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THE NATION MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2014

SPORT EXTRA Doctor advises referees to shun alcohol before matches

AUL Onyeudo, a medical doctor with the National Sports Commission (NSC), has advised football referees to shun alcohol before matches to enable them be in control of their games. Onyeudo, a Deputy Director at the NSC, gave the advice in Abuja on Saturday while delivering a lecture titled, ``Fitness for Referees,’’ at the FIFA Member Association (MA) Course. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Course is for Elite Referees, Technical Instructors, Referee Assessors and Physical Fitness Instructors. Onyeudo said that alcohol caused too much urination which could lead to dehydration for the referee. ``Dehydration can lead to fatigue and referees must ensure adverse events do not mar the game,’’ he said. According to him, it will be abnormal and unpleasant for a referee to be changed or match halted for a referee to urinate. He, therefore, noted that referees

must be healthy and to avoid being substituted in a game. The medical doctor pointed out that referees must submit themselves to pre-season medical assessment with emphasis on the lungs and muscles. ``All existing medical conditions must be identified and controlled. These include hypertension, diabetes mellitus, exercise-induced asthma, febrile illness, arrhythmias and other cardiac abnormalities. ``Healthy practices which involves good nutrition must be followed; tobacco, stimulants and caffeine should be avoided,’’ Onyeudo added. He noted that football had changed from what it used to be in the past, adding that referees seen as ``professional athletes’’ must have good health programme to remain fit. The lecture marked the end of a five-day FIFA MA Course supervised by former FIFA referee, Lim Chong, from Mauritius.

Commander commiserates with Ultimate Warrior’s family

• Begins consultations for ‘Nelson Mandela’

OMMONWEALTH Nations and America U n i f y i n g Championship Universal Professional Wrestling Federation’s (UPWF) world champion, Nigeria’s Osita Offor, also known as De Ultimate Commander, yesterday described the death of American wrestling icon, The Ultimate Warrior, as a huge loss not only to the US, but also to the entire sports world. Speaking when condoling with the United States of America and the family of the late Ultimate Warrior, De Commander described the American wrestling legend as one of the role models who ‘made me interested in wrestling. He was such a brilliant wrestler, who brought flair, flamboyance and drama to the profession. “Alongside Hulk Hogan, Jake the Snake and Shaun Michaels, among others, the Ultimate Warrior made wrestling a must watch for many Nigerian homes. That I am now a top wrestler is partly because of the seed he sowed in me early in my life. If I knew he would die so soon, I would have asked him some of the questions that have been on my mind for so long. May his soul rest in peace.” Speaking on the forthcoming Nelson Mandela Commonwealth Nations and America Unifying Championship, which will take Nigerian, American, Canadian,

South African and European wrestlers to South Africa, Britain, the US, Canada and Nigeria in celebration of the late South African legend, Dr. Nelson Mandela, De Ultimate Commander said he has been in consultation with top local and foreign wrestlers to ensure that he emerges from the bouts with his title still intact. “I have been in touch with my coach, Jimmy Superfly Snuka, as well as the Barbarian and Earthquake because they are the ones in charge of my training. I am also training locally here with Jimmy Palm because I want this title to remain in Nigeria. If you look at the belt, even though I am the world champion, Nigeria’s flag is not among those emblazoned on it. The authorities are waiting for me to confirm my superiority to other wrestlers before they put Nigeria on the belt, so that is why I am leaving no stone unturned in my quest to defend the title successfully.” De Commander said the Mandela Championship will begin in the South African cities of Johannesburg and Durban on July 18 and 20 respectively, hold in Lagos (July 25), Abia (July 27) and two cities in Britain on August 1 and 3, 2014. On August 9 and 16, the championship will hold in the United States’ cities of Dallas and North Carolina on August 9 and 16, while the Canada leg on August 23 will round off the programme.

•Onazi celebrates his goal against Napoli

Onazi scores first Serie A goal of the season

AZIO midfielder Eddy Onazi registered his first goal in the Italian Championship for close to a year against Napoli in the 33rd round. But the capital team lost 4 - 2

reopen the race for a few minutes,” the website said on the former My People FC starlet. Onazi last struck in the Serie A on May 8, 2013 in the 3 - 1 away win over Inter Milan.

than hit the outside of the post when unopposed eight yards from goal. The game then changed dramatically in a three-minute spell around the quarter-hour mark. Chico Flores was booked for a cynical foul on Willian, and when he then repeated the trick on the edge of his own box on Andre Schurrle, referee Phil Dowd eventually decided it

was worthy of a second yellow card. Swansea manager Gary Monk raged at the fourth official by the dugout, while Chico grumbled in the same direction as he went down the tunnel. Chelsea knew then that the remainder of the game should be one-way traffic, and it proved to be largely the case. Samuel Eto’o screwed a poor

shot wide from a great position when the ball dropped to him six yards out in the second half, but moments later Chelsea made the breakthrough. Nemanja Matic laid the ball on a plate for Ba with a long ball from midfield and the Chelsea striker’s shot took a deflection on its way beyond Michael Vorm in the Swansea goal.

