Nigeria Content Online

Damola
Osayomi may be handed a six months ban if the recommendation of the
doping committee of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) is
ratified by the world athletics body (IAAF).

Sunday Bada, the
Technical Director of the AFN, stated that the committee has finished
its deliberation and have forwarded their decision to the IAAF. “The
AFN doping committee have met and have made appropriate
recommendations,” he said. “For Osayomi, her case is a mild one because
it is a case of stimulant and the punishment ranges from a warning to
six months or one year ban.” Osayomi was stripped of her gold medal in
the 100 metres event of the last Commonwealth Games in New Delhi,
India, after testing positive to a banned substance methylhexaneamine,
which was only recently added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s
prohibited list.

Aside Osayomi,
another Nigerian, Gabriel Okon, also tested positive to the same drug
and would most likely serve out the same length of ban as Osayemi.
However, Folsahade Abugan, who was caught over the use of steroids at
the same Games will face a lengthier ban. “Her case is different as she
was caught for using steroids,” said Bada. “She would have to serve out
the maximum ban, which is between two and four years because that is
what the rule says.” Abugan who is a former world junior 400 metres
champion had tested positive for a steroid and waived her right to have
her “B” sample tested at the Commonwealth Games. Her silver medal in
the 400 metres event as well as the other silver medal she won as part
of the Nigerian quartet in the 4×400 metres event were subsequently
taken away from.

Preventive measures

Meanwhile, the
National Sports Commission (NSC) Chairman, Ibrahim Bio, has stated that
stringent measures will soon be put in place to curb a re-occurrence of
drug related issues in the country’s sports circles. Bio said the
measures included the setting up of committees and agencies, as well as
fashioning out disciplinary and enforcement plans against offending
athletes, coaches and officials. “In order to forestall a repeat of the
incidence at future global events, the NSC is proposing a number of
measures or steps which, if implemented, will go a long way to keep our
athletes drugs-free under strict supervision,” he said.

He said the NSC was setting up a national anti-doping committee to
co-ordinate all anti-doping activities in the country, in line with the
World Anti-Doping Agency codes and regulations. “Any athlete who
henceforth tests positive for drugs use will, in addition to the
sanctions from the federation, be made to face disciplinary and
punitive actions which will serve as a deterrent to others,” he said.

After
displacing the number one seed, Sunday Emmanuel, in the first round of
the ongoing Dala Hard court tennis tourney in Kano State, Nonso
Madueke, have secured a slot in the quarter finals of the event after
defeatind Ganiyu Salami in two sets, 6,3, 6,4 in one of yesterday’s
round two games.

Madueke will now
square up with Lawal Shehu who ousted Monday Igbinovia 6, 4, 6, 2 in
the today’s first quarter final match. Mohammed Ubale, National junior
tennis coach, described the upset recorded by Madueke as a welcome
development as it has put the other top players on their toes. “It is
always good to have upsets like this in tournaments, it makes the event
more interesting instead of seeing the same people winning and winning
always,” he said.

Others that have
also secured places in the quarter finals include the tournament’s
number two seed Candy Idoko, Kehinde Alade, Henry Atseye, Destiny
Da-Silva and Cliford Enosoregbe In the female category, there was
another upset as Biola Akewula beat Nosa Esorea 6,4, 6,3 to zoom into
Semi final while the number 1 seed Fatima Abinu thrash Aminat Quadri
6,2 6.1 to also a book her place in the last four.

The winner of the men single’s event will get N500,000 while the Ladies will get N250, 000 for their efforts.

Andy
Roddick’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour
Finals were hanging by a thread, on Wednesday, as the American was
beaten 7-5 6-3 by revived Czech Tomas Berdych at the O2 Arena.

A second
consecutive defeat for Roddick, after his three-set thriller against
Rafael Nadal, on Monday, means he could be eliminated if Novak Djokovic
beats world number one Rafael Nadal in the later Group A match.
Wimbledon runner-up, Berdych, who was disappointing against Djokovic,
on Monday, saved two set points at 4-5 in the first set and that proved
to be a pivotal moment as the confidence that has been missing of late
came flooding back. He earned his first break point on the Roddick
serve in the following game and converted it in ruthless fashion when
he smacked a 110mph second serve straight back past his motionless
opponent with a rasping forehand.

