Two time CAF Champions League title holders Enyimba International have commenced implementation of an expansionist idea that would spread the club franchise, further past its current stage.
This was made known by the club’s Sporting Director and ex Nigeria international, Ifeanyi Ekwueme last Tuesday in Kano.
He revealed that the club management, under the pilot of Atlanta 96 Olympics football gold medalist Kanu Nwankwo, has embarked on the implementation of a newly designed development template that would fast track influence of the club’s franchise on Nigerian, African and international football climes.
Ekwueme said Enyimba fc is a trademark that has excelled over time, adding that Kanu Nwankwo regime currently at the helm of affairs, is consolidating on the heroic achievements of the club by resorting to building bridges across Nigeria and beyond.
“We have signed partnership that involves exchange programmes, we are committed to coaches development, mini and major projects,” he said.
“We now have the requisite development structures, with our now in place youth football and semi professional talent development programmes, this is vital and critical.”
“Enyimba is not a stagnant or zero football brand, we are a broad football brand, that is whynwe are committed to partnerships that are results oriented and have them spread across Nigeria, elsewhere on the continent and beyond.”
He averred that though there are challenges, however, the current leadership of the club is focused and committed to surmounting the hurdles posed to taking the brand to the zenith of club football, where Eyimba fc is rightly believed to belong to.
While appealing to their fans and partners to keep faith with the Enyimba fc brand, Ekwueme stated that the club had witnessed enviable improvements in the area of football corporate administration that is now yielding dividends.
This will continue to help the People’s Elephants to improve in the delivery of mandated club football services and business divdends expected by all stakeholders.
Tag: African Football
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Contrary to reports of signing a one year contract to manage the Super Eagles, newly appointed coach Finidi George will be staying longer on the job.
The Nigeria Football Federation NFF unveiled George last Monday in Abuja with the former Enyimba head coach reportedly penning a one-year contract subject to an extension.
However, the president of NFF Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau has now debunked the reports of George signing a year’s deal to coach the team, claiming the gaffer will remain in charge of the Eagles at least till the end of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The NFF boss also revealed the soccer house’s target for the coach.
“I don’t know where the one-year contract information emanated from, all I know is that, as far as our contract with Finidi is concerned, he is going to be in charge of the team till the end of 2026.
“So I don’t think 2026 is going to be a one-year contract,” Gusau said on Soccer Africa, a football Show on Supersport TV.
“The key thing is, in every contract, there must be some indices and some targets that you must put in place for somebody in other for him to get optimal performance.
“And the first target is to qualify the team for next year’s Nations Cup and to get to at least the semi finals of the Nations Cup, as well as qualify the team to the World Cup and to get us the target of playing in the quarter finals of the World Cup.
“So these are the main targets we put in place for him in the contract, and by the grace of God, we are working hard to see how we can achieve that,” he stated. -
Simon Karshe Cletus will captain Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets in the West African Football Union WAFU Zone B Under 17 championship.
The Senior Secondary School SS1 student had made progress in his career, playing in various age grade grassroots football competitions before attaining national recognition.
Cetus’ seemingly fragile frame will be tested as he shoulders the weight of spearheading Nigeria’s quest to defend her regional under 17 title in Ghana.
Nigeria’s opening group B game is against Burkina Faso on Thursday 16 May 2024 while the championship kicks off later today between hosts Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. -
The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) will run live commentaries of upcoming Super 8 playoffs of the Nigeria National League NNL.
This was after FRCN entered into partnership with the NNL board to broadcast live the final phase of the country’s second tier competition slated for Enugu from 7 to 14 June 2024.
According to the NNL chairman Mr. George Aluo, the arrangement will offer Nigerians opportunity of following the games from the kick off to the finals even as he commended the largest Radio network in Africa for the deal.
Head of Sports and Outside Broadcast, FRCN, Mrs Grace Iliya and her team visited the NNL office to consummate the deal in the presence of Mr. Emmanuel Attah and Dr.Ayo Abdulrahaman, respectively the Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officers of the League.
The Super 8 playoff is organised annually at the end of the regular season to determine the overall champions of tournament as well as produce teams that will gain promotion to the Nigeria Premier Football league(NPFL.)
The eight teams that qualified for the NNL promotional Playoff are Nasarawa United, Sporting Supreme of Abuja, Sokoto United and El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri.
Others are Beyond Limits FC of Ikenne , Madiba FC Lagos, Inter Lagos and Ikorodu City also of Lagos. -
Head Coach of Flamingoes Bankole Olowokere has called for massive home support this Saturday at the MKO Abiola National stadium Abuja as his girls aim to stroll past their Burkinabe opponents into the final qualifying round of FIFA U17 World Cup.
Coach Olowokere made the call in Abuja after the Nigerian team arrived from Mali where they played out a 1-1 draw against Burkina Faso in the 1st leg of the African qualifying.
He said support of Nigerians based in Bamako helped put the Flamingos in the right spirit during the first leg.
“We appreciate the support of Nigerians for the Flamingos over the years, but we are calling specially for their support this weekend when we take on the Burkina Faso girls in the return leg of our qualifying fixture. The Flamingos will be ready to do the nation proud by winning to reach the last round of the qualification series,” Bankole appealed.
“I have the players to do the job. All we are asking for is support from the stands. Our objective is to not only win the ticket, but to go to the World Cup and surpass our last outing of third-place finish in India in 2022.”
