COLLAPSE OF CEASEFIRE: MEND issues two-week ultimatum

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 10, 2016 — 47
Serena beats Kerber to win 7th
Wimbledon title
SERENA Williams won her record-tying 22nd Grand
Slam title by beating Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3 in
the Wimbledon final yesterday.
Williams pulled even with Steffi Graf for the most
major championships in the open era, which
began in 1968. Now, Williams stands behind
only Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24.
This was Williams’ seventh singles trophy
at the All England Club and second
in a row. Her victory at Wimbledon a year
ago raised her Grand Slam count to 21,
but while she came close to adding
to that total since, she couldn’t
quite do it.
The 34-year-old American
beat her German opponent,
seeded fourth for
this year’s tournament, in
straight sets on Centre
Court yesterday.
Kerber, 28, defeated Williams
in the Australian Open
final and pressed her hard
in the first set before being
bested comfortably in the second.
There was a stunning loss to
Roberta Vinci in the US Open semifinals in September,
ending Williams’ bid for a calendar-year Grand
France v Portugal
Continued from back page
reaching the final of Euro
2016 on home soil has generated
a wonderful feelgood factor
across the whole country.
The celebrations on Paris
streets went long into the
early hours of Friday as they
ready for today’s match in the
capital city.
But as coach Didier
Deschamps says, the host nation
have not won nothing yet
even though they will start
favourites to beat a Portugal
side that only hit form during
their own semifinal against
Wales.
France are going for their
third European crown having
won the trophy in 1984 when
they also hosted and again in
2000 in Belgium and Netherlands.
They were also the hosts
when they won their only World
Cup title in 1998.
Portugal by contrast have yet
to go all the way in a major
tournament and their win
against Wales was their first at
Euro 2016 inside the regulation
Yusuf
Continued from back page
Yusuf is one of three coaches
on the NFF short list for the
Super Eagles job.
However, it has been
gathered that the NFF will on
July 18, 2016 consider either
Paul Le Guen or Tom Saintfiet
for the top Eagles post, while
also getting Yusuf on board but
as chief coach with a
Yakubu makes shock return to
English football
W
HEN Jaap Stam’s
new team took the field at
Boreham Wood’s tidy Meadow
Park ground yesterday, all eyes
were on a figure in the home team’s
attack. A figure familiar to Reading
fans, to boot.
Yakubu Aiyegbini, scorer of 21
goals in 57 international
appearances for Nigeria, was back
playing on English soil for the first
time since his release by the
Berkshire club in May 2015.
A post from Boreham Wood’s
official twitter account announced
the striker, who last season played
12 times, without scoring, for
Turkish Super Lig side
Kayserispor, would feature for the
National League outfit in their
friendly meeting with the Royals.
Murray
Continued from back page
Novak Djokovic, Roger
Federer or Rafael Nadal.
Murray finds himself in the
unusual position of favourite
with fate seemingly doing its
best to make sure the British
star captures a third career
Grand Slam crown.
It will also be Murray’s first
final from 11 at the majors
Slam.
Then came losses in finals
to Kerber at the Australian
Open in January, and to
Garbine Muguruza at the
French Open last month.
90 minutes.
Having finished as runners
up to Greece on home soil in
2004 they were also semifinalists
on three occasions – 1984,
2000, 2012. Are they destined
again to finish up as the nearly
men of European football at the
Stade de France today?
renegotiated contract and
more responsibilities.
Already a number of top
personalities have reached out
to the former Enyimba and
Kano Pillars coach to accept
this role.
“The officials want Salisu to
work with the foreign coach,
not under him. He will
understudy the new man with
the plan to take over the team
thereafter,” an official
informed.
“They hope they can get him
to agree this new arrangement
especially as he will bring
continuity to the team having
worked with most of the
country’s players for more
than a year.
“He will also be given more
responsibilities, like heading
the home-based Eagles, which
as assistant Eagles coach, he
did not enjoy. “And all his
unpaid salaries will also be
cleared.”
where he hasn’t faced either
Djokovic or Federer against
whom he has lost eight times.
And if Murray needed any
more convincing that this will
be the year when he adds to
his 2012 US Open and 2013
Wimbledon titles it’s seeing
Ivan Lendl back in his
coaching corner. It was the
Czech who oversaw the
Briton’s triumphs in New York
and London.
Is Nigeria going to the Olympics?
WHO do you blame in this instance? A child that fails an impor
tant examination, not because of want of trying or for not being
brilliant or his father who failed in his duties to provide the son with
the relevant materials to write the exam.
