OBITUARY
Iwuanyanwu, Ifeanyi Ubah add to Nigerian football’s July deaths
Sadly, with the passing on of Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the former owner of Heartland FC and that of Ifeanyi Ubah, the month of July has virtually become that of memorials for football icons in Nigeria. This may sound strange, but it is true. Sports Village Square recalls some of these memorials.
- Jelisavicic Tihomer-Tiko – 1 July
Jelisavicic Tihomer-Tiko was fondly called ‘Father Tiko’. The younger folks may not remember the then Yugoslavian man (his country is now Serbia) who raised to stardom an army of relatively unknown players who took the 10th edition of Africa Cup of Nations by storm, becoming the second runners-up in Ethiopia in March 1976.
He repeated the feat at Ghana 1978 when Nigeria ranked third in Africa’s premier football competition.
He was at the brink of qualifying Nigeria for Argentina 1978 World Cup before the team failed the last hurdle at home. No thanks to an own goal.
Under him, the Nigeria national team played 45 matches, winning 24, and drawing 12 and lost nine. He died on July 1, 1986, in Cancum, Mexico.
That was two days after the World Cup in that country. He was heading to Cancum to begin a new life as a coach to the local team when an automobile accident claimed his life.
- Samuel Ojebode – 4 July
Today, 4 July is the death anniversary of one of his players, Samuel Ojebode who passed on five years ago. Ojebode, a left fullback was also a captain of the then IICC Shooting Stars that he later coached and managed as an administrator.
With his death in 2012, the entire back four of the 1976 history-making IICC Shooting Stars have all passed on – Best Ogedegbe, Joe Appiah, Ojebode and Muda Lawal.
Added to that list are Kunle Awesu and Folorunsho Gambari aka ‘Gambus’ who died on April 15, 1981.
- Dan Anyiam – 6 July
One of the pioneer members of the Nigerian national football team, Dan Anyiam was a member of the famed UK Tourists of 1949. He was the vice captain of the squad.
Anyiam who was the first indigenous coach to sign a coaching contract with the Nigeria Football Association was found dead in his car on 6 July 1977.
- Muda Lawal and Dan Anyiam – 6 July
Next comes that of Muda Lawal, like Ojebode and Awesu, he was in the Father Tiko’s Nigerian team and also a member of the victorious IICC side on the continent.
He died on July 6, 1991, the 14th anniversary of the mysterious death of one of Nigerian national team pioneers, Dan Anyiam who was also the first indigenous national team coach.
- Bashorun MKO Abiola – 7 July
Who will forget the Bashorun MKO Abiola who pumped much money to football and other sports? He died on July 7, 1998.
He was undoubtedly the best football philanthropist in the continent. Another football icon that shared the date with him is Father Dennis Slattery who died in his native country, Ireland on July 7, 2003.
- Father Dennis Slattery – 7 July
Slattery who lived the greater part of his life in Nigeria was the last of the expatriates who shaped the then NFA that is today’s NFF.
He was the NFA chairman from 1956 to 1959 and the most frequent referee of the Challenge Cup final which last week changed to AITEO Cup.
Slattery was the referee of the final matches of 1952, 1953, 1960 and 1964 apart from being a linesman (assistant referee) in 1951, 1956 and 1958.
He founded the St. Finbarr’s College, Akoka – the record 10 time winners of the former Principals Cup in Lagos.
- Israel Adebajo – 25 July
Another prominent soccer figure of an earlier era was Israel Adebajo, the founder of the famous Stationery Stores, which until its going into coma late in the 1990s, was perhaps Nigeria’s most fanatically supported club side.
Adebajo died on 25 July 1969, few weeks before Stores’ final match in the Challenge Cup. He formed the club in 1958 after buying over Oluwole Philips team.
The famed Super Stores drew players and fans across the country and sometimes too, from Ghana.
The former treasurer of the then NFA nurtured the Super Stores to win the Challenge Cup twice in a row and was at the brink of a hat-trick in 1969 before his death dealt a devastating blow on the club.
- Mathias Obianika – 27 July Former national team player, Mathias Obianika, died also in 27 July 1992.
