t hold that against him.”

The match-up of the
day should be between Fulham’s giant defender, Brede Hangeland and
Odemwingie. Hangeland has looked composed in the middle of the Fulham
defence and could be the subject of transfer enquiries from bigger
sides in the January transfer window.

He will need to be at his most alert to stop a hurting Odemwingie,
who will be determined to score and help his side to a first win since
December 5, 2010, thereby erasing the memories of that penalty miss.

Sports Minister and
chairman of the National Commission for Sports (NSC), we welcome you on
board once again. Happy New Year, but straight to business sir.

Just as a reminder,
I said on this column last week that you must not believe that the time
at your disposal is not enough for you to institutionalise some
sensitive aspects of sports management. I believe that you understand
the Nigerian terrain well enough, that you are adequately informed,
hence, capable of navigating your way, politically and professionally,
around the cabal, seemingly in charge of sports in Nigeria.

I also said that
you can make a lot of difference if you strategically avoid the two
sides of the coin and concentrate on the edge. I think I made a mistake
by saying this. I believe you will still need to look at those sides of
the coin, but you will glean a lot of effective and functional ideas
from the third side of the coin, called the edge.

There are
professional ramifications attached to your appointment. While it can
be considered a political appointment, the fact that you are a
professional stakeholder, with a very solid academic background, tends
to assist in neutralising the political arrangement.

So, it can be
generally assumed that you should be left to apply your professional
discretion on the job. I agree absolutely sir. But may I humbly counsel
that you make yourself vulnerable right away. This is because nobody,
not even the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of
Nigeria, can give you power to succeed. You just take it. Your
predecessor can tell you more about this now.

It is by making
yourself vulnerable that you acquire the requisite power to succeed.
Dear Minister, in Nigeria, history has shown us that power is not all
about brute force, or the number of degrees attached to one’s name, or
about intimidation, oppression or domination.

Your capabilities
to M.A.D. — to make a difference, by the way the lives of sports men
and women are changed, the ways you motivate and inspire them, change
the putrefying odour presently emanating from the sports ministry, the
National Sports Commission and the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC), to
a sweet smelling aroma, then and only then, is nothing more powerful
than being positively vulnerable.

Meeting with the real stakeholders

Permit me to share
an idea with you, sir. Is it possible for you to invite some people for
an interactive session, where those invited will pledge before the
meeting that nothing but the truth, no matter how bitter, would be told
at such a meeting?

These people –
patriots/minority stakeholders of Nigerian sports – form the core of
those on the edge of the coin you may have to listen to now. These
people have been closely monitored for more than a decade and I know
that they have something to offer you and this massively blessed
nation, in order for you to take sports to higher levels, by the
special grace of God Almighty.

They are listed
below: Monday Emogbawe of the Nigerian Paralympic Association, Prince
Are of the Amputees Football Association, Joe Mensah – Boxing, Sam
Ahmedu – Basketball, Tunde Obisanya – Table Tennis, Aisha Falode –
Women football, Emelia Edet – Athletics, Segun Odegbami, Adokiye
Amiesimeka, Jide Fashikun, Sadiq Abdullahi – Nigeria’s Tennis
Ambassador, plus my humble self.

Honourable
Minister, if indeed, wisdom is the correct application of knowledge,
and knowledge is derived from information, then I wish to suggest that
we give this idea a trial. Can anything good emanate from such an
exercise? Well, let us leave time to tell and sports loving Nigerians
to decide.

But I know,
Honourable Minister, someone like Coach Joe Mensah will be able to tell
you and Nigerians how the lost glory of boxing can be revived in
Nigeria. How this great nation will not be disgraced at international
boxing tournaments anymore. How we can search and groom world class
boxers. How ten amateur boxers in Nigeria will stop using just one
mouth-guard, irrespective of the health hazards involved.

All those mentioned
above have a lot to say. Give each of us just one hour each at such a
forum and I can assure you that the result will be overwhelming.

I humbly take
responsibility for this proposed interactive session. I appreciate the
fact that some of the personalities mentioned are not as popular as
Nigerians may want them to be, but believe me, something is likely to
come out of the exercise.

Honourable
Minister, this is entirely my idea. I did not inform anyone of them
before going to press; hence I apologise, if this will embarrass anyone
of them. I hope it does not. Happy New Year Nigerians. All will be well.

Nigeria’s
U-20 male national team, the Flying Eagles have been drawn in a very
tough group comprising defending champions, Ghana and perennial foes,
Cameroon. The fourth team in the group of death is Gambia. The other
group is made up of hosts, Libya, Mali, Egypt and Lesotho.