Sone Aluko helps Hull reach FA Cup final

ONE Aluko looked good and in fine form when he came on as a 46th minute substitute as Hull City got a 53 victory over Sheffield United to secure passage into the final of the FA Cup on Sunday. Hull will play Arsenal in the final on May 17 at Wembley. The Tigers twice came from behind to win the high scoring encounter. Jose Baxter opened scoring for Sheffield in the 19th minute before Yannick Sagbo equalised three minutes before half time. The League One side retook the lead two minutes later via Steven Scougall and went into the break with the advantage. Hull came back firing soon after Aluko came on and equalised four minutes after the restart via Matt Fryatt and Tom Huddlestone gave them

their first lead of the game on 54 minutes. Stephen Quinn scored to make it 4-2 on 67 minutes in what seemed like the game was beyond Sheffield but Jamie Murphy’s strike on 90 minutes meant that the Premier League side would endure a nervy finish as their opponents searched for the equaliser. David Meyler put the game beyond reach for Hull in the third minute of added-on time for 5-3 as Steve Bruce’s side marched on to the final where Arsenal awaits. The Gunners triumphed over Wigan on Saturday via penalties after regulation ended 1-1. Aluko would hope to enter into the history books among the illustrious

Nigerian players to have won the FA Cup. He would follow in the footsteps of such names like Daniel Amokachi, Nwankwo Kanu, Celestine Babayaro, John

Utaka and John Obi Mikel. It could also underline his push to be part of the Nigeria squad to the World Cup as Stephen Keshi continues to mull over his final team.

•Hull players celebrates their 4-2 victory over Sheffield United

2014 WORLD CUP: Rep harps on early preparations

•Ultimate Commander

the Super Eagles’ player highly after the encounter at the Stadio San Paolo, Napoli. “He grew in the second half, throwing himself into it with pride in the final. Scored the equalizer to

Demba Ba claims 1-0 win for Chelsea

HELSEA made hard work of playing against 10 men for 74 minutes of the match against Swansea, but Demba Ba’s second-half goal was enough to keep them two points behind Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table. Mohamed Salah came close for Chelsea after six minutes but should have done better

to Napoli with Argentina international Gonzalo Higuaín netting a second half hat - trick for the Naples bases outfit. The editors of Tuttomercatoweb.com rated

member the House of Representatives and Deputy Chairman Committee on Sports, Hon. Ayo Omidiran has harped on early preparations for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Omidiran, who spoke during the House of Representatives Press Corps’ “ Hot Seat” series at the weekend, said this is necessary in order to achieve success at the tournament. “Football is played on the field in 90 minutes, including extra time, not on paper. Nigeria needs to prepare and also pray for goodluck in the tournament,” she said.

From Victor Oluwasegun, Abuja The lawmaker who represents Ayedaade/ Irewole/Isokan Federal Constituency of Osun State, however expressed optimism that Coach, Stephen Keshi will lead the Super Eagles to the 2014 World Cup. According to her, the Super Eagles have equal chances as other participating teams at the World Cup. She, however, said she was unaware of any plan by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) to hire a Technical Adviser for Super Eagles. Her words: “To the best of

my knowledge, I don’t know of any plan by the football authorities to hire a Technical Adviser. These kind of reports will only serve as a distraction to the team and it will not help us in the build-up to the 2014 World Cup.” Speaking on the recently passed 2014 budget, Omidiran denied the insinuations that her party the All Progressives Congress (APC) ordered its members in the National Assembly to delay the passage of the 2914 budget unnecessarily. “We were not instructed to delay passage of the 2014 budget unnecessarily, in spite of different

interpretations given to the instruction from our party leaders. “Budgets are done at committee stage, the APC had half of the entire members in the House during the period in question and we scrutinized the budget at the committee level. We have done what we are supposed to do and it does warrant the passage of the budget, remember three months have already passed. “We were being blackmailed by some people that APC does not mean well for Nigerians, but yesterday (Thursday) we showed the whole country that it is not true”