The Enugu Rangers’ striker was an instant hit in the national team when he made his debut in a 4-0 triumph over Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) in a 1971 friendly game.
Obianika scored two of the four goals. After years in Enugu Rangers, he later became the club’s chief coach.
- Anthony Ikazoboh – 27 July
Seven years after the death of Obianika, a two-time NFA chairman and former Super Stores player, Air Commodore Anthony Ikazoboh, was killed by armed robbers on July 27, 1999.
Ikazoboh was the NFA chairman from 1984 to 1987 and again in 1989 before he was named the sports minister.
Under him as NFA chairman, Nigeria won its first global event, the World Under-17 Tournament in 1985 and the Under-20 team placed third at the World Under 20 Championship in the then Soviet Union.
It was at the Soviet Union event that Ikazoboh dropped hints of Nigeria’s interest in hosting the World Youth Championship, a dream that only materialised 12 years later.
As sports minister in 1990, Ikazoboh’s tenure brought the advent of professional football to Nigeria.
- Akinloye Oyebanji – 27 July
On the anniversaries of the death of former sports minister, Anthony Ikazoboh and national as well as Rangers’ International striker, Mathias Obianika, another sports icon, Akinloye Oyebanji took a final breath.
Oyebanji, a veteran sports journalist retired as a director at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). Information from the family revealed he would have been 62 in September.
His family revealed that Oyebanji died at the National Hospital, Abuja, after a protracted battle with heart failure.
Bukoye Oyebanji and Dr. Steve Olarinoye, a family member and friend of the deceased, disclosed that Oyebanji had been ill and that the family had spent millions of naira without any improvement.
They said some time earlier, he had the misfortune of losing his kidneys, and they were replaced successfully through a transplant in India.
Oyebanji served the NTA for 35 years. He worked in different capacities, including being a sports broadcaster, rising to the position of general manager (sports).
He retired as managing director of NTA Properties at the authority’s headquarters in Abuja.
- Cyril Okosieme – 29 July
He passed away on July 29,1999 in Owerri. Cyril Okosieme was the pioneer goalkeeper of Enugu Rangers in May 1970.He doubled as a player and team secretary and won the Amachree Cup with the team.
He left for Bendel Insurance in 1972.His children also took after him in sports as one of his sons, Ndubuisi Okosieme, played for the Super Eagles at the Maroc ‘88 Africa Cup of Nations and his daughter, Nkiru Okosieme also played for and coached the women’s national team.Another son, Nnamdi Okosieme took to sports journalism and with bias for football reporting.
- Tesilimi Balogun – 30 July
July 30 is the anniversary of the legendary “Thunder” Balogun who died in 1972. He was the first ever-Nigerian professional player when he ventured to England in the 1950s.
The early history of the Challenge Cup is almost an historical account of Thunder Balogun’s soccer career. He later became a coach in the Western Region.
In 1952, Balogun became the first player to score a hat-trick in the Challenge Cup final.
The feat is significant, considering the fact that up till the 2012 FA Cup final, only two other players, Frank Uwalaka in 1958 and Felix Adedeji in 1969 – were the only other hat-trick scorer in Nigeria’s premier national competition.
- Sam Garba Okoye – 31 July
Sam Garba Okoye, another national team star of 1960s and early 1970s, died on 31 July 1978 in motor accident.
He was one of the teenagers of the Nigerian Academicals that beat Ghana 1-0 in the annual Dowuona-Hammond Cup in 1966.
It was Nigeria’s first away win against Ghana. Later, Garba played for Plateau XI, Mighty Jets and the Green Eagles.
Although he had no Challenge Cup gold medal to show, he was a regular in the six final matches played by Jos teams from mid 1960s to 1974. He usually adorned his forehead with a rolled up handkerchief.
An Argentine footballer playing in Venezuela’s second division has suffered a devastating personal loss after last week’s powerful earthquakes claimed the lives of his wife and two children, according to CNN Español.
Lucas Trejo, 38, who plays for Club Sport Marítimo La Guaira, had spent days desperately searching through the rubble of his destroyed beachfront home in La Guaira for signs of his wife, Yanina, and their children, Aarón and Ainhoa, following the twin earthquakes that struck the country.
