Page 45 stories

Page 45 stories

Ref Quadri urges others to emulate Kano crowd

By Mansur Abubakar @mansur_112

Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) youngest FIFA badged referee Adebimpe Quadri says he was happy with the conduct of the mammoth crowd that turned up for Sunday’s league opener between Kano Pillars and Enugu Rangers at the Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano which he officiated.

In a chat with Daily Trust, the Lagos State born umpire added that if spectators at other venues would emulate the ‘Masu Gida’ supporters, there wouldn’t be any crowd trouble in this season’s premier league.

“It was an amazing atmosphere, every referee’s delight I must say, if we can have it like that in other venues then this season will have no crowd disturbances,” Quadri who is in the second season as a top flight referee told Daily Trust.

The Nigerian Referees Association had ahead of the commencement of the 2015/16 Premier League assured stakeholders and football fans of best officiating in the new season.

A statement made available to newsmen by the National Publicity Secretary, NPS, of the NRA, Sir Kelechi Mejuobi, noted that compliance to the rules of the game and that of the competition will be the watchword of referees this season.

NRA President, Tade Azeez, according to the statement, stated that apart from being fair and firm in the course of discharging their duties, referees in the Premier League will surpass last season’s successes.

Nasarawa Utd were unlucky against MFM – Coach Dogo

By David Ngobua @Ngobuadavid

Technical Adviser of Nasarawa United, Kabiru Suleiman Dogo has attributed his team’s 1-2 loss on Sunday to newly promoted Mountain of Fire and Miracle FC to ill-luck.

The new comers shocked the CAF Confederation Cup campaigners 2-1 in Makurdi to announce their arrival in the Nigeria Professional Football League.

The NPFL matches played on Sunday witnessed four away wins, with the other three coming from Ibadan where Lobi Stars defeated 3SC 1-0, FC IfeanyiUbah defeated Giwa FC 1-0 in Jos, just as Wikki Tourists beat El-Kanemi Warriors 1-0 in Katsina.

Speaking to Daily Trust yesterday, Dogo said his team played very well but luck was not on their side.

He reiterated that the result of the match did not reflect the performance on the field of play as he maintained that his team played better.

“It is disappointing that we could not win the match. My boys played better but you know that once luck does not smile on you, it becomes difficult.

“The chances we created did not result into goals and it is only when you score that you can win a match. Our opponents were lucky they took their chances.

“So I can say that Nasarawa did not lose due to poor performance. We played good football but luck was not on our side,” he said.

Dogo however said Nasarawa United have since put behind them the loss as they have to concentrate on the next match.

“We are certainly going to review the match to know how we can improve. We are still working on the team.

“The match against MFM has come and gone. We look forward to our coming matches where we hope to make amends,” he assured.

Crespo predicts bright future for Nigerian polo

The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2016 NPA Lagos International Polo Tournament, Manuel Crespo believes Nigeria has a very bright future in polo.

The 8 handicap player was the highest ranked player in the 11-day two-stage tournament where he spearheaded Fifth Chukker to win the Majekodunmi Cup – regarded as one the biggest prizes in polo in Africa against Ironclad/Trojan on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the tournament in Lagos on Sunday, Crespo noted that if Nigeria continues to participate in big tournaments, the country’s polo world will soon reach its zenith.

“Nigeria can be one of the strong teams in polo if they continue to play big tournaments like this regularly,” Crespo, who is on his first visit to Nigeria, said through an interpreter.

He added: “I learnt that just last month there was another tournament in the country (Ibadan) which also featured most of the Nigerian players that played here in Lagos; this shows that Nigeria can do well in polo at international level. All Nigeria has to do is to keep interest in the game by having regular domestic and international tournaments.”

When told that polo is regarded as the game of kings due to the fact that its expensiveness, he simply replied, “I’m not a king or from a royal family and I don’t think any of the other seven players (that played in the final) is a king. Everybody can play polo.”

Crespo scored an astonishing 13 goals in Fifth Chukker’s 15-7 win over Ironclad to clinch the prestigious Majek Cup.

He is one of the array of Argentine talents that has consistently light up the Lagos International Polo.

Argentina is the undisputed reserve of talents for polo as no county in the wolrd has so much success and so many records in the game.

From 1913, only 40 players – all Argentines – have the highest handicap: 10. Presently, there are only 10 players of such rating and all are Argentines while 16 players have 9 handicap all of whom are also Argentines.