…as Ghanaian officials trade blame over match venue

Ahead of the crucial World Cup play-offs between Nigeria and Ghana, former Super Eagles striker, Daniel Amokachi, has taken a swipe at archrivals Ghana over the uncertainty of the match venue for the qualifiers, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The Black Stars host the Eagles at the Cape Coast Stadium on March 25 before the reverse fixture slated for the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on March 29.

While the Abuja stadium is ready to host Ghana for the second leg, there’s been doubt over the Cape Coast stadium hosting the first fixture.

Following the bad state of the stadium pitch after it was used for the country’s 65th independence celebration earlier this month, reports say the Ghana Football Association has informed CAF to consider switching the venue to the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi.

According to a Ghanaian publication, ghanaweb.com, the Director-General of the National Sports Authority, Professor Peter Twumasi, stated that the Ghana Football Association did not consult his outfit before choosing the Cape Coast Stadium for the play-off match.

According to him, the NSA would have advised the GFA to add either the Accra Sports Stadium or Baba Yara Stadium for the Black Stars home matches.

“We wanted the GFA to consider the Accra Sports Stadium or the Baba Yara Sports Stadium. Later we were told that the GFA had already sent the Cape Coast Sports Stadium to CAF. At least they should have informed us. The Accra Sports Stadium has been certified by CAF, Professor Twumasi said on Happy 98.9 FM.”

Meanwhile, in a video that has gone viral, Amokachi, who was at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja stated that Nigeria was ready to face the Black Stars at the said venue, while throwing a jibe at their arch-rivals, who have been left in confusion over their choice of venue.

“We are at the Moshood Abiola stadium and we are ready. Look at how beautiful the pitch is; look at how beautiful the stadium is. We are ready,” Amokachi said in the video.

He added, “And some people are still looking for a venue, some people are under confusion. You know who I’m talking about.”

Rangers recorded one of the two away wins in matchday 18 of the 2021/22 Nigerian Proffessional League (NPFL) as Lobi Stars sacked Eddy Dombraye after the club lost at home to Abia Warriors in Makurdi.iger

Lobi stars 1-2 Abia Warriors

Valentine Odoh was Abia Warriors’ hero as his brace helped the Imama Amakapabo’s boys to a 2-1 victory over Lobi Stars. Solomon Kwambe, however, scored a consolidation goal for Dombraye’s team.

In a swift reaction to the defeat, Lobi Star announced the dissolution of its technical crew.

“Aftermath of the home defeat by Abia Warriors. The Vice Chairman of Lobi Stars FC has just announced the dissolution of the technical crew,”  a short statement on its Facebook page read. “Coach Eugene Agagbe announced interim Coach to be assisted by Goalkeeper coach Sam Addingi.”

But when contacted by TheCable, the former Nigerian international said he is yet to be informed officially by the Makurdi-based side that he has been sacked.

“I just read about my sack on social media but nothing has been confirmed to me officially by the club management,” Dombraye said.

Akwa United 0-3 Rangers Int’l

Rangers international enjoyed an emphatic away win after they outplayed Akwa United 3-0 at the Godswill Akpabio stadium in Uyo.

Samuel Pam, Chidiebere Nwobodo, and Shedrack Asiegbu’s 55th, 70th, and 90th minutes goals respectively gave the away team all the points.

Sunshine Stars 2-1 Dakkada

Dakkada lost for the tenth time this season as they were beaten 2-1 by Sunshine Stars at Akure stadium.

Kwara United 2-1 Heartland

Despite Chukwudi Nworgu’s consolatory goal for the visitors, Ayodeji Bamidele and Alao Danbani’s goals helped Kwara United to defeat Heartland.

Nasarawa Utd 1-1 MFM FC

t was a 1-1 draw in Lafia between the home side and MFM.

Gombe 0-0 Rivers Utd

It was a goalless affair between Gombe and Rivers United in Bauchi.

Katsina 1-0 Wikki Tourists

Habibu Yakubu’s 17th-minute goal was all Katsina United needed to run away with all three points at against Wikki Tourists at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium.

Shooting Stars 1-0 Kano Pillars

Uche Ezeala’s 13th-minute strike was all Oluyole Warriors needed to claim all points against visiting Kano Pillars at the Adamasingba Stadium, Ibadan.

Enyimba 1-1 Plateau United

Enyimba, 8-time NPFL champions, failed to record a victory at home for the first time against Plateau United as they drew 1-1 at the Aba Stadium on Saturday.

Niger Tornadoes 1-0 Remo Stars

Musa Wakili’s 4th-minute goal from the penalty spot for Niger Tornadoes was all the Ikon Allah Boys needed to secure all three points against Remo Stars.

Match officials for Saturday’s 2022 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup qualifying match between the U17 girls of Nigeria and those of the Democratic Republic of Congo will arrive in Nigeria on Thursday.

