International Football
CHIAMAKA NNADOZIE LEADS SUPER FALCONETS’ CHARGE FOR GOLD AT AFRICAN GAMES
After recent impressive showings including being crowned as African champions along with Super Falcons at the last Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Ghana 2018, goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie would possibly be Nigeria’s talisman as the 12th African Games women’s football tournament in Morocco holds between 16 and 29 August in Rabat, Morocco.
The Nigerian girls won Gold at the inaugural then All African Games women’s football tournament on home soil in 2003 and easily defended their crown four years later in Algiers. But the West Africans failed to qualify for the following continental showpiece held in Maputo in 2011 before finishing fourth four years ago in Brazzaville.
“I’m so happy to be part of this team going to the African Games in Morocco,” Nnadozie who had previously represented Nigeria at all levels bar the Olympic Women’s Football Tournament told CAFOnline.com.
“It has been a privilege to have represented Nigeria at the U-17, U-20 and senior level with the Super Falcons but I’m also happy to be included in this team going to compete at the African Games; this is going to be a new experience for me.”
For the women’s football tournament at Morocco 2019, all the eight teams according to the rules and regulations by CAF will be represented by their U-20 women’s sides instead of the seniors hence the inclusion of experienced 18-year-old Nnadozie would give Nigeria a head start.
“We have a good team and an experienced manager in coach Chris Danjuma but at the same time we need luck to win the competition in Morocco,” noted Nnadozie who made history as the youngest ever player goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet after helping Nigeria beat Korea Republic during the recently FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019.
“ We did well at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France; though we lost in the Round of 16 to Germany, I’m proud of my teammates and what I achieved personally.”
Nnadozie has been constant like the northern star for Nigeria in recent time and was in the Super Falcons squad that won record ninth AWCON title in Ghana last year.
She was in goal when Nigeria came third at the China Four-Nation Invitational Tournament before France 2019.
Earlier on, she was a fulcrum of the team (Falconets) to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup France 2018 where she earned the ‘ Dare to Shine’ player of the award for her outstanding performance against Haiti; as well as being part of the ill-fated team (Flamingoes) that finished bottom of their group at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Jordan 2016.
“The truth is that I love to win and I’m not happy when I lose matches,” noted Nnadozie who has won three successive Nigeria’s National Women Cup with Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt between 2016 and 2018.
“I’m really happy with my progress since I joined Rivers Angels in 2016 because it was not easy initially to convince my parents; they felt football was not meant for a girl-child but I have been able to convince them with my achievements at club and national team levels.”
Meanwhile, Nigerian women’s football legend Maureen Mmadu believes Nnadozie’s exposure and experience is a plus to the coach Danjuma-led side as the Falconets challenge for the Gold at Morocco 2019.
“Chiamaka is tall and strong but apart from her physique, she is very confident of herself when she is on the goalpost,” explained coach Mmadu who made more than 100 appearances for the Super Falcons during her heyday.
“She did well at the recently concluded FIFA Women’s World Cup in France; she has great qualities and she is very hungry for success and I think her experience would help the U-20 team succeed at the All Africa Games in Morocco.”
Incidentally, Nnadozie and teammates already have their work cut out in the African Games women’s football tournament since the Falconets are pooled together along with perennial rivals South Africa, Cameroon and Zambia in Group B while the hosts Morocco are in Group A along with Mali, Algeria and Equatorial Guinea.
“We have to go out and show we are hungry to win in Morocco “reiterated Nnadozie, who is the last born in a family with five other siblings.
“The good thing is that we are like a family in this team and this gives me confidence that we can succeed in Morocco.”
In the meantime, hosts Morocco will kick off their campaign against Algeria at Stade Boubker Ammar in Sale while Mali will face Equatorial Guinea in the other Group A’s fixture at the same venue on 17th August.
In Group B, Cameroon will start off against Zambia while Nigeria face rivals South Africa with both matches slated for 18th August at Stade Academie Mohamed VI.
-Cafonline
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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