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Following yesterday’s round of matches in the Premier League,
action resumes today with five matches on the cards, top of which is the visit
of Enugu Rangers to the Gateway international Stadium, Ijebu-Ode where they
will be taking on Sunshine Stars.

This fixture should have taken place in Akure but owing to the
failure of Sunshine Stars to develop their home ground in the Ondo state capital
to the minimum standard required by the Nigeria Premier League (NPL), the
league body had no option but to order them to relocate to a different venue.

If league watchers feel Sunshine would as a result of being far
away from their traditional home ground fall home-sick, they stand to be proved
wrong because in their very first game in Ijebu-Ode, Sunshine defeated
defending champions Enyimba 2-1.

And if anyone thought their win over the People’s Elephants was
a total flash in the pan, the side handled by Gbenga Ogunbote only last weekend
went to the Rwang Pam Stadium in Jos to pip Plateau United 1-0, courtesy of
Ukeyima Akombo’s second half stoppage time winner, to completely turn around
their fortunes in a matter of two weeks after the 2-1 loss inflicted on them at
the start of the season by Shooting Stars.

They now have a chance to further climb up the table as they
confront Rangers today in their adopted home ground.

“I have totally forgotten about that game,” said Ogunbote,
recalling the loss to Shooting Stars that is more remembered for the unfriendly
gestures made towards him by the Ibadan side’s Gbolahan Salami. “One can’t
continue to live in the past. That was one match we should have come out with
at least a point but I’m glad with the way the boys reacted against Enyimba and
Plateau United. They were all tough matches and we now have another one against
Rangers who have also been doing very well,” added Ogunbote.

Lethal attack, leaky
defence

Rangers, heading into this weekend’s round of matches, had
scored more goals than any other side in the league (eight goals) and boasts of
two of the leading stars of the young season, Fred Okwara and Ejike Uzoenyi who
between them have grabbed five of the Enugu side’s eight goals to date.

Although the side managed by Alphonsus Dike have suffered a loss
in the only away game they have played this season – 1-0 loss to Dolphins –
they have been ruthless at their Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium home ground where only
last weekend, they recorded the highest scoring game of the young season in a
5-2 drubbing of Ocean Boys.

“We have been scoring goals, which is good, but we have also
been conceding a lot and we have been working to change that,” Rangers’ coach
Alphonsus Dike told NEXT. “The boys are confident of scoring against any team
but we have to find a way of maintaining defensive discipline so that we don’t
let in easy goals.” One player who has performed creditably well for Sunshine
Stars this season has been Cletus Itodo, who can be found sitting in front of
the backline in the holding midfield role. But he looks set to have his hands
full against a Rangers side filled to the brim with explosive players like John
Nnam, Uche Nwafor and Charles Taylor, not forgetting the quick footed duo of
Okwara and Uzoenyi.

“That is something we have tried to capitalize on this season,”
continued Dike regarding the speed of his forward line. “Football is becoming
fast-paced these days and having players who can think well ahead when they are
without the ball has its advantages.” He then added: “Hopefully those
advantages will work for us on Sunday.”

Cooreman comes to Owerri

One team that will also be eager to make its own advantage count
today will be Heartland who will want to make best use of the chance of playing
at the Dan Anyiam Stadium when they take on visiting Kaduna United.

Heartland have not had the best of starts to this season’s
campaign and only last weekend threw away a two-goal lead against Warri Wolves.
But they face a Kaduna side that is yet to taste defeat this season and who
have a coach, Maurice Cooreman, that just wants to keep it that way.

“Heartland is one of the strongest football teams we have in
this country. We are training hard in making sure that we not only play well
when we visit them this weekend,

but we want to come back home with the maximum points,” Cooreman
told Naijaligue.blogspot.com.

67-year-old Cooreman, who has won league titles in the past with
Ocean Boys and Enyimba will however have to be wary of Heartland’s Bello
Kofarmata and Osas Okoro, who have the abilities to wreck havoc on any side
when on song.

