By Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus

Kwara Government said it had commenced the renovation of the indoor Sports Hall of the state stadium at the cost of N2.06 billion.

The Executive Chairman of the State Sports Commission, Bola Mogaji disclosed this while addressing newsmen on Wednesday in Ilorin.

He said that Gov. Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq was determined to bring the stadium back to its standard, adding that the renovation would be completed in 12 months.

He said that when completed, the stadium will accommodate about 25 different sports.

Mogaji said previous administrations in the state had neglected the indoor sports hall for long, leading to its bad condition.

“Due to lack of maintenance, some of our athletes were being attacked by reptiles,“he said.

The chairman said that when completed, it will become a centre of tourism as local and international tournaments would be held there.

Mogaji assured that both state and National Sports Festival would be held inside the sports hall after completion of the renovation works.

He said that the state government was committed to take the youths out of the streets and make them have social value and benefit.

“The target is not aimed at financial gains or rewards only, but to make the youth shun drug, thuggery and hooliganism and be more useful to the state and themselves,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the sports hall was constructed under the administration of retired Brig-Gen. Agbazika Innih in 1977. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Joseph Edeh

By Olanrewaju Akojede

The National Olympic Committee (NOC), says it obtained scholarships from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through its affiliate bodies, Olympic Solidarity and the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOCA).

The Public Relations Officer of NOC, Tony Nezianya, in a statement on Thursday in Lagos, disclosed that the scholarships were directly deposited into the athletes’ accounts.

He added that the selection process involved a complex but meticulous system that had evolved over the years by the Olympic Movement.

“The recommendations commence from the respective federations, continental and international federations.

“Athletes must meet specific criteria set out by awarding bodies to be considered eligible for the awards of scholarships.

“Once the awarding bodies process the funds, they, then, inform the National Olympic Committees about the athletes who will receive the scholarships.

“The NOCs, then, ensure that verified athletes’ accounts are provided for the funds to be dispatched,” he said.

Nezianya also said the athletes were expected to confirm receipt of their funds to both the NOCs and the awarding bodies.

“Deliberately spreading misinformation about such an important but complex matter without contacting the Custodians of the Olympic Movement in Nigeria shows a lack of knowledge and understanding of the movement.

“The NOC accredits all recommended athletes, who have met the minimum Olympic standards and qualifications to be in the Olympic Games and in this case, the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

“The Ministry of Sports Development pays the Athletes their dues and deserved allowances as and when due at Games times.

“Till date, there is no Nigerian athlete now or in the past known to the NOC that has ever complained about not being paid their Olympic Grant,” he said.

Nezianya added: “This is exactly what transpired in Ghana at the 13th African Games and the previous Games.

“We in the NOC are satisfied that the current Sports Minister, Sen. John Enoh, followed a transparent process in granting athletes and officials their allowances and winning bonuses.

“It is, therefore, disheartening to see esteemed organisations, promoting fake news, describing the NOC officials and those of the sports ministry as ‘incompetent’.

“This is a strong language easily associated with the ‘street’ media.

“In this modern era of journalism, there is no place for practices that aim at undermining a credible non-governmental organisation like the NOC through deliberate misinformation of the general public,” he concluded. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Vincent Obi

By Ijeoma Okigbo

Nigeria’s Super Falcons have qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

To qualify, the Super Falcons defeated the Bayana Bayana of South Africa 1-0 on aggregate in the two-legged encounter to seal qualification for the first time in 16 years.

The nine-time African champions had defeated their South African rivals 1-0 in the first leg at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium on Friday before settling for a goalless draw in the return leg in South Africa, on Tuesday.

The game played at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria saw both sides attempt very few scoring chances, but it was Nigeria’s defence and goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie who kept the hosts at bay.

Efforts by captain Thembi Kgatlana to open scoring for the hosts in the second half proved abortive as Nigeria’s wall stood tall to defend their aggregate lead on the day.

The result meant Nigeria secured the continent’s spot for the Olympics.

Meanwhile, Nigeria would be playing in Group C alongside World Cup champions Spain, Japan and Brazil in the Olympics scheduled to hold from July 26 to Aug. 11 in France. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Joseph Edeh

Edited by Abiemwense Moru

Bayer Leverkusen striker, Victor Boniface will be back in the squad for Wednesday’s German Cup semi-final against Fortuna Dusseldorf following a three-month injury absence, coach Xabi Alonso said on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Super Eagles forward underwent surgery on an adductor muscle injury in January after being injured while preparing with Nigeria for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote D’Ivoire.