Berdych held serve to move a set ahead, and Roddick was left
smashing his racket in frustration when he dropped serve again at 2-2
in the second – missing the sideline by a fraction with a smash after a
superb defensive lob by Berdych. World number eight, Roddick, never
regained his composure and serving at 3-5 he pulled a limp forehand
into the net on match point down to hand tournament debutant Berdych,
who had managed just eight wins since losing to Nadal in the Wimbledon
final in July, a morale-boosting victory.

Nigeria’s Super Falcons will come up against their German counterparts later today in an international friendly.

The Germans are the
reigning world champions, while the Super Falcons are the reigning
champions of Africa. The match, billed for the German city of
Leverkusen, is the first game to be prosecuted by the Super Falcons
since their successful campaign at the African Women’s Championship in
South Africa, and serves as part of their build-up towards next year’s
FIFA World Cup taking place in Germany.

Nigeria’s contingent of 18
players and eight officials earlier in the week departed for Germany
well aware that they have always lost anytime they came up against the
Germans, who will be aiming for an unprecedented third successive world
title next year. The very first game between both sides at senior level
took place back in 1991 at the FIFA World Cup in China, with the Super
Falcons suffering an embarrassing 4-0 defeat at the hands of the
Europeans in a group stage encounter decided in Jiangmen.

Players in 1991 now coaches in 2010

Current Super
Falcons coach, Eucharia Uche, and her assistant, Ann Agumanu, were both
in that Super Falcons squad; while current Germany coach, Silvia Neid,
was a midfielder in the German team and grabbed the game’s opening
goal. It took another 12 years before both sides were to meet again;
this time in a friendly match decided in the German city of Trier,
which served as a build-up game for both sides ahead of the 2003 FIFA
Women’s World Cup in the United States. And as was the case in 1991,
the Germans triumphed by three goals to nil. A year later, both sides
met in yet another friendly decided in Germany, this time around in
Offenbach, with the Germans triumphing 3-1. Nigeria’s only goal of that
game was scored in the 86th minute by Ajuma Ameh, but it served only as
a consolatory goal as the Germans went on to re-establish their
two-goal advantage three minutes later through Steffi Jones.

A month later, the
Germans came up against the Super Falcons in the women’s football event
of the Athens 2004 Olympics. And this time around, after a goalless
first half, it was the Nigerians who shot into the lead five minutes
after the restart through Mercy Akide only for Steffi Jones to restore
parity in the 66th minute, before substitute Conny Pohlers grabbed the
winning goal nine minutes from time. Both sides also met again at the
2008 Olympics in Beijing and, yet again, it was the Germans who
triumphed but this time by a lone goal scored in the 65th minute by
Kerstin Stegemann who made 191 appearances for the Germans.

The only player who has accumulated more caps than Stegemann is
Birgit Prinz, who has made 207 appearances with the last of them
arriving in last month’s 2-1 win over Australia. The 33-year-old
three-time women’s World Footballer of the Year, who on Tuesday made
known her plans to retire from football after next year’s World Cup, is
also the record goalscorer for Germany with 126 goals.

Her last goal,
however, arrived in February in Germany’s 4-0 drubbing of Denmark at
the Algarve Cup in Portugal where she grabbed her side’s second goal.
Inka Grings, who grabbed Germany’s equalizer in last month’s win over
Australia, scored twice against the Danes at the Algarve Cup and the
32-year-old has an impressive record of 59 goals in 86 appearances for
the Frauen Nationalmannschaft.

An
increase in the number of goals scored was witnessed on Day 2 of the C.
Woerman Youth Football Championship, organized by the Association of
Grassroots Football Developers of Nigeria in Lagos.

Before the start of
the third match, spectators had been complaining about the inability of
teams to score more than one goal, which was the norm last year. But
the spectators were pleasantly surprised as team Masalta from Sokoto
and team Eclipse from Lagos brought on an avalanche of goals in their
match. The game ended 4-2 in favour of Masalta. Eclipse was the first
team to score in the seventh minute by Ifeanyi Sunday and it was from a
free kick from just outside the box.

