International Football
Aisha Buhari tournament is best gift to the girl –child – Rita Nwadike
Nigeria legend Rita Nwadike has poured encomiums on the First Lady, Dr. (Mrs.) Aisha Buhari for agreeing to headline the upcoming Aisha Buhari Invitational Women’s Football Tournament kicking off in the City of Lagos, Nigeria from September 15 – 21.
Nwadike said the Aisha Buhari Cup with the theme Playing for Good is a most laudable project under the First Lady’s Future Assured Programme (FAP) for the girl-child, women and the less privileged in the society.
“I thank the organisers of the Aisha Buhari Cup who took the bold step to meet with Mr President’s wife over this noble project and the First Lady’s decision to support the bringing of the best women teams in Africa to Nigeria. For the girl-child, it’s the best gift possible and I want to appreciate her for doing this noble project during her tenure.
On the Super Falcons’ squad, Nwadike asserted the players therein are the best and capable of lifting the maiden ABC trophy for the country.
“I’m satisfied with the list, I think that’s the best the new team’s handler can work with at the moment. He is familiar with all the players and has been working with them at various tournaments. He cannot begin now to experiment, not at this invitational tournament that everyone is coming to win.
The Aisha Buhari Foundation focuses on women, young girls as well as vulnerable citizens like widows, orphans and the disabled. The programme involves training for entrepreneurial skills and provision of starter packs, conditional and unconditional cash transfers and provision of business tools.
Meanwhile, a girls’ grassroots football team, Infinitus Football Academy, bankrolled by former Nigeria international goalkeeper Rachael Ayegba, has thrown its weight behind the Aisha Buhari Invitational Women’s Football Tournament. The six-nation showpiece scheduled to be held from September 15 to 21 this month.
With the theme in mind, the young girls of the Lokoja-based Academy declared their solidarity for the competition, which is inaugurated to motivate the girl-child to embrace football and also grow the women’s game on the continent.
Team Coach Timothy Emmanuel harped on the opportunities behind the initiative and the future impact on the girls’ careers.
“We are excited with the positive responses of the girls to the vision and mission of the competition and the possibility of shaping the future of the young girls,” Emmanuel told ABC media.
Responding on behalf of the team, captain Fatimah Ahmed said: “We are happy to know about the Aisha Buhari Cup. We support the idea because we all want our future to be assured through football. We also believe that one day, we will all grow up to have the chance to represent our country and play in the competition or even in a bigger one.”
Earlier, Ayegba, who spoke from her base in Finland, expressed belief that the Aisha Buhari Cup will not only shape the dream of the girl-child in Nigeria but across the continent.
“I am happy to see how the young girls are feeling about the invitational tournament. It will surely go a long way to inspire them to pursue their career in football.”
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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