Nigeria’s Super Falcons who are going on a 10^th defence of the African titles that they have won 11 times have commenced their final training ahead of the 12^th Africa Women Cup of nations beginning in two weeks time in Morocco.

Their camp is Abuja. The July’s colourful house party in the North African kingdom is expected to generate greater media and global public interest than ever, with the exponential rise in the stature of women’s football helped by the tremendous gains of the last Women’s World Cup in France, robust deliberations on pay parity (with the men) and FIFA’s decision to hike the number of participating teams at next year’s Women’s World Cup finals to 32 – same as for the men’s World Cup.

Head Coach Randy Waldrum and assistants have the interesting challenge of quality and quantity of players – a useful blend of the old guard, talented youngsters from the home front and a number of skillful foreign-born stars who have been holding their own brilliantly.

As at Friday morning, there were 19 players in camp, including captain Onome Ebi, alongside goalkeepers Chiamaka Nnadozie and Tochukwu Oluehi, defenders Osinachi Ohale and Akudo Ogbonna, midfielders Rita Chikwelu and Rasheedat Ajibade, and forwards Francisca Ordega, Asisat Oshoala and Gift Monday.

US –based goalkeeper Yewande Balogun, defender Michelle Alozie and midfielders Amanda Mbadi and Toni Payne were being expected in camp on Friday.

Forwards Desire Oparanozie and Uchenna Kanu, as well as midfielder Regina Otu and US –based defender Nicole Payne will arrive in Abuja by the weekend.

England –based defender Ashleigh Plumptre, midfielder Halimatu Ayinde and forwards Francisca Ordega, Vivian Ikechukwu and Ifeoma Onumonu are to join the squad in Morocco next week.

Nigeria, who have won nine of the 11 Women Africa Cup of Nations championships held so far, bundled out Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire in the qualifying series and will play South Africa, Botswana and Burundi in the group stages in Morocco. They go up against the Banyana Banyana in their first match at the Prince Heritier Moulay Hassan Stadium in Rabat on Monday, 4^th July, before matches against Botswana (Thursday, 7^th July) and Burundi (Sunday, 10^th July) at the same venue.

All four semi finalists at the tournament in Morocco will qualify to represent Africa at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand in the summer of 2023.

ALREADY IN CAMP: Onome Ebi, Rita Chikwelu, Osinachi Ohale, Tochukwu Oluehi, Glory Ogbonna, Asisat Oshoala, Rasheedat Ajibade, Chiamaka Nnadozie, Chidinma Okeke, Rita Akarekor, Gift Monday, Opeyemi Sunday, Charity Adule, Christy Ucheibe, Suliat Abideen, Chinonyerem Macleans, Peace Efih, Ugochi Emenayo, Akudo Ogbonna

EXPECTED FRIDAY: Yewande Balogun, Toni Oyedupe Payne, Michelle Alozie, Amanda Uju Mbadi

EXPECTED BY WEEKEND: Nicole Payne, Uchenna Kanu, Desire Oparanozie, Regina Otu

TO JOIN TEAM IN MOROCCO: Ashleigh Plumptre, Francisca Ordega, Vivian Ikechukwu, Halimatu Ayinde, Ifeoma Onumonu   

UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules are starting to get some teeth and clubs will no longer be able to sign players “at any price” due to the risks of sanctions, said Chelsea’s new owner Todd Boehly.

An investment group led by Boehly and Clearlake Capital acquired Chelsea in May after former owner Roman Abramovich put the club up for sale following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”.

Chelsea have been the most successful team in England in the period since Abramovich bought the club in 2003, thanks in large part to the Russian’s investment.

“Financial Fair Play is starting to get some teeth and that will limit ability to acquire players at any price,” Boehly said at the SuperReturn International conference in Berlin.

“UEFA takes it seriously and will continue to take it seriously. (More teeth) means financial penalties and disqualification from sporting competitions.”

Boehly, who is part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers MLB team, said he was hoping to use an American model to develop football’s financial potential and help Chelsea players build a better personal brand.

“We think the global footprint of this sport is really undeveloped,” Boehly said. “There are four billion fans of European football. There are 170 million fans of NFL. Global club football is a fraction of the NFL media money.

“We are also going to be thinking about, how do we get more revenues for the players?