The Nigerian team
will open her campaign against the defending champions, Ghana on March
19 and will face the Cameroonians three days after.

The Flying Eagles
captain had prayed that Nigeria will not be grouped with Ghana but his
wish did not come true. Fortune Chukwudi spoke on the eve of the draws.
“We are not scared of any team but it is only wise to play the
strongest teams in the latter stages of the competition,” Chukwudi told
SuperSport.com.

“Those countries
have a good track record in this competition so all the teams will be
looking to avoid them. If we meet them, fine but it is better to play
them later on in the competition.

“I also think the
other sides will be strong. It is not easy to qualify for this
competition so any side that makes it to this stage should be treated
with respect.” But his coach, John Obuh remained upbeat after the draws.

Obuh told
mtnfootball.com that: “I’m used to being drawn in the ‘Group of Death’,
but as far as my team is concerned this is the group of life.

“I wouldn’t want to
believe that there is one or two teams who would be our biggest threat
because we will play all three teams with the same determination and
focus. Our first game will be against Ghana and we know it won’t be
easy and that is where we have set to work immediately. Our immediate
target is to reach the last four.”

Ghana will be formidable

The first of the
Flying Eagles’ opponents in Libya, Ghana’s Black Satellites’ coach
Orlando Wellington told the BBC that his team is determined to hold on
to both the African and world crowns. “It’s very important for us,” he
said before the draws in Libya on Tuesday.

“It’s a big
challenge for me and the players – we have to work very hard to go to
the World Cup. It’s not easy but financially and physically we are
prepared.” The Ghanaian coach also believes that the 2011 set of Black
Satellites is better than the 2009 winning set. “When you talk about
technique this team is far ahead of the past champions,” he said on the
BBC programme, Fast Track.

“These people are
tactically and technically (more) sound than the other team. The others
play more aggressively but this team can play very good football.”
Nigeria’s team coached by silver winning U-17 coach, John Obuh will
resume camping in Abuja with 35 players on January 8. Nigeria came
third at the last championship in Rwanda.

There will be four
African representatives in Colombia so the group winners and runners-up
will progress to the semi-finals – and a place at the World Cup in
July. The tournament in Libya will kick off on March 18 and end on
April 1 in Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya at the Industrial River and Hugo
Chavez stadiums respectively.

The
president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Aminu Maigari, has
denied reports that he had ordered the arrest of Davidson Owumi, the
recently sacked boss of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL).

Owumi was asked to
quit his position as the chairman of the NPL by the NFF who last week,
at the end of its General Assembly in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital,
announced that the elections which brought the former player and
management staff of Enugu Rangers to office had been annulled.

Along with the
order ending Owumi’s eight month reign, the NFF also ordered fresh
polls for the vacant chairmanship position, as well as the position of
Chairman of Chairmen, to be conducted within 14 days even as it passed
a vote of confidence on the remaining board members of the NPL, who
were mandated to continue to run the affairs of the league body.

Owumi, who had been
in a running battle with Rumson Baribote following the outcome of the
disputed NPL elections, however, said he was dissatisfied with the
order from the NFF annulling his election which preceded reports in the
media quoting sources within the NFF as stating that he, Owumi, would
be arrested by the State Security Service (SSS) if he defies the NFF’s
order by continuing to parade himself as the boss of the league body.

It wasn’t me

The order was
reportedly issued by Maigari but the NFF boss has come out to deny the
“malicious” reports saying that neither he, Maigari, nor the NFF as a
body, has the authority to issue such an order.

“There is no way I
could have ordered such,” he said. “I have no right to issue such an
order; nobody in the NFF can issue such an order, so I have no idea how
those malicious reports came about.

“The initial order
annulling the election was issued not by me, but by the General
Assembly who acted based on the recommendations of an arbitration panel
headed by a respected professor,” added Maigari, referring to the
arbitration tribunal set up by the NFF in the early days of the
leadership tussle between Owumi and Baribote.

Baribote, who was
only recently reinstated as the chairman of Bayelsa United by the
Bayelsa State government following his October 2010 removal, had all
along argued that Owumi was not suitably qualified to contest for the
position of the chairman of the NPL as he was not on the board of any
Nigerian Premier League side as at the time the elections took place
last year at Abuja’s Lamonde Hotel.

Owumi was endorsed by the Enugu State government ahead of the NPL
polls even though he had at that point in time ceased to be a member of
the board of Enugu Rangers.