Beninoise official Laurande Offin Kayode has been selected by the Confederation of African Football to be referee for the match, alongside her compatriots Nafissatou Yekini Shitou (assistant referee 1), Djaria Bio Yacoubou (assistant referee 2) and Aurore Christelle Ligan (fourth official). The match commissioner is Christine Ziga from Ghana.

The encounter is one of the second round, second leg of the African series for the championship to be hosted by India in the month of October. Nigeria’s Flamingos took the wind off the sails of the Congolese in the fixture by winning the first leg in Kinshasa 3-0 on Sunday, 6^th March.

Midfielder Blessing Emmanuel, defender Tumininu Adeshina and forward Opeyemi Ajakaiye shared the goals among themselves at the Stade de Matrys, and the impression of an attack-minded squad in which anyone is capable of scoring subsists for Saturday’s game at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City.

The Flamingos arrived in Benin City on Tuesday evening, with Coach Bankole Olowookere insisting his girls will go all out for victory despite the massive advantage from the opening leg.

“There is no complacency in our camp. Every match must be approached with the mentality of gaining victory. We did well in Kinshasa but the girls wasted a number of scoring chances and we have been working on that. Clinical precision is key for any team that wants to win matches and tournaments.”

The winner on aggregate after Saturday’s encounter will earn a place in the third round of the series, where the U17 girls of Egypt await, in the month of April. The final round of the qualifiers will be in May.

This year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals, the seventh edition since it was launched in New Zealand in 2008, will take place in India, 11^th – 30^th October. Nigeria have missed only one edition of the tournament (the 2018 finals in Uruguay) but participated in the 2008, 2010 (Trinidad & Tobago), 2012 (Azerbaijan), 2014 (Costa Rica) and 2016 (Jordan) championships. The 2020 finals, scheduled for India, were annulled by the global coronavirus pandemic. 

Cape Coast Stadium, originally to host the first leg match of Nigeria-Ghana World Cup play-off has been declared unfit.

Ghana were supposed to play against Nigeria at the Cape Coast Stadium on 25th March, 2022 in their first leg clash.

Over the weekend, officials of the Confederation of African Football(CAF) inspection team were at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi and also visited the Cape Coast Stadium to inspect facilities.

According to reports, CAF has rejected the Cape Coast Stadium as Ghana’s home venue for the first leg clash against Nigeria later this month.

Ghana have been told they can play at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium but that will be with the express permission of Nigeria to agree to play there else the game will be played in Benin Republic –  a neutral grounds.

The Cape Coast Stadium was in bad shape as on 6th March,2022 the country held the Independence day celebration at the facility which had a toll on the playing surface.

Handlers of the Stadium the National Sports Authority(NSA) were confident the venue will be ready for the Nigeria match but CAF has closed that door as Ghana must look elsewhere with Nigeria’s permission or else its a neutral venue in Benin.

David de Gea says there have been “too many years without trophies” after Manchester United’s Champions League defeat by Atletico Madrid extended their silverware drought to five years.

Renan Lod scored the only goal for Diego Simeone’s sidei at Old Trafford to hand Atletico a 2-1 aggregate victory.

United have not won a trophy since Jose Mourinho guided them to the Europa League in 2016-17.

“Of course it’s not good enough,” said United keeper De Gea.

“There are too many years without any trophies, even without fighting for trophies.

“We need to be clear we want to achieve good things and fight for trophies. We don’t just want to play for the top four and get out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals.

“So we need much more from everyone because this club is too big for where we are now. We are far from the fighting places for the Premier League, for the Champions League, so we need much more from everyone.”

United have now been knocked out in six of their past eight Champions League knockout-stage ties.

They face a significant contest to qualify for next season’s competition – as they are fifth in the Premier League, one point below Arsenal, who have three games in hand.

De Gea added that there was frustration with United’s overall performance.

He said: “This is where we are at the moment. It’s a difficult situation. We have to keep fighting. I feel very sad. But we were not good enough.

“We are really disappointed with the result. It’s difficult to put into words how we feel now at the moment. We did not enough in both games to win it. It’s a very disappointing day for us.”

Defeat raised the question of whether Tuesday’s match will prove to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s last appearance in the Champions League.

Ronaldo, 37, is the tournament’s all-time top scorer and has lifted the trophy five times, first doing so with United in 2007-08 before winning it four times with Real Madrid.

He failed to have a shot during Tuesday’s defeat.

Former England winger Chris Waddle, a BBC Radio 5 Live pundit at Old Trafford, said: “I did not get Cristiano Ronaldo’s role tonight, coming into midfield. I didn’t get that. There was nothing in the box so if you do cross it, there is nobody there.”

‘It was easy for time-wasting antics’

United’s interim boss Ralf Rangnick bemoaned Atletico’s tactics in the second half and also questioned the officials, feeling there was a foul on Anthony Elanga in the build-up to the game’s only goal.