“If you look at (the NBA’s) LeBron James, for example, he has a whole business and a whole team dedicated to what’s not on the court.

“So I think there is opportunity to capture some of that American mentality into English sports and really develop them.”

Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan is getting into her stride ahead of next month’s World Athletics Championships in Oregon, United States.

The 25-year-old on Tuesday in Finland emerged as the winner in the 100m hurdles event at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold.

Amusan ran a season-best time of 12.57s to see off Jamaica’s Britany Anderson (12.59s) on the line. Nadine Visser of the Netherlands was third in 12.72.

Tuesday’s Meet at the Paavo Nurmi Stadium in Turku, Finland is the last Continental Tour Gold event before the World Athletics Championships which take place next month in the United States.

Fresh from her heroics at the Senior African Athletics Championships in Mauritius where she successfully defended her 100m hurdles title and also helped Team Nigeria win the gold in the 4x100m event, Amusan needed to be at her best to claim the number one position.

Having narrowly missed out on a podium finish at the last World Championships, Amusan will seek to banish that disappointment this time in Oregon.

Meanwhile, in some of the other events also decided on Tuesday at the Meet in Finland, 2019 World Championship silver medallist Shanieka Ricketts produced a 14.35m effort to win the triple jump,

Ricketts, who has a season’s best of 14.43m, finished ahead of Slovenia’s Neja Filipic (14.26m) and the USA’s Tori Franklin (14.05m).

Also in action was the 2019 World Champion and current world leader in the Men’s javelin, Anderson Peters of Grenada.

Peters produced a distance of 86.60m for third in the event behind Indian Olympic Champion Neeraj Chopra who threw a personal best and national record 89.30 to finish second.

Finland’s Oliver Helander threw a personal best 89.83m for the win.

The Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City Edo State will be a beehive of activities next week as the country’s top athletes will be attending the 2022 National trials being organized by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN.

Topping the list of athletes expected in the ancient city of Benin for the Commonwealth Games and World Athletics Championship trials are sprinter Favour Ofili, 400m Hurdles runner Nathaniel Ezekiel and Javelin thrower, Nnamdi Prosper.

These trio are National record holders in their respective events and firm favourites to claim the national titles.

Unable to compete at the recent African Championship held in Mauritius, Ofili has been in superb form so far this year, setting new national records in the 200m indoors (22.46s) and outdoor (21.96s).

The 19-year-old Ofili, a silver medalist in the 200m event at the 2022 NCAA indoor and outdoor championships is also the fastest Nigerian woman this year and will be one of the stars to watch when the championships begin.

As indicated by the Head of Media for AFN, Dare Esan, another athlete who will be the talk of the town is fast-improved hurdler, Nathaniel, who has improved greatly from a 51 seconds runner since moving to the United States.

After breaking the 50 seconds barrier at the World U20 Athletics Championships in Nairobi last year with his 49.89-second race, the youngster has continued to improve on his technics and stamina.

A few weeks ago, the 18-year-old grabbed the headlines after running 48.42s to break Henry Amike’s 35-year-old (48.50s) as well as set an African U20 record.

Nnamdi will also be in town as the reigning national record holder in the Javelin.

The 19-year-old added 14cm (81.22m) to the 81.08m national record set by Pius Bazighe in 2019 and will be looking forward to defending the national title he won last year as well as confirming his place on the plane to Oregon for the World Athletics Championships.

Long jumper Ese Brume will also be in town competing for the second time as Nigeria and African record holder in her event following her 7.17m leap in May last year in California.

Sprint hurdler Tobiloba Amusan is expected to arrive in Nigeria this weekend and the 24-year-old will be wearing two caps like Brume.

She is the reigning Nigeria and African record holder (12.42s) in the 100m hurdles.

A few days after winning the Gold medal in Mauritius, the 25-year-old on Tuesday in Finland emerged as the winner in the 100m hurdles event at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold.

Shot Putter Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, the reigning African Games and African championships champion is not just the defending Nigeria champion in the event but also the record holder (21.80m).

Triple jumper and silver medalist at the 2022 NCAA Championships, Ruth Usoro is also coming to Benin as the reigning Nigeria record holder in the event (14.50m).

African Games and African championships champion Chioma Onyekwere will be defending her national discuss title as the Nigerian record holder (63.30m).