In other matches today, Zamfara United will be at home to
Plateau United, Lobi Stars will host Niger Tornadoes, and bottom of the table
Ocean Boys will welcome Sharks to Yenegoa.

The avenue by which the 2012 London Olympics bid team hoped to
enrich life is now being utilised in Nigeria and tutors who were benefactors of
the training programme have begun to see the dividends.

Inspiring Children ‘International Inspiration’ was born in
fulfilment of the promise that the London bid team for the 2012 Olympics made
when they were bidding to host the Games.

According to Olamipo Bello, Project Manager and representative
of the British council, International Inspiration aims to use to the power of
sports to enrich the lives of children. “It was observed that all around the
world there is a decline in sporting activities and we discovered that the best
way to do this was to reintroduce Physical Education (PE) that was gradually
disappearing from the school curriculum.” She said further that, “The aim of
the programme is to involve children and make sport an interesting avenue to
learn”. Sarah Thorp, a TOPS tutor explains more, “Basically what we aim to do
is to introduce new methods of teaching sports. We therefore make use of the
TOPS play cards which shows nice friendly and attractive pictures”.

The TOPS play cards are a series of cards, pointing out instructions
on how trainers and coaches can teach children basic movement, how to evaluate
the improvement of the children and how to adapt the games to suit the
individual ability of the children in a way that engages and interest the
child.

Thorp goes further to clarify that rather than it teaching one
particular sport, TOPS methodology helps the children to develop the
fundamentals of movement. “We use this method to help the children develop the
skills of balance, agility and coordination. The concept is to develop the
skills that apply to different games so as to acquire physical competence. We
want active children and developing these skills keeps the children active”.

The teacher’s part

The role of the teacher in all this is to provide support. “What
this programme aims to do is provide capacity for the children and one way by
which we can do that is through the help of the teacher and that is why we have
decided to train them first”, said Bello. Explaining further, Thorp said, “The
work of the teacher is to provide support, you could watch the children
playing, encourage them at play, evaluate their performance, ask them why they
did something the way they did it and ask them what they can do to improve.

“You also want to look at the ability and capability of each
child and adapt the games to suit each child. That way every child gets
involved without feeling left out.”

A profitable venture

A three day training programme held in November was the second
in the programme to train teachers and coaches of little children. Some of the
participants, who came for the first instalment held in June, spoke glowingly
of how the training translated into an interesting Physical Education (PE) time
with the children in their respective schools.

Christiana Okunade, a Physical and health education teacher with
the Federal Government College, Ijanikin, Lagos expressed delight at being
nominated. “In fact, this experience has been an eye opener. I never knew that
teaching Physical Education to children could be this interesting. The children
are so enthusiastic and that in itself is very encouraging to me the teacher.
They pick what I am telling them faster and it has taken PE from the realm of
the classroom, into the field. Now we are eager to try out all the things we have
learnt.”

Another of the tutors, Clement Dennis, who coaches children in
rugby, shares his experience, “The TOPS cards are very helpful for teaching the
children. They are more interested in the activities going on in the field and
are more willing to participate. Recently, they even organized some games
amongst themselves and one could see how well coordinated they were”.

He, in conjunction with Chinasa Ukandu, president of Youth Sport
Initiative, an organisation that works with less privileged children, hope to
also pass on this knowledge to others coaches and PE teachers of children who
were not as privileged as they were to be involved in the initial project.

Kabir Shehu from Government Girls College, Dala, Kano had this
to say, “I teach in a girls school and the girls are not usually interested in
sports. After my training programme however, the story changed. They are now
unusually very enthusiastic and are not afraid to give me suggestion on how we
can improve.

When I got back home, I began to teach them techniques in rugby
and you know that before this time they had never heard of the game but you
know because of the approach they were fascinated and started bringing their
friends. I learn from them every day. Presently, these girls are trying to organize
a sport festival within the school and you should see how excited they all are.
All these happened because we changed our techniques of teaching sports to
them.”

