SPORTS
AFCON: Soccer Fans in Kano Mobilise Support For Super Eagles Against S/ Africa

Ahead of Wednesday’s epic soccer battle between Nigeria’s Super Eagles and South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in the AFCON 2019 Quarter Finals, soccer fans in Nigeria have urged the national team to go all out for the second semi-final slot .
Soccer enthusiasts in Kano and Abuja who spoke to newsmen said the battle was one that “must be won’’ for the country to progress in the competition and possibly win the gold prize.
Among the fans is Idris Zubair who advised the Super Eagles to strength their midfield and attacking play and work as a Team.
“The team must however work hard to further improve in all the departments of the game, particularly defence,” he said.
Another supporter, Isa Lamidi, said that he was optimistic that Nigeria would over run South Africa.
“I am confident that in spite of the lack luster performance of the team in the group stages, the Eagles will win convincingly,” he stated.
In his contribution, , Aliyu Momoh, advised the team to beat South Africa to so to advance in the tournament.
”I want the boys to approach the match with all seriousness like what they did against Cameroon and they must be committed to the game.
“I see Nigeria winning the game ,” Momoh said.
-additional reports from NAN.
SPORTS
FIFA Emerges Best Global Sports Federation on Governance Standards

By Eze Okechukwu, Abuja
FIFA has been rated among the international sporting federations with the best standards of governance following a review conducted by the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations.
FIFA was among seven out of 33 international federations who achieved a score of 175 points or more out of 200 and were placed in the top group, A1, which the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations described as “an exclusive group”.
The federations were divided into five groups according to their score, with the target score, regarded as satisfactory, set at 130 for full members of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations.
It was the fourth such review conducted by by the association, with FIFA also placed among the leading international federations and the previous was in the year 2020.
The aim of the project, led by ASOIF’s Governance Task Force, is to promote and ensure a culture of good governance within the international federations and help drive continuous progress.
The review looked at five aspects of governance – transparency, integrity, democracy, development and control mechanisms – and these were further divided into ten sub-sections, with a score of zero to four awarded for each.
The review began with a self assessment in January and February this year where international federations were asked to complete a questionnaire and determine a score for each question, providing explanatory evidence for their decision. These assessments were then independently moderated by an external sports governance consultancy.
The assessment took place in the context of the ongoing global pandemic, which has severely affected sport, but was conducted before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has caused more uncertainty in the sporting world.
SPORTS
Eight Medical Staff Face Trial for Maradona’s Death
Eight medical personnel will stand trial for alleged criminal negligence in the death of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, according to a court ruling made public yesterday.
No date has been set for the trial of the eight over Maradona’s death in 2020, which prosecutors say was due to “omissions” by his caregivers who abandoned him “to his fate” during home hospitalisation.
Maradona died aged 60 in 2020 while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot, and after decades of battles with cocaine and alcohol addictions.
Neurosurgeon and family doctor Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, psychologist Carlos Diaz, medical coordinator Nancy Forlini and four others including nurses were placed under investigation.
Prosecutors have asked that they be tried for negligent homicide.
They claim mismanagement by the team had placed the football legend in a “situation of helplessness”.
The accused risk sentences ranging from eight to 25 years in prison.
According to the prosecutors, the defendants “were the protagonists of an unprecedented, totally deficient and reckless hospitalisation at home”, allegedly responsible for a “series of improvisations, management failures and shortcomings”.
Maradona is widely considered one of the greatest footballers in history.
SPORTS
FG Plans C’Wealth Games Closed Camping for Athletics, Boxing, Eight Others

By Idris Umar, Abuja
The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, has concluded arrangements for the closed camping of athletes in the 10 sports federations that will feature at the 2022 Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham, England from July 28 to August 8, 2022.
The sporting federations are Athletics, Boxing, Judo, Para Athletics, Para Powerlifting, Para Table Tennis, Table Tennis, Weightlifting and Wrestling.
In a statement by the Director Press and Public Relations in the ministry, Mohammed Manga, and made available to newsmen in Abuja yesterday, said the closed camping will begin from July 9, 2022 till the commencement of the Games.
The statement added that athletes will be camped in Abuja, Lagos and Yenagoa.
“Thus, effective July 9, 2022, the Federations closed and open camps will dovetail into the Ministry’s preparations,” the statement read.