The 2022 Nigerian Athletics Championships will serve as selection trials for next month’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom and the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA.

It was also gathered that the trials in Benin City will be used to select the U-20 team for the World Championship in Cali, Colombia.

The arrival date for the national trials is June 20, while departure is set for June 25.

Former Nigeria national basketball team star, Ime Udoka is not a happy man at the moment, having seen his team bottle up their chance for glory in the NBA Finals.

Golden Warriors, late Thursday night, conquered Boston Celtics to emerge NBA CHAMPIONS again with a 103-90 victory in Game 6.

This is Golden State Warriors’ fourth championship in the last eight seasons.

Though Udoka is proud of coming this far in his first season as Celtics’ Head Coach, he remains pained in the manner of the loss as his team came quite close, yet so far.

In his postgame interview with NBC Sports, Udoka said that after getting this far, to within two wins of a championship, suffering a season-ending loss like the 103-90 decision at TD Garden is going to sting.

“I’m proud of the overall year,” Udoka said he told the team. “We went through a lot. The foundation has been set.”

Truly, Udoka’s reign at Celtics has come with a huge leap.

As recently as Januart 6, the Celtics were 18-21, in 11th place in the Eastern Conference.

“We’ll try to paint a broad look at the big picture of the things we did well this year and what we can build on,” Udoka said.

Interestingly, Udoka isn’t new to losing in the NBA finals in his first year in a role.

Almost a decade ago as a first-year assistant coach under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, the Spurs were 5 seconds away from finishing off LeBron James and the Heat in Game 6 when former Celtics guard Ray Allen drilled a corner 3 to help force overtime, a game Miami would go on to win before capturing Game 7 and the series.

“It’s always going to sit with you,” Udoka said. “The way I lost it, you always remember that. You have to use it as fuel and motivation and experience to propel you forward…We’ll learn from this as a staff and that’s what I said with the guys, no one can come back the same.”

That star-studded Spurs team that had the likes of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard, would return to the Finals the very next year and beat the Heat with Udoka still on staff.

Many are keen to see Celtics pull up the same stuff for Udoka in his second year and the Nigerian-American believes it is possible

Udoka believes with the draft, free agency and summer league coming in the weeks ahead, his team can be properly bolstered to face the task in the coming seasons.

The first three matches under Jose Peseiro threw up a bad deduction. The Eagles conceded very early against Mexico, Ecuador, and Sierra Leone.

The team also looked lost at the start of the matches and only found their groove after conceding. But there was also one good marker-the team responded to all these setbacks by getting better and if not for bad luck and less than efficient finishing, the Eagles could have at least drawn the matches against Mexico and Ecuador.

Nigeria vs Mexico – The first goal was conceded in the 12th minute

Nigeria vs Ecuador – The first goal was conceded in the 3rd minute

Nigeria vs Sierra Leone – The first goal was conceded in the 11th minute

Sao Tome vs Nigeria – No goals conceded and 10 scored

Another marker will be to highlight the personnel change over Peseiro’s first four matches in charge of the Eagles. An obvious difference in the teams that have prosecuted the four matches was the absence of William Troost-Ekong from centre-back duties for the 10-0 demolition of Sao Tome.

Many will say the Islanders, ranked in 183rd place by FIFA, are not the right calibre of opposition to judge the early running, but there is a postulation to be revealed. Ekong has been a great servant for the Eagles, but he does not make the team stronger or even better.

His passion is one thing, but his tactical acumen and skill are basic. One reason the Eagles failed to improve under Rohr was his safety at all costs approach. For that, he needed players who also had their brakes on.

In times past, if Ekong got injured, the replacement would naturally have been Leon Balogun or Kenneth Omeruo. Omeruo was the replacement against Sierra Leone when Ekong got injured, but Peseiro opted for a younger pairing of Calvin Bassey and Semi Ajayi. Peseiro did not consider Chidozie Awaziem even though he played the friendlies.

Peseiro’s summations and adjustments have been quick and to the point. Iwobi is playing a role he loves-where he can influence the play from defence into the attack while Terem Moffi was preferred to Cyriel Dessers. These are not emotional decisions, but tactical. In developing a team, what is the most important index for the players to be chosen? Hunger.

