Olympics
Nigeria’s Atlanta ‘96 football feat re-enacted as Sports Ministry plans for audio-visual documentary
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/babayaro.png)
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The football event of the Atlanta’96 which was a game changer will soon be documented in audio-visual format by the Nigeria ministry of sports. The men’s football tournament was won by Nigeria and the completion of the tournament has since changed.
The Nigerian side, locally tagged as ‘Dream Team surpassed all expectations to emerge winners, beating global giants, Brazil and Argentina on their way to glory.
Nigerian sports minister, JJohn Owan Enoh
It was the first time in 68 years that a non-European country won the football tournament of the Olympics. More significantly is the fact that Nigeria terminated the Europe dominance of the tournament.
Ever since, no European country has won. The epoch-making occasion will now be documented in film. According to a press statement, the Nigerian sports minister, JJohn Owan Enoh remarked: “We want to use the power of storytelling to inspire a new generation of Nigerian sportsmen and women.”
It will be a collaboration of the sports ministry and Homelands Films.
Enoh remarked that the movie has the potential to bring to life a story deeply embedded in the hearts of Nigerians and sports lovers worldwide.
“In the run-up to the Olympics, nothing concretely prepared Nigeria, Africa, and the global audience for what was to follow.
“They went to the Olympics under the unlikeliest of circumstances,” he said.
“Although they were called the ‘Dream Team,’ not many people betted on them to return with the gold medal considering the fact that world football superpowers who were part of the competition were indeed bookmakers’ favourites.”
“Against all odds, our Dream Team went, saw, and conquered the world. It was not just about the gold medal but also the way this victory – which remains Nigeria’s greatest glory in world football – was achieved and celebrated that mattered. I recall Nigerians of all walks of life pouring into the streets in every town, city, and even the remotest villages in wild jubilation; they danced, sang, and draped themselves with the national flag.”
Senator Enoh highlighted the unifying power of sports and its transformative capacity, and its importance today, as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu steers the country to greater prosperity.
“Nigerians forgot their different tribes, tongues, creed, and political differences that tend to polarize them. They reveled and danced well into the dawn of the next day. This poignant moment underscored the unifying power of sports. This unity, is what we must imbibe today.”
“We want a world-class film that tells the story of the heroics of 1996 in a manner that is enriching, compelling, and inspiring a sense of nationalism. Especially at this time, where the Olympics opening ceremony starts this week, it matters that we kick off this project now.”
The president of Homeland Films, Mrs. Mary Ephraim Egbas, expressed her excitement about the project. “By bringing this story to the big screen, we aim to honour the legacy of our athletes and ignite a renewed sense of pride and passion for Nigerian sports. The significance extends beyond entertainment. It’s poised to revolutionize the industry in Nigeria and Africa. It would have a profound impact on the sports industry.”
Also speaking at the ceremony, a member of the victorious 1996 Dream Team, Emmanuel Babayaro recalled with nostalgia how after Nigeria lost the opening group match to Brazil, the squad never gave up. “Losing just 1-0 to reigning Brazil that was unbeaten like three years before the Olympics a no big deal. We were happy that our coach, Jo Bonfrere was not. He wanted us to beat Brazil to announce our readiness to capture the football gold. We picked up ourselves and resolved to go all the way,” recalled the senior Babayaro brother who also had his junior brother Celestine Babayaro as a wing-back in the team.
Olympics
Paris to name sports venue after dead Ugandan Olympian Cheptegei
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/https___cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com_reuters_QP7LWO6GFBIDVIOXPCPYCKOIZA.jpg)
The French capital will pay tribute to Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei, who was set on fire by her boyfriend, by naming a sports facility in her honour, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced on Friday.
The marathon runner, who competed in the Paris Games last month died on Thursday, four days after she was doused in petrol and ignited by her boyfriend in Kenya, in the latest attack on a female athlete in the country.
The 33-year-old, who finished 44th in her Olympic Games debut, suffered burns to more than 75% of her body in Sunday’s attack, Kenyan and Ugandan media reported.
“She dazzled us here in Paris. We saw her. Her beauty, her strength, her freedom, and it was in all likelihood her beauty, strength and freedom which were intolerable for the person who committed this murder,” Hidalgo told reporters.
“Paris will not forget her. We’ll dedicate a sports venue to her so that her memory and her story remains among us and helps carry the message of equality, which is a message carried by the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
Cheptegei is the third prominent sportswoman to be killed in Kenya since October 2021. Kenyan Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen described Cheptegei’s death as a loss “to the entire region”.
“This is a critical moment— not just to mourn the loss of a remarkable Olympian, but to commit ourselves to creating a society that respects and protects the dignity of every individual,” Uganda’s Athletes commission Chair Ganzi Semu Mugula said on Friday.
-Reuters
Olympics
Row over plan to keep Olympic rings on Eiffel Tower
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/eiffel-tower.jpg)
Engineer’s descendants say French capital landmark ‘not intended as advertising platform’
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has triggered a heated debate by saying she wants to keep the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower after the summer Games are over.
“The decision is up to me, and I have the agreement of the IOC [International Olympic Committee],” she told the Ouest-France newspaper over the weekend.
