Friday, November 10, 2017
EXTRATIME
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Stories by Frank Jumbo with Agency reports ver 300 Taekwondoists drawn from across the world would feature at the 4th edition of the Lagos State Taekwondo International Classics holding from November 23-25, 2017 at Sir Molade Okoya Thomas Multipurpose Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos. A breakdown of the figures shows that
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Taekwondoists storm Lagos for Classics
Basketball: 5 clubs for continental championship
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the host country Nigeria is topping the list with the highest number of athletes while Ghana, Senegal and Mali are leading the pack of foreign athletes coming for the big event that would be used to round off the 2017 Taekwondo activities in the state. Reacting to the number of entries received so far, the chairman of the Main Organizing Committee of the championship, Jimmy Ogunowo,
ark Mentors, Civil Defence, Kano Pillars, Rivers Hoopers and Gombe Bulls will represent Nigeria at the 2017 FIBA Africa Zone 3 Club Championship elimination series starting on Saturday. Executive board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) took this decision on Tuesday following series of extensive deliberations with FIBA Africa and relevant basketball stakeholders in Nigeria. Speaking on behalf of the federation, the NBBF President, Musa Kida, said the board decided to accommodate more clubs in the overall interest of the game in the country as part of their policies when they came on board. “I the light of prevailing circumstances, based on consultations and advice from FIBA Zone 3, it became expedient to give Kano Pillars and Gombe Bulls another chance to participate in the Zone 3 Club Championship in Lagos 11th - 18th November.” The NBBF said it also added Rivers Hoopers of Port Harcourt for heeding to the directives given by the board to stay away from the unsanctioned competition. “We could not do this and leave out Rivers Hoopers who also heeded the Board’s directive and did not go to play in the non-recognized Final 8 competition in Kano.” The federation said the move was made in the best interest of players who are innocent of infractions committed by their clubs in participating in the national playoff that was not sanctioned by the Kida led NBBF board. The board warned that the latest decision should not be seen as a weakness and a license for clubs to go against the directives of constituted authority in future. According to the federation, the decision was not taken to be politically correct, but in the overall interest of the players who are our clients. The competition will hold between 11th to 18th of November, 2017 at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos.
Ball in net
who is also the chairman of the Lagos State Taekwondo Association said he is not surprised at the encouraging number of entries which appears to be the highest so far in the history of the championship. According to him, Lagos remains as the home of Taekwondo where every stakeholder wants to visit. He thanked their sponsors, Coca-Cola, Afriglobal Insurance
Brokers, NEM Insurance and Indomie for their support in helping to actualize their dream through the sponsorship. He assured that the state will continue to play her leading role in the development of the sport not only in Nigeria but the entire West Africa sub-region. Ogunowo who also confirmed receiving entries from France, Indonesia
Moses, Balogun in Africa WCQ Best XI
Algeria clash tickets up for N925
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he Nigerian duo of Victor Moses and Leon Balogun have been included by the Confederation of African Football ( CAF) in the list of best XI players of the Africa World Cup 2018 Qualifiers. CAF published the names on their site this morning despite having one more rounds to go in the qualifiers, which are scheduled to take place this weekend across the continent. Balogun and Moses have been very impressive for Nigeria during the qualifiers, and they both played a big role in ensuring Nigeria progressed to the World Cup with one game to spare.
and the United Kingdom, insists that the MOC is being very careful in order not to bite more than it could chew, hence the rejection of some entries. He further revealed that besides talent-hunt development and exposure, the classics will also go a long way in showcasing the rich cultural heritage of Lagos State, her hospitality and entertainment to further confirm her state of excellence status.
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Full Team Denis Onyango-Uganda (GK) Serge Aurier-Cote D’Ivoire Ahmed HegazyEgypt Leon Balogun- Nigeria Aly Maaloul-Tunisia Mbark Boussoufa-Morocco Youssef Msakni-Tunisia Sadio Mane-Senegal Victor Moses-Nigeria Khalid Boutaib-Tunisia Mohamed Salah-Egypt
ickets for the Super Eagles’ World Cup qualifier against Fennecs of Algeria scheduled for the Mohamed-Hamlaoui Stadium in Constantine will go for 300 Algerian Dinar (about N925). The management of the Mohamed-Hamlaoui Stadium will begin the sale of 23,000 tickets for the match on Thursday from 1.30 pm till match day, which is Friday, according to lagazettedufennec.com. Kickoff is 8.30pm Nigerian time. The Mohamed Hamlaoui stadium has a 45,000 capacity but crowds at the venue sometimes exceeded above 60,000. The stadium serves as home ground for CS Constantine and MO Constantine. Nigeria lost 2-1 in their last game against Algeria at the Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium in 1981. Lakhdar Belloumi and current coach Raber Madjer were on target for Algeria while Felix Owolabi got the only goal for the then Green Eagles. Nigeria with 13 points from five games are through to the FIFA World Cup in Russia regardless of the result on Friday while Algeria with a point failed to make an impact during qualification.
Ex-player tackles Sunshine over unpaid N5m clearance fee
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ormer Sunshine Stars captain Sunday Abe has been locked in battle with and the Akure Premier League outfit over his clearance fee. Abe dumped Sunshine recently for Albanian Superliga side Teuta Durres to realise his ambition of playing for a big European club someday. Sunshine are alleged to be owing the 26-year-old midfielder N7.36m, being his outstanding five months’ salary, clearance fee and match bonuses for the 2015/2016 season. In his letter to the Ondo State Football Agency, Abe said his former club allegedly breached their contractual agreement with him. The letter read in part, “I wish to humbly request for the balance of my clearance fee, outstanding five months’ allowance and bonuses for the 2015/ 2016 football season amounting to a sum of N7,360,000. “Amazingly, during the current season, the management failed to negotiate a new contract with me as my contract expired in December 2016. But instead of negotiating my clearance, the management went ahead to register me without paying the clearance fee or any agreement.” A source close to Sunshine told our correspondent that a committee set up by the club to look into the cases of old players had earlier met with Abe and recommended to the management of the club to pay their former captain N5m as his clearance fee.
However, the club refused to pay the player after he had been cleared to leave, saying his clearance certificate was issued to him in lieu of the N5m clearance fee. This was contained in a letter addressed to the player dated November 2, 2017 signed by the president of the Ondo State Governmentowned outfit, Mr. Aminu Yusuf. The letter read, “I am directed to inform you that the management of Sunshine Stars still continues to maintain that your clearance was issued to you in lieu of the purported clearance fees of N5m negotiated with the club and other outstanding payments due to you. “It is instructive to inform you that the clearance was issued to you on compassionate ground because there was an abuse of due process and no clear negotiation before you were registered to play for the during the 2016/2017 season.” Not pleased with the development, a source claimed Abe has vowed to return to the country soon to demand his entitlements from Sunshine. However, the Media Officer of the club, Mr. Chris Okunnuwa, said the matter was already with the management and would be resolved soon. He said, “Abe is a our former captain, we don’t maltreat our former players, The new management will look into the matter and it would be resolved soon.”
Sunday Abe