Unbeatable performance

The team from
Sokoto, however, equalized five minutes later. A cross from Richard
Peters was picked by man of the match, Friday Michael, who wasted no
time putting the ball into the net. Masalta’s second goal followed in
swift succession with Peters also providing the cross to Michael. In a
bid to regroup, Eclipse made another mistake that caused them to
concede a third goal. A foul on Michael in the 18 yard box, saw the
referee awarding a penalty to Masalta and Michael scored to put the
Sokoto team 3-1 up. Eclipse got a consolation goal in the 35th minute
when skipper of the team Nuru Taofeek was felled in the penalty area.
But five minutes later, Goddy Michael added the fourth goal to seal
victory for Masalta.

There were no goals
in the second half but both teams tried all within their capacity to
score more goals but it was not possible.

Coach of Masalta,
Umar Suleiman expressed happiness at being able to win the game. “When
we came last year, we were trashed right from the start,” he said. “In
the first match we played then, we were beaten 5-1 but I am happy that
this time we were able to hold our own. This match was difficult but we
did our best and I hope that we would continue to do our best in
subsequent matches.”

In other matches decided on Sunday, Wincor Nixdorf beat Bosch 1-0,
while Hangchan had the upper hand over Jost with a 1-0 victory. The
game between BPW and Record ended in a goal-less draw, while defending
Champions C. Woerman were beaten by Lorry Brand 1-0. Speaking on the
defeat, coach of C. Woerman, attributed the loss to a number of
reasons. “After we won last year, a number of the players moved away to
other clubs. This is what we are hoping for. Presently, some of the
players are playing in the League, there is even one playing in Europe
presently. And right now we are trying to build up the club again.” In
matches fixed for today, Record face Bosch, Jost will tackle defending
champions, C. Woerman while Hangchan face Lorry Brand. Other matches to
be played include Deutz against BIG and Mahle versus Stihl.

Chelsea’s
midfielder, John Obi Mikel, on Monday, admitted that the entire Chelsea
squad are traumatized by the club’s recent slump.

Chelsea suffered a
shock 1-0 loss to Birmingham City last Saturday at Saint Andrew’s to
record their second league defeat on the trot. It was also their third
defeat in their last four league games but they remain top of the
English Premier League table but only on goal difference from
Manchester United.

The slump is
Chelsea’s worst since losing three in a row under another Italian
manager, Claudio Ranieri, back in the 2002/2003 season. Chelsea have
lost a five-point lead they had at the start of November. “We’re all
just shocked,” said the midfielder, in a report carried by the London
Evening Standard. “Last week we lost not playing well against
Sunderland but this week we played well and created a lot of chances.
We are all really, really devastated, we are all really sad about the
Birmingham game. We know how well we controlled the game but that’s
football.” Last Saturday’s loss was Chelsea’s first to Birmingham in 30
years. However, they had much better control of the game and carved
their opponents open over and over again but their profligacy in front
of goal, as well as some inspired goalkeeping from Ben Forster, meant
they were unable to cancel out Lee Bowyer’s 17th minute goal. “They had
one chance and it wasn’t even a chance – it was just a long ball and a
knockdown,” said Mikel. “It’s just crazy and we don’t know what to say
about it.”

Ancelotti to remain in charge

Chelsea’s recent
poor form gave rise to speculation surrounding the future of the club’s
manager, but Ancelotti, on Monday, came out to quash the rumours saying
he had no intention of quitting the London based outfit. The media in
England widely reported that the 51-year-old Italian was on the verge
of leaving the league champions, but Ancelotti emphatically denied
having any such intention. “These rumours are totally untrue,” he said
at a press conference ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League match against
Zilina. “I don’t know why these rumours came out today in the papers. I
have a contract here until 2012, I would like to stay here, I love this
club and these players, and I have a lot of confidence in the squad.
Obviously I am under pressure because at a team like Chelsea we want to
win every game, but I am focused on (getting) my team to play better
than we are doing at this moment.”

The
local organising committee of the 2010 Obudu Mountain Race have
re-affirmed their determination to host another successful event come
this Saturday when the 6th edition comes up at the Obudu Ranch Resort
in Cross River State.