Chidi Harmony scored for Nigeria in the 55th minute of the 1st leg but poor communication in the defence led to Burkina Faso equalizing with six minutes left through Rainata Oubda.
Victory over the Burkinabes will set the Flamingos up for the final qualifying fixture against the winner of the Senegal/Liberia fixture.
The Senegalese lead 3-1 going into the second leg in Monrovia this weekend.
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The Confederation of African Football CAF has confirmed there is no age falsification in the Nigeria team to the WAFU B U17 Championship starting in Accra, Ghana today.
This is after all 20 players of the Golden Eaglets passed the mandatory Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI examination conducted by the continent’s apex football governing body yesterday.
The declaration of eligibility of all the players validates tests conducted on the Eaglets by the Nigeria Football Federation before the team’s departure.
This sets the tone for the country to have a full squad to defend the title she won last year, also in Ghana.
An ecstatic Head Coach Manu Garba said: “We are happy about the results. Having the whole squad to prosecute the tournament somewhat puts our minds at rest.
“The players have been responding to training. The weather is similar to what we experienced in Abuja before our departure. Our primary objective is to get one of the two tickets from here to the Africa U17 Cup of Nations. We will focus on the matches one at a time. For now, we are focused on our opening game against Burkina Faso on Thursday.”
The Eaglets begin their defence of the title when they confront their counterparts from Burkina Faso at the University Stadium on Thursday, 16th May with kickoff set for 3pm Ghana time (4pm Nigeria time), before matches against Niger Republic on Sunday, 19th May (6pm Ghana, 7pm Nigeria) and Togo on Wednesday, 22nd May (4pm Ghana, 5pm Nigeria).
The match against Niger Republic will also hold at the University Stadium while the clash with Togo will take place at the Accra Sports Stadium. -
Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets are making sure no stone is left unturned in their quest to retain their West Africa Football Union WAFU Zone B Under 17 crown.
To keep abreast of the game’s rules and regulations, the Eaglets attended a lecture on the laws of football in Ghana.
Confederation of African Football CAF instructor and NFF member Dr Mohammed Ameenu lectured the players and officials on key aspects of the law.
After the class, the Eaglets took to the pitch for training, where the players put in a lot of hard work for possible staring slots on the Nigerian team.
The session attracted the presence of former Ghana international John Paintsil whose academy trains on the same pitch.
Paintsil commended the Nigerian squad for their professionalism, wishing them the best of outing in the youth football tournament.
The Eaglets will train again today at 4pm.
With qualification for next year’s Africa Under 17 Cup of Nations at stake, the Golden Eaglets will begin the defence of their title against a Burkinabe opposition at the University Stadium on Thursday, 16th May with kickoff set for 3pm Ghana time (4pm Nigeria time), before matches against Niger Republic on Sunday, 19th May (6pm Ghana, 7pm Nigeria) and Togo on Wednesday, 22nd May (4pm Ghana, 5pm Nigeria).
The match against Niger Republic will also hold at the University Stadium while the clash with Togo will take place at the Accra Sports Stadium. -
The awards are coming thick and fast for Africa’s safest pair of hands and Super Falcons’ undisputed number one goalie Chiamaka Nnadozie.
The 23 year old keeper was recognised yesterday for her sterling qualities in goal for French side Paris FC after she scooped THE NATIONAL UNION OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALLERS keeper of the year 2024 award.
Nnadozie also made the All Star team for 2024 in the D1 Arkema – France’s elite women football league.
The 2024 Olympic bound keeper took to her X account to express joy at the turn of events in her career.https://twitter.com/Nadoziechiamaka/status/1790339410677927993?s=19
“l’m incredibly grateful and humbled by this award. @tropheesunfp thank you for recognizing my efforts @paristc_feminines, the president, the entire team staff, the fans and my wonderful teammates.Your belief in me and my work is a tremendous source of motivation,” she penned.
A recent highlight video where Nnadozie showed excellent reflex saves against PSG Women has been trending online with a deluge of comments heaping praises on the current Africa Goalkeeper of The Year.
She won the player of the game in the PSG game despite her team losing the playoffs 4-5 via penalties after 2-2 in normal time.
Paris will be in action next Friday for a chance to secure a slot in next season’s European football.
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The 5th JOF Under 13 Grassroots football tournament reached a crescendo yesterday as HB Utility Ilupeju emerged champions of the 64 team competition.
Utility spanked Zamadek of Lagos Island 3-0 in the last game played at the UNILAG sports complex and organised under the auspices of Lagos State Grassroots Soccer Association.
Former Nigeria international winger and AFCON silver medalist Friday Elaho who watched the encounter commended organisers of the tournament for staging a befitting grand finale, urging more private sector involvement at the grassroots in order to churn out budding talents that will take over from the ageing ones.
For emerging champions in the 5th edition of the competition, Utility smiled home with a prize money of seven hundred and fifty thousand naira while Latoyem FC received half a million naira after beating Strong Dove of Orile 1-0 in the bronze medal game also played yesterday.
In the individual awards, Ayomide Atiga was voted tournament’s Most Valuale Player MVP, his colleague Toheeb Ojerinde won the best keeper accolade while Abolade Abdulahi of Zamadek scooped the top scorer’s prize.
Speaking after the event, the Chairman/CEO of JOF Nigeria Dr Olusegun Olugboyegun promised that a select group of players who excelled in the tourney would be camped over the year as they undergo training in ethics, morals and other life skills.