Category: Front News

Heartland Football Club of Owerri pre-season screening is getting deeper as test games are being organized to put some selected players in good shape.
Earlier in the week, the Naze Millionaires hosted a couple of decent sides to a tantalizing encounter. The Owerri based side took on Owerri Selected Eleven and the game ended 1-0 in favour of Emmanuel Deutsch’ men. The other game in the week saw Heartland being held to a 1-1 draw at the Dan Anyiam stadium by visiting Mbano United.
The gaffer, in a chat with Sports Ambassador, expressed delight over the performance of the lads, stressing that it is a team that is barely a month old,  they get to know each other and gain cohesion. He highlighted grey arrears which needed to be worked on and encouraged budding talents who feel they have what it takes to feature for Heartland to come over for the pre-season screening.
However, some of the former players of the club have returned to training and they are included by the Technical Adviser in his programme. It is also worthy of note that the screening exercise shall have a break by the 23rd of December 2016 and continue next year.
It can be recalled that Heartland FC who have come to terms with their relegation fate are now poised to make a return to the elite division. This motive cost them to set up a new managerial team that will pilot the affairs of the club in the coming season.
Meanwhile, a host of old players have been spotted with other premier league sides. The likes of EmekaOgbugh was part of the Rivers United contingent in the Nigerian Professional Football League  (NPFL) Super Four tournament in Enugu. The Imo State University (IMSU) graduate was also instrumental to the Port Harcourt’s side pre-season tournament where they lifted the Shehu Dikko Pre-Season Tourney trophy in Kaduna. Other players: OmoJohnsoan and NnaemekaAnyanwu were also wearing the Wikki Tourist jersey and helped the Bauchi side beat FC IfeanyiUbah in the NPFL Super Four opening game. Likewise, coach MangutMbwas has pitched tent with the Tourists and is now the assistant to former Kano Pillars gaffer Baba Ganaru. Youthful protégé, IwuanyawuAjoku has also been spotted with Minna based side, Niger Tornadoes.
Sports Ambassador also gathered that skipper of the Naze Millionaires, ChineduEfugh will likely make a move to Abia Warriors. Shot stopper, Emmanuel Iwu is already with Akwa United and is with the team in their pre-season programme in Calabar.
However, sources close to the Heartland camp revealed that it would be difficult for the players to leave without due process. The source stressed that with the latest TMS and FIFA licensing policy on ground, players who still have existing contracts with their clubs will not find it easy to walk away without necessary documentations.
Heartland FC of Owerri will take part in the Nigerian National League (NNL), which is the second tier of Nigerian football. The date for the NNL is yet to be confirmed.

Nigerians reacted with consternation to the Minister of Sports, Mr. Solomon Dalung’s statement that the Super Falcons’ allowances and bonuses were delayed because the Federal Government never believed they could win the CAF African Women Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
The Nigerian women had been embroiled in a face-off with the Nigerian Football Federation over the N238.05m accumulated bonuses which they are being owed.
Dalung’s excuse for the non-payment of the allowances angered Nigerians who slammed the minister on Twitter.
kelvin Amata @KelvinAmata
“A team that went to Cameroun as defending Champions? Sports minister does not even know the history of dominance of Super Falcons in Africa”
“This is akin to a parent telling his child that there’s no school fee because he wasn’t expected to pass JAMB exams “
“Senselessness. This happens when you use ministerial appointments to settle your political friends “
“You see the height of incompetence from Buhari & his lazy & unqualified ministers. Just like Buhari, they’re never ready for anything”
“Made in Nigeria excuse. Shameful “  “And this man still remains a minister”

Nigeria’s Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, on Thursday said that funds are not available to pay allowances of Super Falcons who won the African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) trophy last Saturday because the team was not expected to win.
The victorious female footballers in Abuja on Wednesday seized the trophy and have refused to vacate their hotel rooms for five days.
According to Mr. Dalung, their footballers’ victory took the government by surprise as proper arrangements were not made.
Speaking with State House correspondents over the embarrassing development, Dalung said that if the NFF was confident of the victory in Cameroon, it would have applied for and processed the funds for their bonuses early enough to avoid the ugly aftermath.
He said that government needed to perform a ‘surgery’ on the sports sector otherwise, similar occurrences are bound to happen again.
“It is unfortunate that we are celebrating victory of the Super Falcons amidst some bitter feelings among the players because of some administrative lapses that were not managed properly.
“If the situation was explained to these girls I don’t think the situation would have gotten to this level. But we are working round to clock to ensure that what belongs to them legitimately is given to them. This has to do with government process.
“One thing I always make clear is that the process of request for funds for sporting projects must come earlier to meet the objectives. Don’t forget that nobody even knew the team would emerge victorious, if we were confident they will emerge victorious, all the Federation would have done is to plan for process of participation and entitlement.
“It is already established in sports tradition, when you win this is what you are entitled to. The situation is highly unfortunate and I don’t like it. These girls have given confidence to women who want to embrace sports but this will go a long way in killing this laudable achievement. It is unfortunate but we will make sure the right thing is done,” he said.
He added that the team’s coaches are owed backlog of salaries.
“It is a complex situation but the entire governance of football deserves an urgent surgery. If that surgery is not done we will always live with the embarrassment. I’m talking about the governance of football administration in Nigeria.”
“They use it to scandalise the government so the man who is at the receiving end has the responsibility to ensure that things must be done right so we must take steps to ensure that money meant for athletes get to them on time as at when due.”