“Against a team like Atletico, it is highly important you score the first goal yourself,” said Rangnick. “If you don’t do that, it is even more important not to concede a goal.

“One minute before half-time, we conceded that goal in a transitional moment.

“I believe there was a foul on Anthony Elanga before that but the linesman and referee did not see it that way – I think we shouldn’t have been 1-0 down at half time, I think we were the better team in the first half.”

Rangnick added: “In the second half, I don’t know if the game was played for more than two minutes without somebody lying on the floor.

“I think there were some curious refereeing decisions. I wouldn’t necessarily say they were decisive, maybe the one before they scored, but I think the referee made it pretty easy for Atletico to do their time-wasting antics and that didn’t make it any easier for us.

“It was frustrating and difficult for us in the second half. From normal play, we didn’t produce that many chances.”

Atletico coach Simeone was, however, full of praise for his team’s commitment.

“This team will dive into a swimming pool whether there is water in it or not,” he said. “When the team works as a team like this, it excites me. We were competitive.

“The goal gave us the advantage and in the second half there was brilliant collective work, one of the best this season, which leaves me happy.”

‘Man Utd need cleaning out’

Waddle says the club needs “cleaning out” and have a lot of rebuilding to do.

“Thomas Tuchel has been mentioned as the potential next manager of Manchester United, because of the state Chelsea are in, but will he look at it and think ‘wow, this is a massive job, where do we start?’,”

“It needs cleaning out. They need a scouting system, they need a youth system again. It is basically starting from scratch. They have let themselves run and thought money would bail them out, and it hasn’t.

“They need to start from the beginning, get the right personnel in and you are talking years before they will be able to compete with Manchester City.

“Manchester United have got a lot of rebuilding to do. They have got to put their focus on getting into the top four and make sure of Champions League football next season.”

Formula 1’s safety car rules have been changed to make it impossible for a race to be conducted in the manner of 2021’s controversial title decider.

Michael Masi was removed from his role as race director last month as a result of failing to apply the rules correctly in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Masi’s actions had a direct result on the outcome of the world championship.

Governing body the FIA has now made it clear “all” lapped cars must un-lap themselves before a restart.

The change replaces the phrasing in last year’s rules, which said “any” lapped cars between the leaders should overtake and join the back of the field before a restart after a safety car.

Masi’s decision to allow only the cars between race leader Lewis Hamilton and title rival Max Verstappen to un-lap before a restart was at the heart of the Abu Dhabi controversy.

It meant not all drivers in the field were treated equally – as lapped cars between Verstappen and third-placed Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, and others further down the field, were left in place.

McLaren’s Lando Norris said the climax to the race had been “made for TV” and his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo added: “I’m glad I wasn’t part of that.”

Hamilton had dominated the race and was on his way to an eighth world title. But after the restart the Mercedes driver was left exposed on old tyres and passed by Verstappen’s Red Bull, earning the Dutchman a maiden championship.

Verstappen’s Red Bull team used this as an argument that Masi had not erred in his procedures and the result should stand. And the stewards also used it to retro-fit a justification for Masi’s actions and keep the outcome in place after Mercedes lodged an appeal after the race.

The second rule at the heart of the Abu Dhabi controversy has been left unchanged.

This is the requirement the race must be restarted “at the end of the following lap” after the message is relayed that lapped cars may now overtake.

Masi ignored this rule and restarted the race at the end of the lap on which he had ordered only some lapped cars to pass the leaders.

Had he followed the rules as intended on this aspect, the race would not have restarted and Hamilton would have been world champion.

The rule changes are the latest in a series of moves by the FIA that amount to an effective admission Masi made mistakes in his handling of the Abu Dhabi race.

The first was the admission that the controversy was “tarnishing the image” of F1 and the decision to launch an inquiry into what had happened.

After conducting the inquiry, Masi was removed as race director and replaced by two two new officials who will alternate in the role, Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich.

And the support structure in race control was beefed up, including the establishment of a department similar to football’s video assistant referee (VAR) and the return of F1 veteran Herbie Blash in an advisory role to the race directors.

Blash, 73, was the right-hand man of former FIA F1 director Charlie Whiting, whose death on the eve of the 2019 season led to Masi being appointed race director.

A full report into the events of Abu Dhabi is expected to be published during this weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

It is widely accepted within F1 that Masi did not follow the rules correctly.

The closest there has been to an explicit admission of that fact by the FIA has been an interview by executive director of single-seaters Peter Bayer.

He said that, had Mercedes pursued their appeal, it would likely have been decided that “it’s different in the regulations, he [Masi] decided that [other] way, so we could just void the result”

Had the race been declared void, Verstappen would still have been champion as he started the event ahead in the championship by virtue of results count back.