Other Leagues

Delta, Edo qualify from South South rugby elimination series

Published

3 years ago

September 6, 2021

Delta State Male Rugby Team and Edo State Female Rugby teams have qualified from the South South Zonal Team Sports Elimination played in Asaba over the weekend in preparation for the National Youth Games coming up Ilorin early next month.

According to the Technical Director of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation (NRFF), ‘Mr Rugby’ Obong Ntiense Williams, who coordinated the Rugby Qualifiers for the Zone, “three states contested for the South South Zonal Elimination for Rugby 7’s Event.

“The states are Delta, Rivers and Edo. Unfortunately Akwa Ibom State dropped their rugby team on departure and Bayelsa couldn’t feature their U15’s this time around.”

Said he, “The teams played a round robin games in the Male Rugby 7’s Event. Delta State won two match against Rivers and Edo respectively, thus accumulating eight points.

“Edo State playing with only six players came second by winning a match against Rivers three points to nil and lost one to Delta 28 to 10 points, thus accumulated four points.

“Rivers came third after losing both matches, but had one bonus point when they lost to Edo within seven points.

The Female 7’s event had only two teams Edo and Delta registered as Rivers didn’t come with their Female Rugby team.

Both teams played two matches between themselves. They drew in the first match by 10 points a piece and Edo went on to defeat Delta in the Second Match by 17 to 7 points.

After all the matches, Delta State won the male event and Edo State won the female event and will both represent the Zone early next month for the main National Youth Games in Ilorin.

Meanwhile, the students of St Patrick School where the matches were played trooped out to catch a glimpse of this exciting and beautiful game.

They ended up asking for a Coach and will be producing some of the next National Youth Game U15 Rugby Players for Delta State.

In other Zonal Qualifiers, Lagos State will be representing the South West Zone in both male and female events, while in the South East Zonal elimination that took place in Ebonyi State, Abia State Male and Anambra State female teams have qualified to represent the Zone in Ilorin.

In the other Zonal Qualifiers in the North East, Bauchi State will be representing the zone with a male rugby team, while, Kano State will represent the North West Zone in both the male and female events.

Kwara State completes the North Central zonal representative.

According to Obong Ntiense Williams, “I am so happy that our hard work of introducing Rugby around the country is paying off because, for the first time, we have teams from all the six geo-political zones being represented in the rugby event.

“This is a product of inclusiveness in the mainstream of sports in Nigeria and a fall out from the just completed 20th National Sports Festival held in Edo State earlier this year, where Rugby returned as a scoring event, thus generating the much needed interest from the states which has resulted in positive Rugby development across the Country.”

Other Leagues

Ahly awarded 2-0 derby win; Zamalek handed 3-point deduction

Published

3 months ago

June 25, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Cairo giants Ahly were granted a 2-0 victory over arch-rivals Zamalek after the latter refused to participate in the Cairo derby on Tuesday, according to an Egyptian Pro League (EPL) announcement.

In addition, Zamalek were hit with a three-point deduction and a fine as a penalty.

The Red Devils were scheduled to host Zamalek on Tuesday as part of the 27th matchday of the Egyptian Premier League.

However, following their 2-1 home defeat to Masry last week, Zamalek filed a complaint with the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) citing refereeing injustices.

Zamalek outlined four demands that needed to be met to continue the Egyptian Premier League.

One of the demands was to postpone all remaining league matches until all competing teams complete their first-leg fixtures, pointing out that Ahly had played only 18 games so far, two fewer than Zamalek.

The White Knights also insisted on appointing an independent committee outside the EFA and the EPL to oversee and reschedule the remaining league matches, ensuring complete impartiality.

They set last week’s Pharco game as the deadline to receive a comprehensive schedule of all remaining matches until the season ends, along with fulfilling their previous demands.

As the EFA and the EPL did not meet Zamalek’s demands, the club publicly announced their decision not to participate in the Cairo derby on Tuesday, which led to the EFA awarding Ahly the victory.

This incident marks the second time in five seasons that Zamalek has forfeited a Cairo derby, following a similar incident in the 2019/20 season.

