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Okagbare leads Nigeria to win 4x100m relay gold

By Mansur Abubakar

Nigerian sprint queen Blessing Okagbare yesterday made her presence in Congo felt when she ran the second leg for the women’s quartet, en route to winning the 4x100m relay event gold in 43.11secs.

The Nigerian quartet in the women’s 4×100 metres race also had Cecilia Francis, Ngozi Onwumere and Lawretta Ozoh. Okagbare run in the second leg of the helped the team open a huge lead that saw them finish the race in good time.

However, the male sprints relay quartet were disqualified for baton exchange outside the restricted line which ended Nigeria’s hunt in that section.

Francis ran the opening leg of the race before handing the baton to Okagbare who ran a solid race to widen the gap between Nigeria and the other contending teams.

All Onwumere needed to do in the third leg was sustain the huge lead which the double Commonwealth Games sprint champion had opened up. And the anchor leg of the race, Ozoh, just had to coast to the finish line once Onwumere handed over the baton to her in the final 100 metres.

As at yesterday afternoon, Nigeria was placed fourth on the medals table with 63 medals. The medals are 17 gold, 25 silver and 21 bronze medals.

Over 64 Nationwide League Division 3 clubs vie for promotion

By David Ngobua @Ngobuadavid

At least 64 amateur clubs are taking part in the Division three league organised by the leadership of the Nigeria Nationwide League Limited to get the eight clubs that would be promoted to Division 2.

The league is taking place at eight centres across the country and at the end of the competition, the winner of each centre would automatically gain promotion to Division two.

According to the organisers, there is Kano, Kaduna centre for clubs from the North West, Gombe ( North East), Jos (North Central), Nnewi (South East), Lagos, Ondo (South-West), and Calabar (South-South).

Chairman of Nigeria Nationwide League, Alhaji Ahmed Muazu Kawu told Daily Trust yesterday that the league is moving on smoothly and it would come to a climax on Saturday.

He said “It has never happened in the Nigerian league. It is the first time we are having sponsorship. Consequently, we are taking care of issues like match indemnities, insurance for the players, security, ball boys and medical”.

Kawu said by next season, the Nigerian Nationwide League would get even better because the Patron of the league, Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah has promised to sponsor all the three tiers of the league.

“The CEO of Capital Oil, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, who is our Patron and leading supporter, has promised to sponsor the whole league next season.

“Furthermore, we have introduced a new innovation where by the Nationwide League Ambassadors and I are going round the league centres to interact with the relevant stakeholders in order to move the league forward.

“We are trying our best to create awareness about the league and our Patron, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah has been of tremendous support.

“Our recent visit to London where we rubbed minds with owners of West Ham United is going to start yielding fruits very soon,” he said.

LMC rejects plea from Sunshine’s Abe

By Mike Oboh@oboh_mike

The plea for leniency by Sunshine Stars football club and its’ captain Sunday Abe against sanctions by the League Management Company (LMC) have been rejected.

The league organisers while acknowledging the receipts of their letters of apologies said that it took due notice of all circumstances that prevailed during and after the match before arriving at the decision and advised the club to comply with the sanctions.

“It would suffice to state that all the established facts and circumstances regarding the match-day incident and the Rule Book were considered in arriving at a decision, including the respective sanctions,” the LMC wrote in reply to Sunshine Stars Management.

It also informed Abe, the club captain that his apology has been noted but that the six match ban has to be served.

In a letter dated September 14, 2015, the Akure club cited their record as one of the disciplined clubs in the league and the fact that their players and supporters were unnecessarily delayed for hours after the match as some of the grounds of their appeal for leniency.

Abe, in a separate letter of apology attributed his aggressive behaviour towards the match referee to frustration and while pledging to refrain from such act, pleaded for a reconsideration of his six match ban.

Crisis in Giwa as coach Musa dumps club

By Mike Oboh@oboh_mike

After suffering 0-1 defeat in the hands of relegation threatened FC Taraba last Sunday, the woes of Giwa FC continue to worsen a acting Head Coach, Aminu Musa dumped the Nigerian Premier League side yesterday.

Sources close to the club disclosed that the coach decided to put in his resignation letter due to irreconcilable differences with the proprietor of the club, Ambassador Chris Giwa.

The source said though the coach cited family issues as reasons for his resignation, the truth remains that the former goalkeeper trainer who stepped in for Coach Tony Bulus who was asked to step aside after the club’s 4-0 defeat to Sunshine, could not stand the

pressure from the club owner after its 0-1 loss to FC Taraba.

It was gathered that Musa who had five unbeaten run before the Jalingo defeat with victories against table topper Enyimba FC, Lobi Stars and Rangers in Jos and two away draws against Akwa United and Bayelsa United was informed after the game against Taraba to step aside by the club proprietor but the coach decided to take the exit option.