AFCON
NIGERIA’S 1ST CHOICE GOALKEEPER, UZOHO BLASTS CRITICS OF HIS AGE DECLARATION
Super Eagles first choice goalkeeper to the last World Cup finals in Russia, Francis Uzoho, has slammed critics who have been skeptical of his young age with the national team.
According to Nigeria’s ThisDay newspaper, the lanky goalkeeper and favorite of Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, who was on Super Eagles Instagram live page, for the first time cleared air about his age controversy said it was his rapid growth compared to when he was with the Golden Eaglet could be the main reason why the controversy about his age was in contention within the country’s football community.
The player had passed the mandatory age test conducted by FIFA at the U17 World Youth Championship using the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Machine (MRI), which is the only rational proof of true age of all participants at international aged grade tournaments.
“As at 2013 when he was reserve goalkeeper to Dele Alampasu, my physical growth was actually very little and as a matter of fact, Dele was taller than me but few years later my physical growth was rapid which is now a huge advantage for me to when I’m between the sticks as it enables me to cover the range as much as possible,” he explained.
The recuperating goalkeeper was even third choice keeper at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup won by Nigeria. His football career hit the pinnacle when the Franco/German tactician, Rohr, preferred him as the best replacement for Carl Ikeme to the World Cup finals where Nigeria finished third in the group behind Croatia and Argentina.
“It’s very embarrassing when your fellow country men make slanting remark to a man defending the honour of the nation.
“I did my best worked for the team and very proud of all the players to the tournament but most critics thing my best wasn’t enough and was part of the reason why the age issue came up.
“No grudge anyway because football is life to us in this part of the world and I can understand the frustration and emotion of teeming Nigerian football fans as well,” he remarked on Super Eagles’ Instagram live interview.
Uzoho however regained his number one choice when the coach picked him for the classification match against Tunisia which Nigeria won to win bronze medal at the last AFCON finals in Egypt.
His brilliant show in the international friendly match against Brazil last October was the last outing for the national team following a career threatening injury in the match and he is expected to be back to action soon.
On his club career, the 22 year old said he will return to Deportivo La Coruna at the end of his loan spell with Omonia Nicosia.
Ghana Black Stars lost 2-0 to Sudan Tuesday afternoon in matchday 4 of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series putting their prospects in great doubt.
The former three-time African champions are now third in Group F having accrued just two points from four matches. Sudan, with seven points, are second.
Angola, who still have a match to play later in the day with bottom-placed Niger, are on top with nine points.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
With CAF referring the case of the botched Libya-Nigeria match to its
Disciplinary Board, a nine-man panel has the task of deciding which party was at fault.
Possible decision could be forfeiture of the match by the offending party or rescheduling of the fixture. The latter seems unlikely considering the already congested international calendar.
Even if that were to be the decision, the match would likely be taken to a neutral ground.
On the other hand, the board may also take it that it was Nigeria that refused to play the match after having hosted the first leg.
In that case, Article 62 of the competition’s regulations will be enforced. It reads: “Any team that withdraws or refuses to play the return match after having played the first leg on its territory must refund the association of the visiting team a minimum sum of fifteen thousand (15,000) U.S. dollars in reparation for the damage suffered by the host country.”
If the NFF is adjudged as the culprit, the body will be fined $15,000. Chapter 19 of the regulations gives a window to appeal the fine. But judging from the CAF statement of the situation, and the condemnation of the treatment meted out to the Super Eagles, the fine is very unlikely as the weight of evidence tilts against the Libyans who in the x-handle admitted keeping the Super Eagles in captivity with an explanation that episode was largely due to an airport protocol mishap.
A decision lies firstly on the nine-man panel. With the possibility of the losing side not satisfied, another nine-man panel, the Appeals Board will take a possible final decision which can only be contested at the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS)
Here are the decision-makers:
Disciplinary Board
- Ousmane Kane, Senegal. – President.
- Jane Njeri Onyango, Kenya – Vice President.
- Norman Arendse, South Africa – member
- Mohamed Mostafa El-Mashta, Egypt. – member
- Djonfoune Golbassia Felix, Chad. – member
- Patrick Shale, Lesotho – member
- Douma Ibrahim Issaka – Niger. -member
- Ruth Kisaakye, Uganda. -member
- Drucil Taylor, Sierra Leone. – member
Appeal Board
Justice Roli Daibo Harriman, Nigeria
Faustino Varela Monteiro, Cape Verde
Moez Ben Tahar Nasri, Tunisia
Moses Ikanqa, Namibia
Hamoud T’feil Bowbe, Mauritania
Mohamed Robleh Djama, Djibouti
Asogbavi Komlan, Togo
Justice Masauko Timothy Msungama, Malawi
Lubamba Ngimbi Hector, DR Congo
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The Libya-Nigeria Group D tie of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers scheduled for this Tuesday has been put off owing to the refusal of the Libyan authorities to allow the Nigerian team to enter their territory for the match.
As a result, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has referred the case to its Disciplinary Board to make an appropriate decision. The immediate consequence of this is the delay of the Nigerian team picking an early qualification as has been done by Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Algeria who have all qualified after four matches.
A win by Nigeria on Tuesday would have taken their point haul to 10 while a draw would take their total to eight. That way, irrespective of the result of the Rwanda-Benin Republic corresponding match would have qualified the Super Eagles for Morocco 2025 as they would not have ended below second position in Group D.
They now await the decision of the CAF body. A possible outcome could be Libya’s forfeiture of the match. A case in point is that of USM Alger of Algeria versus Morocco’s RS Berkane in last year’s Confederation Cup semi-final duel when the Moroccans were unjustly delayed at the airport by the Algerians.
In the case of the Super Eagles, it was worse as theirs was not just delayed, they were locked up in a desolate airport in what was a psychologically draining and energy sapping tactics.
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