“We are in a super situation. We have no injuries and a full squad. Boni (Boniface) is also back in the squad,” Alonso told a press conference, with the Bundesliga leaders in the hunt for three trophies this season.

Asked how long Boniface could play in the game, Alonso said: “Not 90 minutes. 45 maybe not. But maybe 30. He has done a good recovery and has trained well.

“He has a strong mentality to come back. He can’t wait to get back.”

Boniface had scored 10 goals and set up another seven in the Bundesliga before his injury.

Leverkusen are on course for a first ever Bundesliga title with a 13-point lead over second-placed Bayern Munich and seven games remaining.

They are also through to the Europa League quarter-finals having gone 39 matches unbeaten across all competitions this season.

“We have to take it one game at a time. That’s the way we have done it until now and we will not change that,” said the Spaniard, who confirmed last week he would be staying at Leverkusen despite interest from major European clubs.

“We have done a lot but have won nothing so far. We still have a lot of work to do. We have done a few things well to get here but we should not speak too early.”

“We have to remain focused and that is the message I give my players and they know it,” he said.

Saarbruecken face Kaiserslautern in the other semi-final on Tuesday. (Reuters/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Joseph Edeh

By Victor Nwachukwu

Nigeria’s Female fighting sensation Cpl Juliet Ukah of Police College, Ikeja, on Sunday night in Enugu defeated Eunice Akello of Uganda, to extend her unbeaten run in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ukah, who is the lead in the African Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) is fighting in Nigeria for the first time in her MMA career at the Enugu Mega Cage Fight.

The 26-year old came into the fight with an impressive record of 4-0-0 (i.e. four wins, no loss and no draw) and was looking to defeat her opponent, a police officer from Uganda, to better her MMA record.

She ensured it was a sweet victory for her on home soil as she overpowered her opponent and dominated the three-round encounter to emerge winner by a unanimous decision in the 66kg featherweight class bout.

The win for Ukah also known as “Golden Bone” ensured she extended her unbeaten record at 5-0-0 (i.e. five wins, no loss and no draw).

Her next challenge is set for April 23, as number one contender in Africa EFC in preparation for the straw weight title fight in June.

NAN also reports that earlier, PC Njoku Chika , also of the Nigeria Police defeated fellow compatriot Ozioma Orji, by a unanimous decision at the end of a three-round pulsating encounter.

A total of 10 fighters slugged it out for honours on the night at the end of five explosive bouts in the championship, which included a Kenyan in the cards.

The Mega Cage fight event was in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Warrior Sports Championship.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Ifeyinwa Omowole

Manchester City goal poacher, Erling Haaland, has said that his team can still win the English Premier League (EPL) title in spite of their goalless draw with title contenders Arsenal on Sunday.

The encounter which took place at the Etihad Stadium saw Manchester City and Arsenal handing Liverpool the advantage in the Premier League title race.

Liverpool are now top of the table, two points clear of Arsenal and three ahead of City, after they came from behind to beat Brighton at Anfield.

It was a delight for Liverpool seeing their two closest rivals cancelling each other out.

But Haaland took to his Instagram page after the game against Arsenal to confidently claim that City can come from behind to win the title, just like they did last season.

“We’ve done it once, we can do it again,” he wrote!

The Norway international is undoubtedly the best striker in the Premier League and perhaps in the world.

He has scored 29 goals with six assists in 35 games, which is a phenomenal return.

However, against William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes on Sunday, Haaland struggled and had zero shots on target.

It was a poor performance that Roy Keane even compared him to a League Two striker.

The draw against Arsenal means Manchester City are still third in the Premier League table and are now three points behind league leaders Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have a better goal difference as well, which makes them the favourites to win the Premier League title this season. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Emmanuel Afonne

By Isaiah Eka

Rivers United FC of Nigeria on Sunday secured a narrow 1-0 victory over the USM Alger in the Totalenergies CAF Confederation Cup match in Uyo.

The encounter against the visitors played at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium is the first leg quarter-finals match.

The Garden City darling team took the match to their opponents from the start and scored their only goal in the eight minute through Okejepha Augustine.

They, however, failed to increase the tally as they missed several scoring chances due to poor finishing.

Speaking during the post match briefing, Coach Stanley Eguma of Rivers United, said the scoreline did not reflect the standard exhibited by his boys during the game.

Eguma also attributed the low scoreline to over-anxiety by his players, adding that though they played well, they got lost at the vital point of scoring goals.

“We had a very good game at the beginning of the match and we scored within the first 10 minutes of the game.