The awarded win of Tuesday’s game granted Ahly the three points, maintaining their second-place position with 45 points, trailing leaders Pyramids FC by 17 points.

However, Ahly still hold a significant advantage with six games in hand.

On the other hand, Zamalek dropped down to the 10th position in the league table with 34 points.

-Ahram

Other Leagues

Zamalek threaten boycott of Egyptian League matches

Published

3 months ago

June 24, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Zamalek have issued a warning, stating that they may not participate in the remaining Egyptian Premier League games.

Their decision comes in light of their 2-1 defeat against Masry on Monday and their dissatisfaction with the refereeing decisions made during the match.

In an official statement released after the game, the Cairo giants expressed their disappointment with the lack of equal opportunity in the league and raised concerns about the specific refereeing decisions that impacted their loss to Masry.

During the match, Zamalek experienced frustration when winger Ahmed ‘Zizo’ Sayed missed a penalty kick in the 73rd minute.

Despite their appeals, a VAR review confirmed that the ball did not cross the goal-line, further adding to Zamalek’s grievances.

Zamalek’s statement called upon the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) to investigate the referee’s performance and demanded to be informed of the results of the investigation.

They also declared their refusal to continue participating in the Egyptian League until their opponents have played their postponed games from the first round, emphasizing the importance of fairness and equal treatment for all teams.

Zamalek further insisted on the appointment of a neutral committee, separate from the EFA and the Egyptian Premier League (EPL), to oversee the reorganization of the remaining league matches.

The statement also mentioned that Zamalek’s upcoming fixture against Pharco FC on Friday will be their final game until they receive a comprehensive schedule for the remaining matches in the tournament.

Zamalek find themselves in the 11th position in the league standings with 31 points from 19 games, still having four games in hand.

-Ahram

Other Leagues

Exciting photo-finish in some of Africa’s top leagues

Published

3 months ago

June 21, 2024

Kunle Solaja

The curtains have officially closed across most African domestic championships, with a few gradually approaching the business end of their football calendars.

With a place in next season’s CAF Inter-club competitions on the cards for the best finishers and national cup winners, CAFOnline takes a look at some of Africa’s top leagues, with some having concluded and a few nearing the finish line in what will be a photo-finish to their respective seasons.

Algeria – Ligue 1

MC Alger are the new champions of Algerian football after dethroning former champions, CR Belouizdad.

Alger clinched their 8th title in what was one of their best performances in the championship. The newly crowned champions finished 12 points ahead of Belouizdad with an impressive 65 points that sees them secure a place in next season’s TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.

Ghana – Ghana Premier League

History was made in the Ghana Premier League this season after Samartex, who were in their second season in top-flight football were crowned champions of Ghana.

The club sent shockwaves across Ghana with an impressive 61-point finish that saw them clinch the first ever title with an impressive 10-point gap between them and Accra Lions.

Medeama, who won the title last season finished a disappointing 8th place with 49 points.

Morocco – Botola Pro

It was an exciting photo-finish to the Botola Pro in Morocco which was decided on the very last day of the season.

Raja Casablanca dethroned AS Far as Moroccan champions after clinching the title in style with a commanding 3-0 win over MCO Oujda on the very last day of the championship.

The two-horse race between Raja and FAR Rabat who were edged by the champions by a mere point, despite their 2-0 win over FUS Rabat.

Tanzania – Tanzania Premier League

Young Africans will be back in the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League next season after their successful title defence of the Tanzanian Premier League title.

Yanga, as the Tanzanian giants are affectionately known cruised to a record-extending 31st league title, finishing with a healthy 11-point gap over second placed Azam FC who finished the season on 69 points alongside Simba SC.

South Africa – Premier Soccer League

Mamelodi Sundowns rubber-stamped their authority as the most successful club in South Africa’s Premier Soccer League after clinching an impressive seventh successive league title, making them the most successful club in the league with 17 league titles in total.

Sundowns’ rivals and former African champions, Orlando Pirates will make a return to the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League after finishing second behind Sundowns.

Meanwhile, the race for the title continues in Tunisia and Egypt with Esperance leading the pack in Tunisia’s Ligue 1, while Pyramids occupy the driver’s seat in the Egyptian Premier League

-CAF