A total of 207
athletes have been confirmed for the event, 131 of these are Nigerians,
while 76 are foreigners. The foreign contingent consists of athletes
from Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Colombia, Austria, Israel,
Egypt and others are also in for the 3-in-1 race which is the highest
paying in the world. William Archibong, the Chairman of the Local
Organising Committee (LOC) for the race, said in Calabar on Monday,
that all the logistics for a hitch-free competition have been put in
place and that the state governor, Liyel Imoke is pulling out all the
stops to make this year’s edition the best ever. “All logistics has
been taken care of by the LOC for the race,” he said. “His Excellency,
Governor Imoke is happy with the progress we have made both in the
technical organisation of the race and the travel and accommodation of
all participants. The experience we have garnered since the inaugural
edition was held six years ago has come in handy.”

Attracting the best runners

Archibong also said
he is delighted that this year’s race has attracted the best mountain
runners in the world; a proof that the organisers have scored high
marks in the technical organisation of the event. “I am happy that we
will be having a world class cast storm Obudu this Saturday to compete
for the title and cash on offer,” he said. “This is a confirmation that
the organisation of the race has been world class.” Archibong’s
sentiments was also shared by Patrick Ugbe, the Chief Press Secretary
to Cross River State governor, who believes the interest shown and
support given by the governor has been the driving force behind the
successes recorded over the years by the LOC.

“Without doubt the tremendous backing we have received from His
Excellency has galvanised us into organising what the president of
world mountain running association, Bruno Gozzelino, has called a
perfect race so far,” he said. “We can only get better and want to
assure Nigerians that we shall continue to project Nigeria in positive
light to the rest of the world through perfect organisation of the
annual Obudu International Mountain Race.”

Team
Manager of Dolphins FC, Stanley Eguma, has come out to state that the
outcome of last weekend’s Port Harcourt derby between his side and
Sharks FC was not premeditated.

The encounter,
which ended 1-0 in favour of Sharks, was the most eagerly anticipated
game of the last round of matches of the Nigerian Premier League, and
was beamed live by sports channel SuperSport. In the first half of the
game played at the Sharks Stadium, both sides made a contest of it,
much to the delight of spectators at the venue, and appeared evenly
matched. The second half was however a different kettle of fish as
players of both sides, particularly those of Dolphins, literally went
to sleep right after Sharks shot into the lead shortly after the hour
mark through veteran forward Victor Ezeji.

Dolphins were more
than content to maintain the score line as it stood and this wasn’t
helped in any way when television cameras caught the team’s goalkeeper
Sunday Rotimi with a broad grin on his face, toying around with the
ball inside his penalty area. Eguma, however, insists that there was no
prior agreement between the two clubs jointly owned by the Rivers State
government. The Dolphins boss, who expressed disappointment with the
outcome of the game – his side’s first loss of the season – explained
that his players, for no apparent reason, fizzled out in the second
half. “We played very well and gave our all but in the second half my
boys fizzled out and that is where my disappointment comes from,” he
said. “It is a game we should have won but in football you win some and
lose some. If you watched the game, you would have seen the effort my
boys put in to score, especially in the first half. Maybe that was why
they ran out of gas towards the end of the game. This was a big match
watched all over Africa and the star match of the league and I wonder
how you can fix a game like that. It was a bad day at the office for my
boys and I will advise we stop these entire match fixing allegations.”

When the axe falls

Not only did the
defeat at the hands of Sharks end Dolphins’ perfect start to the
2010/2011 season, a start that has seen them winning all their games so
far and not letting in a goal, it also served as their first loss in
the league to their bitter city rivals in seven years. It was also the
first win of the season for a Sharks side which subsequently dragged
themselves away from the relegation zone. Last season, both sides were
involved in a controversial fixture that ended in a draw albeit only
after Dolphins’ goalkeeper Rotimi had saved a penalty awarded under
controversial circumstances deep into stoppage time in the second half.
The result, which was unfavourable to Sharks, as they were neck-deep in
relegation trouble back then, allegedly led to a slash in the salaries
and sign-on fees of three Dolphins players.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Nigeria Premier League, Davidson Owumi,
said that the league body will wait to receive the official report of
the Port Harcourt derby before deciding on what step to take. “We do
not want to see anything that will damage the integrity of the league,”
he said. “We are waiting for the official match report, and if it
indicates that there was any sign of foul play, we will not hesitate to
take action. The board is doing its best to sanitise the league and
present a product that will stand up to the highest possible scrutiny,
and it is unacceptable for clubs to try to compromise the integrity of
this competition.”

