Sports
Akwa Ibom Agog for Naija Super 8 Play-offs
By Dipo Olowookere
Lovers of Nigerian football are getting a back-to-back dose of exciting local football games after the conclusion of the English Premier League season last month won by Manchester City.
The grasses in the Eket Township Stadium in Akwa Ibom are about to get busy with the commencement of the much-awaited Naija Super 8 Play-offs.
The competition is starting today, Friday, June 23, 2023, a few days after the conclusion of the Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL) won by Enyimba and the Federation Cup won by Insurance of Benin.
The play-offs will see two teams, which polled the highest number of fan votes from each of the six geo-political zones of the country during the fan voting phase of the competition, battle for the ticket to represent the zone at the main Naija Super 8 tournament slated for the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos from July 7 to 16.
Hostilities begin today with the North-Central zonal battle between City FC of Abuja and Lobi Stars of Makurdi at 1 pm. In the second match of the day, the duel for the South-West ticket will be between Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan (3SC) and Remo Stars of Ikenne at 4 pm.
All Naija Super 8 play-off matches will be live on SuperSport Football (DStv channel 205 & GOtv channel 61), SuperSport Variety 4 (DStv channel 209), and SuperSport Select 2 (GOtv ch 64).
On Saturday, Yobe Desert Stars will face Gombe United in a North-East zonal battle at 1 pm, while Enyimba FC of Aba will slug it out with Heartland FC of Owerri in what promises to be a fiery South-East derby at 4 pm.
The ever-fervent North-West derby between Kano Pillars and Katsina United will kick off at 1 pm on Sunday, while the play-offs will end with the South-South derby between Rivers United and Bendel Insurance of Benin starting at 4 pm. Each of the play-off matchdays will feature musical entertainment, with an artiste line-up of Ikpa Udo, Pasto Goody Goody and XTO.
Winners of the six matches will be joined by two wildcard teams to be unveiled by the organisers for the main Naija Super 8 tournament in July.
The finals will see clubs split into two groups to play in a tournament format. The top two teams in each group will go into the semi-finals, with the winners proceeding to the final.
Clubs will earn N3 million per match at the group stage, with semi-finalists also earning an additional N3 million for qualifying. The runners-up will earn N9 million, while the winners will go home with N25 million.
Naija Super 8 is organised by Flykite Productions in partnership with MultiChoice Nigeria, with MTN, Hero Lager, DStv, GOtv, SuperSport, Moniepoint, Pepsi and Custodian Assurance as sponsors.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s Super Falcons have failed to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup after suffering a 2-1 defeat to South Africa in their play-off encounter on Thursday night.
The Nigerian team, reeling from a 1-0 loss to Cameroon in the quarter-finals of the CAF Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) on Sunday, showed no signs of putting their misery to bed as they went two goals down to the Bayana Bayana team. It took a late penalty scored by Christy Uchebe to halve the deficit after the South Africans went down to 10 players.
The Super Falcons needed a victory against their opponents to progress to the next stage of the qualification process and secure one of the two available tickets to the intercontinental play-offs. The defeat ended their hopes of making it to the 2027 tournament, which will be hosted by Brazil.
The result brings an end to Nigeria’s remarkable record of appearing at every edition of the Women’s World Cup since the tournament was first held in 1991.
The play-offs were introduced to determine the final African representatives after four teams were eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
Two qualification tickets were available, with Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire battling for the opportunity to advance.
Ghana secured one of the available tickets after defeating Côte d’Ivoire 2-1, while South Africa claimed the other following their victory over the Super Falcons.
The Super Falcons had featured in all previous editions of the tournament, making their absence from the 2027 World Cup a significant moment in the history of Nigerian women’s football.
It also raises fresh questions about the direction of Nigerian national football after the Super Eagles also failed to qualify for the recently concluded FIFA World Cup held in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.
European football returns with a bang as the new season kicks off. The dust has barely settled on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but European football wastes no time getting back to business. Over the next two weeks, the continent’s prominent competitions will launch in quick succession, giving fans a dense run of fixtures across the UEFA Super Cup, the FA Community Shield, La Liga, the Premier League and Serie A.
Paris Saint-Germain, fresh off back-to-back Champions League triumphs, faces Aston Villa in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday 12 August at 8pm which will be airing on Supersport across DStv & GOtv, with the French side chasing a second successive Super Cup crown against an Aston Villa team that has become an increasingly serious force in European competition.
England’s traditional curtain-raiser follows four days later. The FA Community Shield, staged in Cardiff on Sunday 16 August at 3pm, pits Premier League champions Arsenal against FA Cup holders Manchester City, the latter beginning life under new manager Enzo Maresca, while Arsenal look to reinforce their status as the team to beat.
Spain gets moving over the same weekend, with La Liga’s opening round running from Saturday 15 to Monday 17 August. Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have all been given extended rest following Spain’s World Cup win, leaving the door open for the chasing pack to set an early pace before Matchday 2 arrives from 20 to 24 August.
The Premier League then starts the following weekend, running from Friday 21 to Monday 24 August. Champions Arsenal open their title defence at home to promoted Coventry, before a full round of fixtures featuring Manchester United, Tottenham, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, among others, round out the opening weekend. Serie A joins the calendar on the same weekend, from 22 to 24 August, with holders Inter Milan starting their title defence against Monza and Napoli, Juventus, Milan and Roma all in early action.
With five major competitions launching inside a fortnight, the new European season promises an unrelenting start. All the action will be available live on SuperSport, across DStv and GOtv.
A blockbuster week of sporting action awaits DStv and GOtv subscribers, with the decisive stages of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), UEFA Super Cup, FA Community Shield and Trophée des Champions among the major attractions.
Football takes centre stage as WAFCON reaches its business end in Morocco, with the semi-finals scheduled for Wednesday.
Defending champions Nigeria will not be involved after the Super Falcons were eliminated by Cameroon in the quarter-finals, losing 1-0. Their exit means a new champion will be crowned when the tournament concludes on Sunday.
The first semi-final will see Algeria face Malawi on Wednesday before hosts Morocco take on Cameroon at 21:00 WAT, later in the day. Both matches will be broadcast live on SuperSport. The third-place play-off is scheduled for Saturday, with the final taking place in Rabat on Sunday at 20:00 WAT.
European silverware will also be at stake on Wednesday when Paris Saint-Germain face Aston Villa in the UEFA Super Cup at Stadion Salzburg in Austria. The fixture pits Champions League winners PSG against Europa League winners Aston Villa and will be shown live on SuperSport 20:00 WAT.
The action continues on Sunday with the FA Community Shield, as Arsenal take on Manchester 15:00 WAT. The traditional curtain-raiser for the English season will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
French football will also have early-season silverware at stake when Lens host PSG in the Trophee des Champions on Sunday at Stade Bollaert-Delelis. The match kicks off at 20:00 WAT and will be live on SuperSport.
The new La Liga season gets underway on Saturday, with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and the other leading Spanish clubs beginning their campaigns.
Beyond football, cricket fans will have plenty to enjoy as The Hundred reaches its climax on Sunday, with the women’s final followed by the men’s final. Both matches will be available on SuperSport Cricket.
Combat sports will also take the spotlight with UFC 330 from Philadelphia on Saturday, adding another major attraction to SuperSport’s weekend line-up.
