International Football
OLYMPIC EAGLES NEED GOALS TO SURMOUNT LIBYA’S CHALLENGE
Asaba in Delta State is getting frenzy as the most challenging match of the ‘Feast of Football’ the city is hosting is drawing near.
The capital city of Delta State is hosting three international matches within three days. The first was that of last Friday when the Super Eagles beat Seychelles 3-1 to confirm the top spot of the Group E African Cup qualifiers.
While the atmosphere for that match was relaxed owing to absence of tension just as that of Tuesday could be, the Monday encounter of the Nigerian U-23 with Libya is filled with tension.
A 0-2 loss in the first leg of their second round, first leg encounter against Libya’s U23 squad means Cup holders Nigeria must achieve a high –score win over the North Africans to avoid early elimination from this year’s U23 AFCON finals, and cumulatively next year’s Olympic Games.
Africa’s three flagbearers at the Men’s Football Tournament of next year’s Olympics in Tokyo will emerge from the 3rd Africa U23 Cup of Nations in Egypt in November. Only a massive win over Libya at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba on Monday and success in the final round of qualifiers in three months’ time will make Nigeria eligible to defend her title in Egypt, and thus able to fight for an Olympics ticket.
One goal in each half in the Tunisian city of Ben Guerdane on Wednesday, plus a goalkeeper expelled for ball –handling outside the box, was the summary of a poor outing by the Olympic Eagles, and pride and pedigree suggest an all –out attack from the blast of the whistle would be the option for the Nigerians in Asaba.
Former U17 World Cup winners Kelechi Nwakali, Samuel Chukwueze and Taiwo Awoniyi, who were in Ben Guerdane, arrived with and have been training with the Olympic Eagles, but Nigeria have also chiseled out goalkeeper Francis Uzoho, defenders Chidozie Awaziem and Valentine Ozornwafor and striker Victor Osimhen from the senior team to help this particular cause.
In October last year, the Super Eagles overpowered Libya’s senior team home and away to brighten chances of qualification for the 2019 AFCON (which they have since secured), and the U23 squad would be determined to wrest this encounter from the Libyans to maintain the storyline.
The Confederation of African Football has appointed Kenyan officiating officials for Monday’s game, with Anthony Ogwayo to serve as referee. Oliver Omondi Odhiambo will be assistant referee 1 and Tony Mudanyi Kidiya will serve as assistant referee 2 while Israel Lemayian Mpaima will be the fourth official.
The match commissioner is Marcelin Gaha Djiadeu from Cameroon.
Monday’s make-or-break encounter starts at 4pm.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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