Nigerian
athletes hoping to be part of the 13th World Championships in Athletics
slated for Daegu, Korea, between August 27 and September 4, 2011 will
have to step up their performances as the International Association of
Athletics Federations (IAAF) has raised the entry standards for some of
the events that would be competed for at the event.

Top on the list of
events that now has new entry standards is the 100m event for both men
and women. While, 10.21 seconds and 10.28 seconds were the A and B
standards set for the men’s 100m race at last year’s championships in
Berlin, athletes hoping to make the cut to next year’s event will have
to run a faster time of 10.18 and 10.25 seconds respectively. For the
women’s race, the entry standard was raised to 11.29 seconds (A) and
11.38 (B) from the previous 11.30 seconds (A) 11.40 (B) marks.

‘We will qualify’

Reacting to the
development, Oghene Egwero, who was one of the country’s
representatives at the last edition in Berlin, said the standards
though higher are attainable. “For me, making the standards in either A
or B categories is not the problem but getting there and making an
impact is my major concern,” he said. “Right now I am focusing myself
on how I can run under 10 seconds and have good season next year.”
Egwero did not make it beyond the semi final round at the Berlin
Championships. Similarly, despite being dropped like his other
colleagues from the team to the recent Commonwealth Games in India
owing to unimpressive times posted, one of the country’s top
quarter-milers, Godday James, is also confident of making the new mark
set by the athletics body. “That’s not much of a problem, I expect to
run a lot of sub 44.00second races this year” he boasted.

Past woes

The last time
Nigeria won a medal at the World Championship was the Seville 1999
where three medals were won: in the 4x100m men relay team, the men’s
200m and women’s 100m hurdles. Subsequent editions in Edmonton 2001,
Paris 2003, Helsinki 2005 and Osaka 2007 ended without medals. The
recent edition in Berlin was even worse as the Nigerian contingent did
not only fail to win medals but were rocked with doping scandals. Three
members of the team to Berlin were sent home for using the performance
enhancing drug, metholone. The athletes; sprinter Gloria Kemasuode,
shot putter Vivian Chukwuemeka, and 400m barrier runner Amaka
Ogoegbunam were promptly withdrawn from the team in accordance with
IAAF rules and they are currently serving various bans.

Roger Federer gave a cautious thumb up, on Sunday, to the ATP’s decision to shorten the men’s calendar by two weeks from 2012.

TP Chief, Adam
Helfant, announced at the season-ending World Tour Finals that a
seven-week off-season had been agreed to placate some of the world’s
leading players who believe the current schedule is too long. The Swiss
16-times grand slam champion was not one of the players calling for
more time off, but said he was happy enough with the decision taken at
a board meeting on Saturday. “I think it’s a good thing but time will
tell,” the 29-year-old said of the move, which will mean the ATP’s
season-ending showpiece will start in the first week of November in
2012, immediately after the Paris Masters. “It’s a decision taken. It’s
in stone now. I think it’s good to have somewhat of a bit of a longer
off season.” “Will we have less or more injuries because the calendar
is more packed? I don’t know. But I definitely think it’s a step in the
right direction.”

Athlete welfare

Andy Roddick and
Rafael Nadal have both called for more of an off-season, although
Federer said the current calendar had worked well for him.

“I was not the guy
fighting it as much as maybe other players because I feel if the
season’s long, you take more breaks during the season,” he said. “But I
think just having a bit more of an off-season makes more sense for
everybody.” Helfant, who took over in 2009 and has made athlete welfare
his priority, said the extra time off would allow players to recover
from injuries and compete at higher level for longer. “Our 2012 and
2013 calendars each provide for the seven-week off season, meaning that
players will have an additional two weeks to spend away from the rigors
of life on tour before taking up the cause again the following year,”
he said. The main bone of contention, and a possible headache for the
ATP, will be that there will be no gap between the end of the Paris
Masters and the Tour Finals, meaning the eight qualifiers might not be
known until a day before the showpiece event.

The new calendar will also mean certain tournaments have been
re-scheduled, although the amount of events will remain unchanged,
former Nike executive Helfant said. “Our players do not have adequate
time to rest, work on their fitness and work on their game during our
off season,” he said. “It is our responsibility as the governing body
of the tour to see if we can find a way to address this issue.” Helfant
said he had spoken to the International Tennis Federation about
changing the date of the Davis Cup final which is traditionally held
the week after the Tour Finals.