Another teacher, Aliyu Ahmed from, Government Secondary School,
Dambata, Kano, also shared his experience. “Before now, when we call the
children for physical training, we do not get a lot of them. But after the
first training exercise we had, I took back the materials for training and I
started teaching them with it. I later gave them some of the cards to take to
their hostels to be used to practice the things that were learnt. Do you know
that in the next week? More of the children joined us. Now I have over a
hundred children doing physical training.

We now even have a club, the International Inspiration Club and
I have already seen three students who can be trained to become young sport
leaders in my school”.

Moulding leaders through
sports

Young Sport Leaders’ are youths aged between 14 and 18, who have
learnt leadership skills through sports. “One of the aims of the UK is to
create Leaders through sports and this is being gradually achieved. The
children are allowed to be innovative and in the process, they build their
confidence”, says Bello. The Young Sport Leaders would be taught officiating
skills and would be volunteers at the London 2012 Olympics.

International Inspiration is a project that is delivered by the
British Council, UK sport and UNICEF. The project has so far been able to reach
about 5.3 million children in 14 countries. They just came into Nigeria in May
this year and they hope to see at least 36 teachers trained before the end of
the year.

Champion
Serena Williams has withdrawn from January’s Australian Open as she
struggles to recover from a foot injury which has sidelined her since
July.

“As I continue to
rehabilitate my foot after the second surgery last month, it is with
the utmost regret that I am withdrawing from the Hopman Cup and the
2011 Australian Open Championships,” the winner of 13 Grand Slam
singles titles was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the
organisers.

Serena has not
played competitively since beating Vera Zvonareva to win Wimbledon in
early July and has been forced to undergo a second surgery on the foot
she hurt by standing on broken glass at a restaurant.

“As I recently
learned, pushing myself back into my intense training too early only
caused me further injury and damage,” the American said.

“While I
desperately want to be back on the court and competing in the first
Grand Slam tournament of the year, it is imperative for my health that
I continue to work with my doctors to ensure my foot heals properly.”
Australian Open organisers said the player had been in regular contact
with them and tournament director Craig Tiley wished her a speedy
recovery.

“I know how
disappointing it will be for Serena that she’s unable to come back and
defend her title at Australian Open 2011. We all know how much she
enjoys playing here, and how much she loves her Aussie fans,” Tiley
said.

“Serena is a great champion and we will miss her in January. We send
her our very best wishes for a speedy recovery and look forward to
welcoming her back to Australia soon.”

Mumini Alao needs no introduction in the sports world. What
however needs to be added here is that he is a very diligent, hardworking,
balanced, productive and positive sport journalist and a great Nigerian who has
used his talent and skills to help in the re-engineering of this country on the
platform of sport.

Today I salute this great pal of mine especially for producing
the impetus for my column this week.

In a crises fatigued sports milieu or indeed football world in
Nigeria, Mumini still got his thoughts together to meticulously dissect and
provide dispassionate views on the many plagues afflicting our football when
others,even yours truly have become battle weary. So I sought his permission to
stretch in some cases, re-emphasize in some others and also encrypt my personal
views on most of the issues raised in his COMPLETE SPORTS Wednesday, November
24, 2010 column, Soccer Talk.

Waking up from the lull of EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and
UEFA Champion’s League (depending on which is your opium) Mumini Alao addressed
the following issues:

Amos Adamu vs. FIFA

This will stand as one of the most unfortunate incidents in
Nigeria’s sport history no matter how it ends up. It all started as some bad
joke or April fool stunt then it came on strongly via repeated broadcasts on
Sky News. As we all saw, the enigmatic Amos Adamu, CAF and FIFA Executive,
President WAFU and the most dominant personality in Nigeria’s sport in two
decades had ignited a worrisome matter on a global level that threatened and
may have in fact consumed his massive profile and caused this country quite a
huge dose of embarrassment.