In the matter at hand here, preparation for the quadrennial ritual
‘examination’ for Nigerian athletes, otherwise called Olympic Games,
started four years ago and Nigeria knew her athletes will compete
among other athletes from over 200 countries around the globe.
Because of the disastrous outing at the last Games in London, a concerned
government put up a machinery to begin early preparation
and ensure that a repeat of the woeful outing four years ago is avoided.
However, with 26 days to the Rio Games today, no lesson seemed
to have been learned by those President Muhammadu Buhari put incharge
of Nigeria’s sports.
Nobody should blame the president if Nigeria fails in Rio or better
still, if Team Nigeria come back worse than they did four years ago in
London. Why do I say so? Shortly before the African Games in Congo
last year, President Buhari met a budget for the Games as well as
preparation for the Rio Games. After being briefed by the man at the
helm in the absence of a cabinet minister, Alhassan Yakmut, then DG
of the now defunct National Sports Commission, who scaled down
the seemingly bloated budget, President Buhari gladly approved N2.9
billion for the NSC, with a proviso that Yakmut must give him account
of his spendings.
The president was elated when Team Nigeria improved from her
third position at the 2011 African Games in Maputo, Mozambique to
second behind South Africa at the Congo Games last year. He gladly
assured the NSC Director General that he would reward the athletes
who brought honour to the country. And he did, also including other
athletes from other competitions in 2015.
As Yakmut was getting set to prepare Team Nigeria for the Rio Games,
a minister was appointed for sports. He had forwarded some fund
from the balance left from the N2.9 billion after the Congo Games to
the Nigeria Olympic Committee, NOC for part payment of accommodation
and flight tickets for Team Nigeria.
Plans were afoot for both local and foreign training tours for the
athletes to tune them up for the great task that awaits them in Rio. The
athletes were expectant and looked forward to it because Yakmut promised
them of good welfare before the African Games and he delivered.
He did not stay to carry out his plan and dream for the athletes as he
was posted out from the sports ministry to the Niger Delta ministry.
He did not leave without handing over to his successors, Barrister
Solomon Dalung, the new sports minister and the Permanent Secretary,
Mr Christian Ohaa, he said.
Nigerians were not told that Yakmut failed to hand over before he
left. And Yakmut has come out to say that from the over N640 million
he left behind from the N2.9 billion, the sports minister instructed
him to give the NFF some amount from it to prosecute one of their
programmes.
Yet, the minister has consistently maintained that no account has
been given on how the N2.9 billion was spent. Worse still, he said that
there is no money with which teams which qualified for the Olympics
could prepare for the Games.
Surprisingly too, no effort has been made to recall or summon Yakmut
to say what he knows about the money allegedly ‘missing’ from
the sports ministry’s account. In a government that prides itself as
one fighting corruption?
As a result of this, our teams going for the Olympics are left in the
lurch. The sports ministry is like a ghost town these days because the
staff have little or nothing to do. All because no funds to prepare Team
Nigeria athletes. Yet, Nigerians, including the minister, expect them
to perform wonders in Rio.
As you read this, the U-23 football team are living on borrowed money
in Atlanta. And it is reported to be for only 10 days, after which they
may be thrown into the streets for lack of money. There is no word
from the sports ministry, and the NOC, which takes athletes, on behalf
of the government, to Games of this nature, on whether money
would be sent to the team in the US or not.
But for the luck the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF has in
securing a sponsor for the national team, the skeletal or low profile
training camp in Los Angeles for the men’s senior basketball team,
the D’Tigers as well as the tournament they just attended in China,
would have been a mirage. The losers so far are the home-based players
and some technical officials who haven’t been able to join the
team’s Los Angeles camp for now.
Which team is not affected? Is it athletics which found it difficult sending
its athletes to Durban, South Africa to qualify for the Olympics for
some and tune up others who had already qualified? Or is it the wrestling
federation whose president, Dr. Daniel Igali has consistently cried
out over the poor preparation which he described as “‘the worst in the
history of our Olympic participation?”
Dr. Igali managed to take six of his wrestlers to Spain for the Grand
Prix there at the weekend to tune them up for the Olympics. It is not
clear how the federation raised the money for the trip. That is the sad
story about Nigeria and Team Nigeria.
The saddest thing however, is that the minister is neither looking for
the money Yakmut has said he left behind nor making any alternative
arrangement to source funds for Team Nigeria to get the final preparation
for the Olympics. His pre-occupation for now, 26 days to the Olympics,
is who makes the trip to Illah, Delta state for the burial of our
football legend, late Stephen Okechukwu Chinedu Keshi. Yes, Keshi
deserves a befitting burial, but is it Dalung’s sole responsibility?