13062021 - Amid protest , Buhari vows:: i can die for Nigeria

PAGE 30 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 13, 2021
Euro 2020 cracker: Sterling set to start England’s
opener against Croatia
Gareth Southgate is
set to unleash an array
of attacking talent
against Croatia today with
Raheem Sterling winning
his race to start the European
Championship opener.
Sterling was awarded an
MBE on Friday night in the
Queen’s Birthday honours
for services to racial equality.
“It’s a proud moment -
not just for myself but for
my family,”he said. England
team-mate Jordan
Henderson won an MBE
too, for services to charity.
And Sterling is expected to
start at Wembley, with Southgate
throwing caution to the
wind in his bid to get off to a
winning start. Doubt had surrounded
whether he would
be in the XI.
Moore rescues Wales against Switzerland
Wales fought back to
draw with Switzerland
in their opening game
of Euro 2020, as Kieffer
Moore marked his return
to the starting line-up with
what could prove to be a
vital equaliser.
In only his third start in
nine matches under interim
manager Robert Page,
the Cardiff City striker was
close to giving Wales an
early lead when his header
was superbly tipped over by
Yann Sommer.
Switzerland took control
of the match from that
point and, after squandering
several chances, they
eventually scored as the impressive
Breel Embolo
headed in from Xherdan
Shaqiri’s corner.
Wales were slow to improve
from their sluggish
start but, with 15 minutes
left, Joe Morrell’s delicately
clipped cross found
Moore, whose flicked
header into the bottom corner
sent the small but loud
pocket of Wales fans in
Baku wild.
Those supporters then
thought their hearts had
been broken 10 minutes
later as Swiss substitute
Mario Gravanovic scored
moments after coming on
- but a VAR check disallowed
his goal for offside.
Switzerland kept pressing
for a winner deep into
added time but were denied
by a series of brilliant saves
from Danny Ward.
Such was the intensity of
the late Swiss pressure, a
draw will have felt like a
great relief for Wales,
whose next game is against
Turkey in Baku on Wednesday.
After Turkey were crushed
3-0 by Italy in Friday’s
tournament opener, Wales’
second match in Baku
could have a significant
bearing on their hopes of
reaching the knockout
stages.
Ajunwa laments dearth of
schools sports in Nigeria
Former African and
Olympics long jump
Champion, Chioma Ajunwa-Opara
has called on Nigerian
sports authorities to
urgently revival school
sports competitions.
Ajunwa, who was speaking
during the Edo State edition
of the Chioma Ajunwa Foundation
Olympic talent hunt,
said it was disheartening that
there is no platform for talented
sports men and women
to be discovered in the
country.
“This is why the Chioma
Ajunwa Foundation has taken
it upon itself to offer the
youngsters an avenue to
showcase their talents.
“We’ve done this in Lagos,
Abia and Edo so far and I
can tell you that the enthusiasm
of students for Sports is
overwhelming.
“Government at all levels
and corporate concerns must
pay attention to school sports
if we are seriously interested
in sports development.”
There was a large turnout
of schools for the Edo State
leg of the talent hunt concluded
at the University of Benin
Sports complex.
The students, mostly female,
participated in athletics
and football and organisers
have drawn a long list of
track and field and football
talents.
“We are glad having this
kind of forum for the kids to
show what they can do in
sports.
Krejcikova wins first French Open
singles title
*Krejcikova
Unseeded Czech Bar
bora Krejcikova
sealed her rapid rise in the
singles game by claiming
a first major title in a
hard-fought French Open
final. Krejcikova, 25, won
6-1 2-6 6-4 against Russian
31st seed Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova at Roland
Garros.
The former doubles
world number one has
won the title on her fifth
appearance in a Grand
Slam singles draw. On
Sunday, Krejcikova has
the chance to win the doubles
when she plays in the
final alongside Katerina
Siniakova. No player has
won both the women’s
singles and doubles titles
at Roland Garros since
France’s Mary Pierce in
2000.
Krejcikova sealed the
first half of what could be
a rare double when she
served out victory with her
fourth match point. When
Pavlyuchenkova hit a return
long, the Czech
clenched her fist in celebration
and looked up to
the sky as she remembered
her mentor Jana
Novotna.
“I’m super happy I was
able to enjoy it. I’m just
really happy,” said Krejcikova,
who has also won
two Grand Slams doubles
titles.
“It is hard to put into
words because I cannot
believe what just happened.
I cannot believe I
actually won a Grand
Slam.”
*Moore
AFN election: Chaos, confusion
reign in professional bodies’ polls
*As Ebewele cries foul
*Gusau threatens to drag WA, CAC to CAS
By Ben Efe
Athletics Federation of
Nigeria has dived deeper
into crisis as its board
membership election fixed
for June 14, has been thrown
into confusion.
Procedural issues from
some the of zonal and professional
bodies election for
the AFN board membership
held last week indicate that
all is not well. If a compromise
is not reached in the
general congress billed for
today in Abuja, there will be
elective congress on Monday,
which is a public holiday.
Some of the contestants
alleged that the zonal and
professional bodies election
did not follow the 2017
adopted AFN constitution
and therefore every election
conducted so far is null and
void. They accused the Sports
Ministry of interfering in the
process.
One of the most contentious
elections was that of the
Athletics Coaches Association
of Nigeria and Association
of Athletics Technical Officials.
It failed to hold in Ilorin
last Thursday as tempers
boiled over.
