Sports
Paris 2024 Olympics: Minister Apologises For Nigeria’s Poor Outing
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s Minister of Sports Development, Mr John Enoh, has apologised to Nigerians over the country’s poor outing at the just-concluded 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Nigeria finished the competition without a medal, a feat that was last recorded in the 2012 edition of the global sporting event in London.
The country’s poor performance this year sparked outrage from citizens amid complaints from athletes of bad preparations and lack of facilities to compete properly despite President Bola Tinubu approving N12 billion for the Olympics and the Paralympics.
In a statement on Sunday, Mr Enoh said the team had fallen short of expectations.
“The Olympic Games, Paris 2024, have ended, and I accept that our performance should have been a lot better. It obviously fell short of our objectives, expectations, and hopes of Nigerians. I must apologize to our compatriots and reflect on what went wrong while looking forward to the Paralympic Games, Paris 2024 (August 28 – September 8th).
“When I assumed office as the Minister of Sports Development in August 2023, I was confronted with the task of executing four international competitions namely the AFCON, the African Games,the Olympic and Paralympic Games in a matter of a few months. I was also reminded that the Olympic Games is the world’s supreme sports competition, and countries require at least four years to prepare for it. I held extensive discussions with the management staff of the Ministry and got to know that preparations for the Olympics, which was less than a year away, had not started.
“In the true Nigerian spirit, it was our view that we should spare no effort to sustain the international sports image of our country. Our target was to re-enact the Atlanta 1996 performance or even improve on it.
“To this end, we embarked on a progressive approach to drive forward the performance of our athletes and coaches. In my first week in office, I requested all National Sports Federations to furnish me with plans and programmes. I also embarked on a nationwide inspection of our sports facilities.
“Subsequently, I constituted a Ministerial Podium Performance Advisory Committee comprising seasoned sports performance professionals to drive our preparations. At this time, we had hardly qualified for the Olympics in any sport.
“We focused on both the AFCON and the African Games (both of which were happening in quick succession)while our athletes also participated in Olympic and Paralympic qualification tournaments. This had the disadvantage of compelling the athletes to attain peak performances several times within a short space of time.
“I was also enlightened that athletes of many countries had qualified almost one year ago and had already structured their training programmes for the Olympics. We were not deterred.
“I convened a series of meetings involving the Presidents of the National Sports Federations, their Technical Directors, and Secretaries General. These meetings examined the preparations for the competitions.
“The Ministerial Podium Performance Advisory Committee was in attendance to discuss and streamline methodologies and training methods in the best possible way, considering the time constraints.
“After the African Games, subsequent meetings were limited to the Federations that had bright chances of qualifying for the Olympics. Medals projections were made by all the Federations, although their athletes were still trying to qualify;which lasted until about June 2024. The concerned Federations obviously prioritized qualification over preparations for the Games. This seems to have always been the case. This has to change.
“At the end of the qualification period, the selection of athletes and coaches was the absolute responsibility of each Federation. A few attempts to question selection after I got complaints were strongly resisted and defended.
“To achieve our targets, we approved onshore training in different locations in the country in addition to the offshore training camps for our teams in Saarbrucken, Germany, and Sevilla, Spain. Ten out of the eleven sports trained in Germany.
“The choice of the training facilities in Germany was based on the very positive recommendations of the Ministry team and included the President of one of our Federations who as a former world champion and Olympic gold medal winner, is quite familiar with Olympic-standard facilities and equipment.
“At the training camp, the Ministerial Podium Performance Advisory Committee offered scientific preparation and mental strength training support. The very high quality of their participation was confirmed by independent sources comprising athletes, coaches, and team administrators.
“In all these, the President and Commander in Chief of the Federation, HE Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ensured that funds were not a limiting factor. Athletes’ competition requirements were provided, allowances were paid early, and training grants were disbursed to all athletes.I made myself readily available to deal with any issue throughout the competition. Therefore, the underwhelming performance of our team is puzzling. We owe Nigerians an explanation.
“As a responsible organisation, we have swung into a review process. We shall evaluate the competition readiness of every athlete comprehensively, including their injury and medical history within the limits of patient confidentiality. The role of coaches and administrative staff will also be examined.