Nigerians debated this issue greatly in low and high places.
Opinions are various and quite a very low percentage gave Amos Adamu any
sympathy. Most people opined that it served him right. Mumini alludes to the
huge investment of public funds in raising Adamu to the leadership of CAF that
may have been wasted by his disgraceful ouster. That I may agree with but the
other element of Mumini’s which is very correct I shall quote here…
‘‘However, it can also be argued that Adamu’s continued membership of FIFA or
his ultimate Presidency of CAF may not have been of any special benefit to
Nigeria beyond the individual himself.

Adamu was not in CAF and FIFA when Nigeria achieved its golden
era between 1990 and 1996. But we have had little to show in terms of
achievement within the last decade when Adamu and other Nigerians have become
prominent in CAF Committees”.

It could not have been better put. Mumini is spot on but I have
to add that we also have come forth with a record of sport event hosting during
Adamu’s tenure without ever declaring profit. Ghostly events like the World
U-20 football tournament (Nigeria ‘99), CAN 2000 – the African Cup of Nations
jointly hosted with Ghana, The All-African Games in Abuja curiously christened
Coja 2003, the World U-17 soccer tournament in 2009. All these years we were a
spending nation in sports particularly football and the final pay-off is a
colossal disgrace for Adamu and Nigeria. People I suspect were wary of Adamu’s
humongous wealth, the display of which may have scared Issa Hayatou and his
coterie of French delegates in CAF to halt the man. Unfortunately, Adamu walked
into the trap.

Someone needs to convince me that Adamu was not set-up. However,
he must blame himself for being somewhat naive. I am no fan of Adamu and I
think that is public knowledge but I feel a little sorry for him but he
certainly walked into it. He should lick his wounds, step aside for 3 years,
re-work his strategy and show to all he actually has something to offer sports
beyond confiscating government power and resources to his own advantage only.
The Japanese have an adage that the samurai lives on and it’s very true of Amos
Adamu because he planted his people everywhere in sports, so his influence
remains. Everyone, especially concerned with football is unable to act or do
anything direct because of the fear of Amos Adamu even in football exile.

The man once called Mr. Fix-it certainly was everything in
sports in Nigeria. You are either with him or with ‘‘them” and if you are with
‘‘them” he fixed you.

His spin doctors may say or preach otherwise but for Amos Adamu
this is a crash from his Olympian height in sports which humility, good
strategy can only help him live down. So long for the man, Amos Adamu, whose
controversial and tempestuous career in sport appears to have hit the rock
finally. Perhaps there is a moral here for all. We learn every day.

Lulu & Co. vs.
Maigari

This is playing out like a promo for a new movie showing
tomorrow, next week at the Galleria! Sani Lulu and company have gone to the
Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to seek redress for wrongful impeachment.
Theirs is a tale of betrayal and subterfuge, massive intrigues that has left
Nigeria’s football prostrate.

The debilitating effects of their self-serving and murderous
management of our football are still being felt.

I imagine because the EFCC for whatever reason is treating Lulu
and his cohorts with kid gloves that is why they can muster the courage to
pursue their ‘right’ at CAS. For people who have been most inequitable in the
doctoring of NFF statutes in their favour, Lulu and his ilk must consider
themselves lucky to still be breathing the air of freedom. I am awaiting the
pronouncement from CAS. Justice will be done, natural and judicial.

Segun Odegbami vs.
NFF/FIFA

I have had the privilege of seeing the brief of arguments of
Segun Odegbami MON or simply ‘Big Seg’ as we fondly call him and I can assure
you that FIFA is in for another serious embarrassment. The extremely corrupt
and meddlesome involvement of FIFA in Nigeria’s football in recent years will
show greatly when CAS rules in favour of ‘Big Seg’. Yes, guilty of abandoning
battles in the past, but more than ever before the man is resolute to see this
to the end because the final result will help shape the future of Nigeria’s
football greatly. And this is about what is right, not just about Segun
Odegbami.

