Governing Bodies
OLYMPICS HOST, TOKYO BEGINS STATE OF EMERGENCY AS 2,400 NEW COVID-19 CASES ARE REPORTED
Tokyo has reported 2,392 new coronavirus cases today as the Japanese capital city became subject to new restrictions as part of a state of emergency.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other prefectures yesterday.
The measures are in place in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba and will remain until at least February 7.
Tokyo reported a record 2,447 daily cases of COVID-19 yesterday.
Today’s figure was lower at 2,392, but marked the second highest number of new cases to date.
Under the new restrictions, people in the affected areas will be asked to stay at home after 8pm, while restaurants, pubs and cafes which serve alcohol will close at that time.
Gyms, department stores and entertainment facilities will also be subject to limited hours, but schools will remain open.
Those who fail to comply with the restrictions will not face any form of punishment in contrast to the harsher lockdowns that have been enforced in other countries because of fears over new variants of coronavirus.
Japanese news agency Kyodo have reported Osaka and the Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures have jointly requested being placed into the state of emergency.
An official request was reportedly made to Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of the Government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The number of daily cases reported in Japan has risen to around 7,900, while the daily death toll also hit a record of 78.
Critics have claimed Suga, who took over from Shinzō Abe as Prime Minister in September, has been too slow to enforce a state of emergency amid concern following a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the country.
The latest restrictions are also softer than those imposed by Abe when he declared a state of emergency in response to the pandemic on April 7 last year – two weeks after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games were postponed until 2021.
In an address to mark the start of 2021, Suga vowed to hold a “safe and secure” Olympics in 2021 despite rising concern over the infection rate.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has also insisted Tokyo 2020 will go ahead in the event’s rescheduled slot this year.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are scheduled to run from July 23 to August 8, with the Paralympics due to follow from August 24 to September 5.
A host of COVID-19 countermeasures, such as frequent testing and reducing the stay of competitors at the Athletes’ Village, will be in place should the Games take place.
Athletes could also be vaccinated to ensure the Games can be held safely.
Senior IOC member Richard Pound suggested prioritising athletes for the COVID-19 vaccine would be the “most realistic way” of ensuring the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games take place this year.
The IOC has expressed its commitment to having as many foreign participants as possible vaccinated for COVID-19 before Tokyo 2020.
The organisation repeatedly said it supports priority access for high-risk groups and healthcare workers.
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Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.
Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.
The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.
Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.
“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”
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As major global sporting events beckon, Morocco’s monarch launches the Kenitra-Marrakech High-Speed rail project
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Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
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