Rohr would have persisted with Samuel Chukwueze for the away match against Sao Tome, but Peseiro saw enough in Abuja to make the change. Most of the players in the Eagles squad who have become complacent have to sit up now.

The real analysis may be to juxtapose the victory over Sao Tome to the time under Gernot Rohr. Would Rohr’s team have scored 10 goals?

When Nigeria played Seychelles in September 2018 and March 2019, the aggregate score over the two legs was 6-1. FIFA ranked the Eagles No.42 (third in Africa) and ranked the Pirates 190th in the world-a gap of 148 places.

The Eagles that beat the Falcons and True Parrots 10-0 on May 16, 2022, had a gap in the FIFA ranking of 153. The one sure thing in Peseiro’s Eagles is the positive offensive approach. Do we have the players to succeed? Maybe.

“Our style is attack because of the kind of players we have in the team,” Peseiro told OwnGoalNigeria.com.

“I see them very well now in training and they are the most talented I have worked with in my career, and I am not joking. It is hard for me to pick the best selection for games.”

There will be knocks on the way, but Peseiro’s enthusiasm is infectious and the team could become another exciting bunch after playing it just safe for five years under Rohr.

The president of the Cycling Federation of Nigeria (CFN) Giandomenico Massari, on Friday in Abuja said the federation was set to host 20 countries for the Africa Cup Track Cycling Championship.

Massari told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the championship would hold from July 14 to July 17 at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.

He said the federation was expecting cycling teams from about 20 countries to participate.

“We are ready and set to provide a befitting environment to compete for all participants.

“The Federation has made all the necessary preparations and plans to organise a hitch-free championship,” Massari said.

He disclosed that there would also be training for prospective commissaries.

The CFN president recalled that Nigeria hosted the first edition of the championship in July 2019 in Abuja and emerged champions among the nine countries which participated.

He also disclosed that Nigeria would take part in the junior and elite levels’ events in both the male and female categories of the championship.

Massari said countries whose teams have already indicated an interest in participating in the championship include Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Cameroon, and hosts Nigeria.

“Others are Republic of Benin, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Italy, Burundi, and Burkina Faso, among others,” he said.

NAN reports that Nigeria hosted the championship’s first edition in July 2019 in Abuja, with the Nigerian contingent made up of 21 cyclists in both the female and male categories.

The Nigerian team won a total of 51 medals, made up 21 gold, 18 silver, and 12 bronze, to emerge champions.

They were followed by Egypt who came second after winning a total of 22 medals made up of eight gold, seven silver, and seven bronze medals.

Another North African side, Morocco, came third with seven medals made up of four gold and three silver medals.

Nigeria on Friday in Kigali beat Brazil by 30 runs to finish fifth at the ongoing KwabukaT20 Cricket Tournament in Rwanda.

Earlier in the tournament, Nigeria was top of the log. But with only three wins in seven matches the team dropped down the table as they had to face Brazil again to jostle for the fifth spot.

Nigeria had earlier beaten Brazil in their first game at the tournament by eight wickets and the game on Friday was no different.

Again, Nigeria won the toss and opted to bat. Efforts by Salome Sunday-32 runs in 29 balls and team captain Blessing Etim’s 27 runs in 30 balls helped Nigeria to secure victory against the South Americans.

Nigeria scored 113 runs for the loss of four in 20 overs.

The second innings saw Brazil resume batting, scoring 83 for seven in 20 overs.

Luracadoso Martin Villas Boaz produced the best batting performance for the Brazilian side with 31 runs in 43 balls.

They ended up scoring 83 runs for the loss of seven in 20 overs for Nigeria to win by 30 runs.

At the end of the game, Etim, lauded her teammates’ efforts, adding that the team would go back home to the drawing board.

“I appreciate the players, we all worked together to achieve this. We will go home and work on our errors and come back stronger.

“I also appreciate Uyi Akpata, the president of Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), for his support. On behalf of the team, we say ‘thank you,” Etim added.

On her part, Robertamoretti Avery, the captain of Brazil, also appreciated her team’s efforts and thanked the Rwanda Cricket Association (RCA) for organising the event.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tournament, which has eight teams participating, started on June 9 and is expected to end on Saturday.

On Saturday, Kenya will face Tanzania to decide the winners of the tournament while hosts Rwanda set up a clash against Uganda for the third-place match.

The event is in memory of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.