I sign-off saying thank you to Mumini Alao for permitting me to
use this very informed views as basis for my column this week.

Samson
Siasia is coach or better still manager of the Super Eagles from
December 1 till the end of the 2014 World Cup. That must be great news
to a many people interested in Nigerian football. This must be the
first time a coach is appointed to handle the national team with such
overwhelming approval from stakeholders and sundry. As his job starts,
I shall open with specific injunctions to the new coach.

But first let me
re-paint a background for the position I intend to establish herein.
Nigerian coaches after the era of Dan Anyiam, Eto Amechima and Alabi
Assien have been known to operate with huge doses of sentiments and
petty biases. Save for Adegboyega Onigbinde, coaches in Nigeria’s
football in the last thirty years have had problems keeping discipline
in their teams and several reasons have been advanced for this. Some
coaches have come against untrustworthy club owners, unscrupulous club
officials, overrated and phenomenally indisciplined players. Others
have been their own Achilles heels, collecting small monies as
“settlement” for signing and fielding very ordinary players. Despite
these, quite a lot of Nigerian coaches have the knowledge and
competence to run clubs and teams.

What spills out of
all these is that the Nigerian coach has not convinced me and a few
others that they are good enough to take our football to the top. In my
opinion, the Nigerian coach has not displayed the managerial savvy to
deliver the Super Eagles’ team of our dream, in spite of the victories
at youth football level. The pages of history also tell us that Nigeria
has not won anything significant, at least by Super Eagles, without an
expatriate coach. That is why I have always voted for a foreign coach,
not the Berti Vogts type though.

To Siasia

Having said all that, now that Siasia has been anointed by Nigerians I have these to say to him:

First, give us a
fit and proper fighting machine called the Super Eagles, not an amalgam
of Siasia boys. A competition ready team should be in place in eighteen
months if you draw on all of Nigeria’s best players wherever they are
without undue influence and pressure from phoney scouts, crooked NFF
officials, or indeed the press. As you know, some of our footballers
play their football on the pages of our newspapers. Do not be
associated with any cabal or player mafia who work towards the
exclusion of some players thereby keeping some of the best out.

Flowing from the
first point, please do not make the Super Eagles camp a rehabilitation
centre or a geriatric home. You have been long enough in Nigeria’s
football to know that a player who was third choice keeper for NITEL FC
(Defunct) in 2003 cannot possibly be U-17 in 2007 and you, Samson, were
guilty of age-bending when you used the same player at the 2009 U-20
tournament in Egypt. Granddads like that, who have given their best to
age-limited competitions, are largely contributory to the poor shape of
the Super Eagles particularly in the last twenty years.

Thirdly, request a
scouting team not the Technical Committee to be financed by the NFF to
comb league venues and recommend players for you to see because you
cannot possibly visit all league venues. Yes, England’s Fabio Capello
is caught on TV visiting EPL venues but transport and communication
networks in Nigeria are not comparable to the United Kingdom.

That is why you
need a scouting team of men of integrity, character and purpose,
committed to report back to you before you set out on confirmatory
trips.

Furthermore, your
programme must be structured with milestones, timelines and beacons of
progress, as well as review dates for you to personally audit your
performance.

I know your
assistant, Simon Kalika, too after I led you and your U-20 team to the
Aspire Academy in Doha for training last year. Pull-up your sleeves
now, do less talking and let us see you return the faith placed on you
by the Nigerian football family.

All of this is interesting because as a Super Eagles player, you
were headstrong and somewhat deviant. Your siding with Stephen Keshi
Emeka Ezengo in the revolt against Clemens Westerhof in World Cup ‘94
(USA) makes your new job that of a rebel in a leadership position. I do
wish you the very best and assure you of my support when you do need it
but be certain that when you falter I shall holla! Good luck Samson.