You can only cover up excrement so long before it starts to stink. The story is becoming annoyingly familiar at this point: Nigeria’s participation at any international competition is incomplete without a stand-off over the payment of salaries and allowances of athletes.
The cast revolves, but the template remains. The latest to feel aggrieved are the Super Falcons, fresh from winning an 8th African title in Cameroon. Not even our winning less team in history is exempted from this dance of shame.
Their demands are simple: the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) owe each member of the team $25,650 and until the debt is paid, the team will remain holed up in Agura Hotel in the capital Abuja. The AWCON trophy is, of course, hostage.
The NFF, for their part, have been crying poverty. In truth, it is quite a heavy sum, and the General Secretary of the federation, Sanusi Mohammed has called for understanding in the face of the crippling economic crisis that has brought Africa’s largest economy to its knees.
How exactly have the NFF incurred such a bill? Well, for each group win at the AWCON, they are due $3,500 apiece (they won two games, totalling $7,000), while their sole draw entitles them to $1,750 each. The semi-final victory earned them $4,000 each and victory in the final $5,000. In addition, for a win and a draw in the two-legged qualifying play-off against Senegal, each player is due $5,250 at the same previous rate.
Included also is a $100 camp allowance over the 14-day stay in Cameroon, as well as for 10 days of camping over two legs of qualifying against Senegal. This all adds up to $25,400 per player.
There are also two stretches of local camping, 43 days and 35 days long respectively, for the qualifier and the AWCON proper. Each player is entitled to a N1,000 camp allowance, totaling roughly $250. Thus, we arrive at the $25,650 figure being requested by each member of the team.
The NFF, in a statement, sued for leniency, promising all outstanding bills will be paid when “the situation improves”. This is a quite disingenuous statement, a promise underpinned by no sense of responsibility. It would perhaps be easier to stomach if the Glass House was entirely transparent in its dealings.
For instance, while in Cameroon, the players and officials were given payments of N500,000 and N400,000 respectively upon threat of tournament boycott, with no clarity as to what the payments were for.
Ostensibly, this was to serve as some sort of “motivation”, following the NFF’s inability to pay outstanding allowances before the commencement of the AWCON as promised.
Well, there is no greater ‘motivation’ than paying athletes their due when due, and a broke body making unspecified, ad-hoc style payments does not exactly add up.
“The plan is to stay here until we all receive the money because the moment we leave there will be no opportunity to get it again,” one player, who insisted on anonymity, told me.
“They told us we would be paid before the tournament in Cameroon, but that never happened.
“We have made it clear to the NFF President and General Secretary that we are going nowhere until all our dues from the qualifying and the competition in Cameroon have been paid.”
It is easy to understand the economic situation of the country at the moment, but the recession certainly did not begin while the team was in Cameroon. To promise the team their allowances will be paid, only to then turn around and blame a lack of funds a couple of weeks later is not only dishonest, it is callous.
While not ideal, it is best to level with these ladies beforehand. For the most part, they are professional footballers plying their trades around the globe; their very presence indicates a certain level of patriotism.
Surely it would be better, and more respectful, for the NFF to grant full disclosure, and then throw itself on the tolerance and understanding of the team prior to the competition. Certainly not after the fact, and certainly not by employing threats and blackmail, as NFF President AmajuPinnick reportedly did when he spoke to the team on telephone.
The economy has been in recession for the best part of a year now, and there is no point speaking of it as though it is a short-term inconvenience. What are these ladies to do if, as the general secretary Sanusi Mohammed seems to suggest, there is no Biblical turnaround in a matter of days?
It is not the first time the Super Falcons and the NFF have clashed over unpaid bonuses and allowances.
Twelve years ago, the team remained in their hotel in South Africa for four days after the country’s football ruling body failed to pay their bonuses for winning the 2004 African Women’s Championship.
Is the NFF truly seeking practical solutions in a bid to meet its financial obligations in a changing economic climate? Cutting cost, perhaps? Do we really need to have so many functioning national teams, all requiring upkeep at the same time? It is hard to convince anyone you are broke when no moves are being made to run a tighter ship. Surely, at this point, some grown-up, difficult decisions need to be taken, even if only to avoid this constant drama and embarrassment.