“There must be a lot of lessons to learn from our performance and improvements must be made in all ramifications. The last time we returned from the Olympics without a medal was in 2012.The next two Olympics after that we’ve had a bronze medal in 2016 and a silver and bronze in the 2020 Olympics. As a country, we deserve more. Let’s turn the disastrous outcome of the 2024 Olympics to a huge positive for Nigerian sports,” the apology letter read.
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Tools at the Player’s Aid
Most online casinos include features for self-exclusion, setting deposit limits, and reality checks that may enable responsible gaming.
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Just imagine being inside a virtual casino playing games and communicating with other players, as if you were sitting across from each other. This is the reality that VR technology is bringing into being.
Cryptocurrency and Blockchain
Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, are becoming increasingly popular. They provide quicker transactions with added security. Fairness in gaming is ensured through the transparency provided by blockchain technology.
By Dipo Olowookere
The former manager of Mali’s national football team, Mr Eric Chelle, has been appointed as the new head coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagles.
The appointment of Mr Chelle was announced on Tuesday night by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
The first job of the new coach will be to guide the home-base Super Eagles team to victory at the 2024 CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN) co-hosted by the trio of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania from February 1–28, 2025.
He will work with the current Super Eagles B coaching staff, which includes Daniel Ogunmodede, Fidelis Ilechukwu, and Olatunji Baruwa, who successfully guided the team through CHAN qualifiers.
The biennial football tournament is organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and sponsored by an oil giant, TotalEnergies.
Mr Chelle would be expected to deploy his tactics to ensure a successful outing of the home-based Super Eagles at the competition and also revive the main team, according to the president of the NFF, Mr Ibrahim Gusau.
“We want whoever takes charge of the team to begin immediately, which is why the same coach will manage the CHAN Eagles.
“This allows us to identify promising home-based players who can contribute to the senior national team,” he stated.
Business Post reports that the new coach was favoured for the new job by the Technical and Development Sub-Committee of the federation and endorsed by the executive committee.
One of his biggest tasks will be to qualify the Super Eagles for the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States of America (USA).
At the moment, Nigeria occupies fifth position and will play the next qualifiers in two months’ time.
Mr Chelle led the Mali national team to quarterfinals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. He is the latest foreign coach appointed by the NFF to manage the country’s national team.
The race for the first silverware of the 2024/25 season intensifies as Premier League leaders Liverpool and second-placed Arsenal will be in Carabao Cup semifinal action this midweek.
Arsenal will host Newcastle United in the first leg at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, while Liverpool travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday. Both matches will be broadcast live on GOtv Channel 65 at 9 PM.
Fresh from their impressive 2-1 victory over Tottenham on Saturday, Newcastle will aim to build on their momentum and secure a favorable result ahead of the second leg at St. James’ Park. The Magpies have already defeated Arsenal 1-0 earlier this season, and another strong performance could leave the Gunners with a steep hill to climb in the second leg.
Newcastle will be without their influential captain, Bruno Guimarāes due to suspension, while Arsenal battle with illness issues in the squad which has seen Kai Havertz miss the last two matches.
Arsenal, who haven’t lifted the Carabao Cup in 31 years, view this competition as a vital chance for silverware, especially with their league title hopes fading.
On the other side of North London, Tottenham Hotspur face defending champions Liverpool, hoping to avoid a repeat of their 6-3 thrashing by their visitors just 17 days ago. Spurs have managed just one win in their last eight matches at home in all competitions—a narrow 4-3 victory over Manchester United in the quarterfinal. Their last taste of silverware came 17 years ago when they won this competition.
Meanwhile, Liverpool, who have lost just one match all season, are chasing an ambitious quadruple. A victory over Spurs on Wednesday would put them on the brink of securing a spot in the final at Wembley.
Football fans can enjoy all Carabao Cup matches, Premier League, Serie A, Laliga and Champions League action live by reconnecting or upgrading to the GOtv Super Plus package. Simply dial *288# to renew or upgrade your subscription.
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