Former Super Eagles defender and a member of the team of Atlanta
1996 Olympics football team, Kingsley Obiekwu, has expressed confidence in the
ability the new Super Eagles Coach, Samson Siasia, to perform well at the task
of revamping the national team.

Responding to media personnel at the National Stadium, Obiekwu
said: “He (Siasia) has played in Nigeria and Europe and he knows what it takes
to be a good coach. He has paid his dues with the junior teams and I think now
is the time to allow the indigenous coaches to do what they know how to do.”

Obiekwu also advised the new coach to use scouts to source for
players. “There are very many good Nigerian players here and abroad that can
still play for the national team,” he said. “What Siasia needs to do is to just
scout for them. Since he cannot be everywhere at the same time, I will advice
he receives recommendation from people like ex- internationals and former
colleagues. However, picking who to field for his team should be his final
decision.”

Speaking also on the pitfalls he must avoid to have a successful tenure,
Obiekwu who says he trusts in the instinct of Siasia said, “I know he is a very
determined man and I know he would stand his ground,” he said. “He should not
allow the Nigeria Football Federation to toss him about. They have a way of
interfering that is not healthy. The best way to inculcate discipline to show
it and that is what Siasia should do.”

Six
teams have already confirmed their places in the last eight of ongoing
the C. Woermann Youth Football Championship, holding at the Astroturf
of the National Stadium, Lagos.

Last year’s
runners-up, Wincor Nixdorf FC, were the first team to book a place in
the quarter finals with a 1-0 victory over BPW FC yesterday after
topping group A with seven points. Big FC of Port Harcourt also made it
to the last eight after defeating Deutz FC 2-0, while Lorry Brand FC
made it to the quarter finals courtesy of two late goals against
Hanchang FC of Enugu. Another side that cruised into the last eight was
Mahle FC, who did so by beating Sthile FC of Owerri 2-0, as well as
C.Woermann FC.

Commenting on the tournament, former Super Eagles defender, Kingsley
Obiekwu, who is the coach of C.Woermann FC, said that the tournament is
serving as a platform for players in the grassroots to express and
expose their hidden talents. “Tournaments like these are really helping
to discover talents in the country,” he said. “The Most Valuable Player
at the 2009 edition, Ugonna Anyaora, now plays for FK Haungsund in
Norway. If the Nigeria Football Federation encourage championships like
these, by giving the organisers the desired backing, then we will fish
out good talents that will one day play for the national team.”
Obiekwu, who was a member of the Nigerian team that won a historic gold
medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, however expressed
disappointment with the performance of his club, C. Woerman FC.
However, he expressed optimism that his side will make it into the semi
finals.

Cross
River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, will flag off the 6th edition of the
Obudu International Mountain Race coming up this Saturday at the Obudu
Ranch Resort.

William Archibong,
the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, stated that the
governor has accepted to once again flag off this year’s race, which
will witness the staging of the second edition of the African Nations
Mountain Running Championships for both men and women.

“He will be
assisted by Bruno Gozzelino, the President of the World Mountain
Running Association, who has confirmed he will be here for the race,”
he said. Top stars, including the defending men and women champions,
Ethiopia’s Habtamu Fikadu Awash (men) and Mamitu Daskaas (women), as
well as three former champions led by reigning world champion, Andrea
Mayr of Austria, have all arrived for the race.

So much to win

Meanwhile, the
total prize money for this year’s race, according to Archibong, has
been increased by over $35,000 following the introduction of the
women’s version of the African Nations Mountain Running Championships.
The total prize money has gone up from $245,500 to $278,000. The prize
money for the first to the 10th position for this year’s race remains
the same, with the winners in each gender category going home with
$50,000 each, while $20,000 and $9,000 respectively will go to the
second and third placed finishers. The African Championship draws a
prize money of $15,000 for first team position, $10,000 for second and
$7,500 for third team position for both men and women.