Nigeria champions, Kano Pillars Basketball Club, began their campaign at the 2016 FIBA Africa Champions Cup in Egypt with an 87-47 loss to Tunisia’s Club Africain.
The FIBA Africa Zone Three champions are in Group A along with El Ahly of Egypt, ClubeDesportivo de Agosto of Angola and Nzui-Manto Basketball Club of Cameroon.
The Tunisians dominated the Nigerians all through the match as they won the first quarter 28-10 before taking the second quarter 14-13. They increased their lead in the third quarter, winning it 23-11, and completed the rout with a 22-13 victory in the last quarter.
Kyle Vinales led the game for Africain as he converted 18 points, one rebound, six assists and three steals while Dele Ademola led the game for Pillars with his five points, six rebounds, one assist and six steals.
Also, the presence of London 2012 Olympian, EjikeUgboaja, did little to ease the woes of the Nigerian champions as Vinales led the board with 18 points against the 16 points scored by AbubakarUsman. Ugboaja had eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks for Pillars.
No Nigerian side has won the ACC and Pillars have not gotten on the podium at the competition since their third-place finish in 1985 and 1987

The proposed date for the commencement of the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) has been adjusted due to the postponement of the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) Annual General Meeting (AGM) which is supposed to confirm the kick-off date.
It was gathered that the AGM, which was slated for 11th December 2016 in Enugu, has been shifted to hold in Lagos on the 18th of December. The reason is basically because of the London trip embarked by President of the NFF, Mr. Amaju Pinnick and other football stakeholders.
The premier league will not start this year as presumed since the AGM has to seat and give a go ahead.
Fans and football lovers across the country have been intimated about the possibility of the league resuming on the 18th of December and almost all the clubs have embarked on pre-season camping to get prepared for the campaign.
However, the League Management Company has commenced the annual Super Four Tournament that heralds the beginning of the league.

Heartland Football Club of Owerri in continuation of their preparation ahead of the 2016/2017 Nigeria national league, NNL and efforts to rebrand and return back the club to the elite league,NPEL has scheduled a closed door training tour at the national Sports Commission  zone 6 Facility Centre in Nkwogwu, Aboh Mbaise LGA, Imo state Sports Ambassador has gathered.
According to a release made available to sports Ambassador, by the Clubs Media   Officers, Solomon Onu,  the new Assistant Gaffer, Eziekel Onyeula says the list of 24 men players have been shortlisted for the exercise to enable technical crew concentrate on accessing the players properly as well as improving them.
He however quickly noted that the list does not mean those on it have automatically been picked adding that the door is still open for exceptionally gifted players to join the team.
Meanwhile, the coach has praised the commitment and professionalism of some of the older players who he said have been working extremely hard in training and charged them to do more in the days Ahead insisting they is no substitute for hard  work

The 2016 edition of the annual Owerri Mock-Nations Football Competition at the Owerri Township Stadium has hit its crescendo with the final of the tournament slated for Sunday December 11, 2016.
Sports Ambassador gathered that all is set for an epic final that will rekindle the carnival atmosphere that is usually associated with the soccer fiesta that has continued to attract an un-usual support from all and soundry.
Co-ordinator of the championship that hard over 20 teams competing for the converted trophy, Mr. Marcel discovered that the state commissioner for youth, Sports and public safety, High chief Rodney Ajaelu will be the special guest of honour.He also said the likes of Kanu ”Papilo”Nwankwo, Mobi Oparaku, Emmanuel Amuieke, Bob Osim, Ex-internationals and Heartland FC officials will all grace the grand –finale.
In the final encounter, Zambia who joined the championship in this edition already booked a ticket for a shot at the trophy against last editors summers-up, Ghana or one time champions, Burkina Faso who’s semi-final tile was decided yesterday.
In the first semi-final game decided on Thursday at the old- township stadium, Owerri, the green horns, Zambia (Taye Academy) surprised defending champions, Mozambique (Blue Tigers) 2-0 to advance into the final in their first time of asking.
Ghana (Campos-Academy) yesterday clashed with Burkina-Faso (Owerri selected side) in the second semi-final encounter.
The 3rd place match between the two semi-final losers’s is expected to also take place on Sunday by 2pm while the final comes-up by 4pm.