“So yes, they [the rings] will stay on the Eiffel Tower,” she added.
Some Parisians backed the move, but others – including heritage campaigners – said it was a bad idea and would “defile” the French capital’s iconic monument.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has triggered a heated debate by saying she wants to keep the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower after the summer Games are over.
“The decision is up to me, and I have the agreement of the IOC [International Olympic Committee],” she told the Ouest-France newspaper over the weekend.
“So yes, they [the rings] will stay on the Eiffel Tower,” she added.
Some Parisians backed the move, but others – including heritage campaigners – said it was a bad idea and would “defile” the French capital’s iconic monument.
The five rings – 29m (95ft) wide, 15m high and weighing 30 tonnes – were installed on the Eiffel Tower before the Paris Olympics opened on 26 July, and were expected to be taken down after the Paralympics’ closing ceremony on 8 September.
But Ms Hidalgo said she wanted to keep the interlaced rings of blue, yellow, black, green and red, symbolising the five continents.
She added that the current rings – each one measuring 9m in diameter – were too heavy and would be replaced by a lighter version at some point.
The Socialist mayor also claimed that “the French have fallen in love with Paris again” during the Games, and she wanted “this festive spirit to remain”.
Some Parisians as well as visitors to the French capital supported the mayor.
“The Eiffel Tower is very beautiful, the rings add colour. It’s very nice to see it like this,” a young woman, who identified herself as Solène, told the France Bleu website.
But Manon, a local resident, said this was “a really bad idea”.
“It’s a historic monument, why defile it with rings? It was good for the Olympics but now it’s over, we can move on, maybe we should remove them and return the Eiffel Tower to how it was before,” he told France Bleu.
Social media user Christophe Robin said Ms Hidalgo should have consulted Parisians before going ahead with her plan.
In a post on X, he reminded that the Eiffel Tower featured a Citroën advert in 1925-36.
The Eiffel Tower was built in1889 for the World’s Fair. The wrought-iron lattice tower was initially heavily criticised by Parisian artists and intellectuals – but is now seen by many as the symbol of the “City of Light”.
Ms Hidalgo, who has been running Paris since 2014, is known for her bold – and sometimes controversial – reforms.
Under her tenure, many city streets, including the banks of the river Seine, have been pedestrianised.
Last year, she won convincingly a city referendum to ban rental electric scooters. However, fewer than 8% of those eligible turned out to vote.
But both drivers’ groups and opposition figures attacked the scheme, saying the SUV classification was misleading as many family-size cars would be affected.
France’s Environment Minister Christophe Béchu said at the time that the surcharge amounted to “punitive environmentalism”.
And just before the Paris Olympics, Ms Hidalgo and other officials went into the Seine to prove the river was safe to swim.
-BBC
Olympics
AIU files appeal with CAS against America’s Olympic sprinter, Knighton
![](https://sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Knighton.png)
The Athletics Integrity Unit said on Wednesday it has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the case that cleared American sprinter Erriyon Knighton of a doping offence, thus allowing him to compete at the Paris Olympics.
Knighton, 20, tested positive for a banned substance in March but avoided a ban as the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said an independent arbitrator ruled it was likely caused by contaminated meat and that he was not at fault and had not acted with negligence.
The finding cleared the 200 metres world silver medallist to run at the U.S. Olympic trials in June and he went on to compete in Paris where he finished fourth in the men’s 200m final.
The AIU, an independent body created in 2017 by World Athletics to manage integrity issues for the sport of athletics, said it has challenged the first instance decision that Knighton had established no fault or negligence.
“This appeal is against the decision of an arbitration tribunal in the United States that the athlete established no fault or negligence after USADA brought charges against the athlete for the presence of epitrenbolone and use of trenbolone,” the AIU said on X.
USADA Chief Executive Travis Tygart said in a statement on Wednesday he understood the AIU’s reasons for appealing the case, which he called an example of the system at work, before pointing a finger at the World Anti-Doping Agency.
“The real issue in this case is WADA’s bad rule. Trenbolone, the substance in Knighton’s case, is a known livestock enhancer and known to be found in the meat supply,” Tygart said.
“We have advocated for the rules around contamination to formally change for years, and WADA has refused to act swiftly.”
U.S. and global anti-doping authorities have been at loggerheads since the case involving 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 but were allowed to compete.
-Reuters
-
TRANSFER MARKET3 days ago
Points of Interest as Napoli’s coach apologises to Victor Osimhen
-
Badminton1 week ago
American beats Nigeria’s Segun Obasanjo
-
TRANSFER MARKET1 week ago
Transfer market still bubbling as Chelsea agents lands in Napoli for Osimhen
-
TRANSFER MARKET1 week ago
BREAKING! Osimhen is left stranded! Future remains uncertain
-
TRANSFER MARKET5 days ago
Lukaku pays respect to Osimhen
-
PARALYMPICS6 days ago
How Mikano powered Eniola to Nigeria’s first medal at Paris 2024
-
Nigerian Football1 week ago
As in 1974 , 1995 and 2005 another coach, Labbadia disappears from Nigeria’s national team job
-
AFCON1 week ago
Interim Commander, Eguavoen opens up on his plans for Super Eagles