The prize monies
for best Nigerian finishers in both gender categories, as well as the
respective winners of the men’s and women’s Media Race are also
unchanged with the top three finishers going home with $2,000, $1,500
and $1,000 respectively. Also unchanged are that for the Children’s
Race, where a total of N590,000 will be shared among the top 10
finishers with the top three in the boys and girls categories carting
home N100,000, N80,000 and N50,000 respectively.

The Friends of Rugby, a group that promotes the sport, have concluded plans to host a school rugby tournament.

The tournament, to
be known as the Mike Ukome 12-A-Side Schools Rugby Tournament, is
scheduled to hold this Saturday at Saint Saviours School, Ikoyi, Lagos,
from 12 noon through to 6pm. Seven schools will be participating in the
tourney: St. Saviours School, Children International School, Corona
School and Toyibat. Others teams which will participate in the one day
event, which will herald the main 7’s Schools Tournament coming up
early next year, are Dowen College, British International School and
Addax Colt.

“We have decided to
return to the basics, which we started some 12 years ago by hosting a
schools rugby tournament,” said Ntiense Williams, the Secretary of the
group. “You will remember that there was Vitamalt Schools Rugby Program
which heralded Schools Rugby in Nigeria, and then came the Emeka Ukome
Annual Schools Tournament, which ran for almost five years
uninterrupted. According to him, in the last two years, nothing has
been heard about the Emeka Ukome Tourney, so the group decided to
revive it under a new name, Mike Ukome, so as to “give the school
children some rugby to enjoy and start getting involved in the
beautiful game of rugby at a tender age.”

According to the coordinator of the schools program, Emeka Ukome: “I
am very thankful to FOR and in particular Kelechi Mbagwu with his hard
working team for giving back hope to schools rugby, especially the Mike
Ukome Cup,” he said. He then went ahead to explain the format which the
tournament would take. “The event will be a 12-A-Side rugby tournament
for four categories of boys and girls namely, Under-12’s, Under-14’s,
Under-16’s & the Girls events,” he said.

The
Nigeria Premier League (NPL) have made known their intention to
organise a championship involving the youth sides of all the teams
taking part in this season’s Premier League championship.

Prior to the start
of the 2010/2011 season, the NPL made it mandatory for all the 20 teams
taking part in this season’s championship to register a youth team made
up of players under the age of 18. Plans are now underway by the NPL to
have these youth teams compete against one another in its bid to
develop youth football amongst the 20 clubs taking part in this
season’s top-flight. Spokesman for the NPL, Emeka Nwani, said that the
move is to ensure that the feeder teams of the 20 clubs are also
actively involved in playing the game rather than taking the back seat.
According to Nwani, the competition will take a format that will see
the various teams grouped into six zones as the NPL wants to take into
cognizance the fact that a league system will be financially too
demanding on the clubs.

20 teams, six zones

“The NPL will soon
organise a competition for the feeder teams of the 20 clubs taking part
in this season’s Premier League,” said Nwani. “Remember that the NPL
told all the clubs before the start of this season to ensure that they
set up their feeder teams with the age limit of players not more than
17 years. So in order to make sure that these feeder teams, or youth
teams as you will like to call them, are not just there for the sake of
being back-ups for the senior teams, the NPL has decided to start a
competition for them very soon. The competition will be in a zonal
format. This format we believe will be good for the clubs for the time
being.”

Nwani further revealed that the champions of the six zones are
expected to converge at a yet to be determined venue to feature in a
playoff that will determine the winner of the youth cup. The NPL media
man also took time to warn clubs of the grave consequence of fielding
players that are older than the stipulated 17 years during the proposed
competition. “The NPL will not condone a situation where clubs field
players that are older than 17 years. Once we discover that, I can
assure you that appropriate sanctions will be meted out to such a club
or clubs,” said Nwani.