“We played with high intensity to ensure that we pressed them down, which yielded the early goal in the game.

“One would have expected that the boys will continue that way because we had a lot of scoring chances early in the game, unfortunately, we could not convert our chances.

”We rightly outclassed them in the game because we had a lot of ball possession. We matched them on counter-attacks to increase the tally but, unfortunately, we could not.

“The scoreline did not reflect the standard of the game we played today.

“The players created a lot of chances but over-anxiety affected them. They lost their heads when they got to the vital point and that made us to have a very low scoreline today,” he said.

According to Eguma, the team will go to Algiers with the determination to put more efforts to win the game in their second leg, irrespective of the strength of USM Alger.

Similarly, the Coach of USM Alger, Juan Fernandez, said that though his boys played good football, they could not perform very well due to the Ramadan fast.

He said the time of the match (1400hours) was also not conducive for the players due to high humidity.

“Today, as expected, it was a very difficult match because of the quality of our opponent, we respect them a lot.

”They played a good match and scored one goal, I congratulate them.

“We played the game during Ramadan, where we neither eat nor drink and of course, the condition of play today was not favourable to us,” he said.

He said the players would play their return match with more determination to win and move to the next level of the competition. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Dianabasi Effiong

By Victor Okoye

It was a tension-soaked Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight night in Abuja on Saturday, as Cameroon’s Octave Ayinde defeated Nigeria’s Vincent Ebenezer in the event’s main card.

This was after Nigeria’s Yahaya Yahuza had defeated Christopher Moly of DR Congo in the -84kg weight class.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a total of 16 fighters slugged it out for honours in eight blockbuster bouts at the Mo Arena, Abuja.

The Abuja Mixed Martial Arts Fight night was organised by Akala Spirit of the Warrior in collaboration with the Nigerian Mixed Martial Arts Federation (NMMAF).

Cameroon’s Ayinde wasted no time to assert his dominance as he quickly grappled and wrestled Nigeria’s Ebenezer to the ground, unloading a torrent of elbows to the head to secure the finish.

The effect of the strikes made blood gush out from the head of Ebenezer as the referee had to intervene and calling the attention of the medics.

The referee subsequently awarded a Technical Knockout (TKO) decision in favour of the Cameroonian, barely three minutes into the first round of the -77kg weight class encounter.

It was, however, joy for Nigeria in the 84kg weight class as Yahuza remained unbeaten in his MMA career, forcing erstwhile undefeated DR Congo’s Moly to submit early in the first half of a pulsating encounter.

Moly was quite energetic at the onset as he looked for an early take down, using his wrestling and his physicality to get the better of Yahuza.

But, in a quick turn of events, the Congolese found himself being beaten to his own game when Yahuza wriggled free and tried to execute the Brazilian jujitsu technique as he went in search of the winner.

He flipped his opponent backwards to the canvas and then timed a well executed rear-naked choke which forced the Congolese to tap out with less than one minute left in the very first round

The co-main event of the evening also saw Nigeria’s undefeated female sensation, Terlumun Gertrude, aka “the woman king,” successfully defended her belt in the Bantam weight category.

Gertrude had earlier dispatched compatriot Immaculata Nelson, with a successful takedown before landing some devastating strikes to her head.

The referee had to intervene and eventually awarded a TKO decision to Gertrude early in the first round as Nelson continued to defend and receive a lot of punishment without any response.

Results of other bouts saw Ephraim Onwuania defeat Ernest Ugwuanyi in a boring one-sided encounter by way of TKO in the middle weight class.

Peter Onuh defeated Dilli Ohabuire by TKO in the -71kg weight class, while Jeb Philemon humbled Osoba Peleja by split decision in the -75kg weight class.

Stanford Ebere defeated Felix Ncheta by a split decision in the Bantam weight class, while Swande Christopher also defeated David Ezekiel by a split decision in the -65kg weight class

NAN also reports that some dignitaries at the event include James Christoff, the Canadian Ambassador to Nigeria, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 7, Ogundele Ayodeji who was represented by CSP Kalu Chijioke, Chairman, Police Mixed Martial Arts Association.

Others at the event were Ebere Benard, the Youth Director, NMMAF and CEO, Akala Spirit of the Warrior, as well as Chris Nwokolo, the Vice President, Akala Spirit of the Warrior.

Also present at the event were Faridah Wada, the wife to the former Governor of Kogi State, Israel Inwang, the Secretary General, NMMAF, as well as some members of the diplomatic corps. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Emmanuel Afonne