Former Edo State Commissioner
for Sports, Brown
Ebewele and his supporters
condemned the election after
he was disqualified from further
participation and also suspended
by the coaches’ association.
“The whole process in Ilorin
was a fraud. It was NAATO executive
headed by Lucas Ogunjimi
that caused the confusion.
He had a list of delegates,
which was fraudulent. Besides
he was the one that constituted
the electoral Committee, which
was made up of mostly NAA-
TO members and they had
their minds made up to favor a
particular candidate,” said
Ebewele who denied disrupting
the election. He added his
suspension was a way of removing
him from the equation.
Meanwhile factional AFN
president, Ibrahim Gusau has
threatened to drag the World
Athletics and Confederal of African
Athletics to the Court of
Arbitration for Sports, CAS.
Gusau who is also conducting
elections for the AFN faction
he heads, accused the WA
and CAA of contravening their
own statues by adopting the
2017 AFN constitution for the
government recognised AFN
election.
French Open Final: Djokovic aims to
make history against Tsitsipas
Novak
Djokovic
backed himself to
recover from his epic
French Open semi-final
victory over Rafael Nadal
as he turned his focus today’s
clash with Stefanos
Tsitsipas
While handing the king of
clay just his third loss in 16
years at Roland Garros will
have given Djokovic immense
satisfaction, the bigger
prize is still at stake.
Should the 34-year-old
lift the Coupe des
Mousquetaires again, he
would become the first
man in the Open era, and
only the third ever, to win
each grand slam title at
least twice.
It would also take his
overall tally to 19 slams,
only one short of the record
jointly held by Nadal and
Roger Federer, giving him
the chance to potentially
overtake both this season.
“It’s not the first time that
I’ve played an epic semi-final
in a grand slam and then
I have to come back in less
than 48 hours and play finals,”
said Djokovic, who
admitted he was “not the
freshest guy” after battling
past Nadal on Friday
evening in four sets of spellbinding
drama and quality.
“My recovery abilities are
pretty good, I must say,
throughout my career. Obviously
my physiotherapist
will try to do everything possible
so I can be fresh. Because
I’ve played enough tennis,
I don’t need to train too
much. It’s really now just
about taking things slowly
until the day of the finals.”
Transfer: Galatasaray fail to
buy Onyekuru
Turkish giants Gal
atasaray have failed
to take up the buy-up option
on Henry Onyekuru,
whose deadline was Friday,
June 11.
Onyekuru played on
loan at Galatasaray this
past season from Ligue 1
club AS Monaco with an
option for the Turkish club
*Onyekuru
to buy him for 4.3 Million Euros thereafter.
Top officials of Galatasaray are reported by the Turkish
media to have said they have requested for 15 more
days as regards this transaction as they cannot take a
decision until a new club administration is in place.
Onyekuru scored five goals in 14 Super Lig appearances
after he joined the Istanbul club halfway through
the season in January.
He has most recently been linked with a transfer to
perennial Greek champions Olympiacos, who will like
Gala play in the UEFA Champions League in the new
season.
Benfica reluctant to loan out
Ebuehi
Portuguese Primeira Liga side Benfica are re
luctant to loan out Super Eagles fullback Tyronne
Ebuehi for a second successive season.
The right-back spent the whole of last season on
loan at Twente, where he emerged as a key player
for the Enschede side, starting all but one of their
matches in all competitions.
Twente want to continue their collaboration with
the Super Eagle but the stumbling block to a deal
has to be removed.
The Dutch club have to trigger the option to buy
in Ebuehi’s loan deal from Benfica if they wish to
sign the player for next season.
The option to buy was set at two million euros
but Twente want it reduced for a deal to take place.
Benfica wanting to part company with Ebuehi is
justified as he has yet to make his competitive debut
three years after joining the club due to his
well-documented injury problems.
His contract with The Eagles expires on June 30,
2023.
WCGC: Danzinger wins, to
represent Nigeria in Portugal
Team Danzinger, represented by the duo of Bola
Afolabi and O.R.M Oladapo have emerged winner
of the 2021 World Corporate Golf Challenge. The
event organised in Nigeria by Falcon Golf Development
Company (FGDC) was decided at Ibom Icon Hotel
and Golf Resort in Uyo over the weekend.
To come top in the competition, Team Danzinger
grossed total of 81-stableford points to beat the field of
over 100-teams.
Danzinger started the game with an opening 42-stableford
point and closed with 39-stableford points to
top the field. Their victory earned them an all expense
paid trip to Portugal in November where the world final
of WCGC has been scheduled to hold.
Speaking shortly after being declared the winner,
Team Danzinger promised to be a worthy representatives
in Cascais, Portugal. They said apart from representing
their company, Danzinger in the world corporate
event, they will do all they can to launder the nations
image as well.
With a combined score of 79-stableford points, the
pair of Paul Erokoro and A. Ajibade came in the second
position. The team signed for an opening 37 and a closing
42 to duck in the second position.
In the third place were the team of Jide Aknyemi and
James Woo. The pair carded and opening 37 and a closing
37 for 74 total over two days.
Emma Owoicho and Ugo Nkwocha score of 38-36 for
74-stableford points placed them in the 4th position
losing on countback to the third placed Akinyemi and
Woo.
Godwin Ekpo and Onofiok Onofiok, completed the
top five winners in the competition.
World Corporate Golf Challenge 2021 winner;
ORM Oladapo (middle) and Bola Afolabi receiving
their trophies in Uyo over the weekend