According to CNN Español, Trejo was attending a training camp with his club in Caracas when the earthquakes — described by the U.S. Geological Survey as a rare “doublet” because two major quakes struck just 39 seconds apart — rocked Venezuela. The player immediately travelled to La Guaira, approximately 18 miles north of the capital, only to find widespread devastation.
Trejo’s brother-in-law, Ricardo Ardiles, told CNN Español that the footballer was “emotionally overwhelmed” by the tragedy.
“What he found was a horrific scene,” Ardiles said. “He found absolutely nothing of what the building itself had been.”
For several days, Trejo combed through the debris alongside friends, teammates and volunteers while appealing for heavy machinery to assist in the rescue effort. A video circulated by fellow players highlighted the desperate need for additional equipment.
“Right now we only have one machine, but it’s not enough,” Venezuelan footballer Robert Garcés of Metropolitanos F.C. said in the appeal, according to CNN Español.
The search ended in heartbreak on Sunday when Club Sport Marítimo La Guaira confirmed the deaths of Trejo’s wife and children.
In a message posted on social media, the club said it “deeply mourns the irreparable loss” of the player’s family and offered its support during the difficult period.
“Lucas, you are not alone. Your family at Maritime La Guaira is with you,” the club stated alongside a family photograph.
The tragedy has resonated throughout the football community in Venezuela and beyond. According to CNN Español, the earthquakes have claimed the lives of several footballers and affected many others connected to the sport.
Among the victims was 18-year-old Yimvert Berroteran, regarded as one of Venezuela’s promising young talents. The Venezuelan national team and the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) confirmed his death on Friday. Berroteran had represented Venezuela at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Doha just months earlier and had recently featured for the country’s U-20 national team.
The disaster also claimed the lives of young players Víctor Palacios and Razan Sijaa, according to the FVF and their respective clubs.
Another footballer, Héctor Bello, lost his partner in the tragedy. Bello revealed on social media that she died while protecting their young daughter during the earthquake.
“I’ll make sure to remind our baby girl how wonderful you were and how much you loved her,” Bello wrote in an emotional tribute.
The wider humanitarian crisis continues to unfold. Venezuelan authorities reported on Sunday that more than 1,400 people have died, while thousands remain missing. Sports Village Square reports that a minute of silence was observed before World Cup matches during the group stage last week in honour of the earthquake victims.
The disaster has also affected foreign nationals. Chinese state media reported that eight Chinese citizens were among the dead, while Spain’s Foreign Ministry said at least nine Spanish nationals had been killed and more than 100 remain missing.
Rescue operations are continuing, although hopes of finding more survivors are fading as search efforts move beyond the critical first 72 hours after the disaster. Experts note that survival chances diminish significantly after that period, particularly in the absence of access to water.
As Venezuela mourns one of the deadliest natural disasters in its modern history, the football community is among those grappling with profound personal losses that extend far beyond the game.
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The Association of Sports Veterans of Nigeria has expressed deep sorrow over the deaths of two of its pioneer members, Adegboye Onigbinde and Henry Nwosu, describing them as towering figures whose contributions greatly shaped Nigerian football.
In a statement jointly signed by the association’s president, Chief Jonathan Ogufere, and secretary, Elder Paul Bassey, the body paid glowing tributes to the late football icons, recalling their immense service to the nation and their achievements on the global stage.
Henry Nwosu
The association noted that Onigbinde rose to prominence after succeeding Brazilian coach Otto Gloria at a time when many Nigerians were clamouring for an indigenous coach to handle the national team.
The late Modakeke-born tactician went on to make history by becoming the first Nigerian coach to lead the national team to a silver medal finish at the 1984 African Cup of Nations finals in Côte d’Ivoire.
Widely respected for his calm touchline demeanour, the traditional chief of Modakeke also achieved another historic milestone when he became the first coach — indigenous or foreign — to defeat Ghana national football team on home soil in Accra during the qualifying campaign for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
The veterans further highlighted Onigbinde’s role in nurturing young talents, recalling how he introduced a teenage Femi Opabunmi into Nigeria’s World Cup squad in 2002. They also credited him for recommending legendary goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who later earned over 100 caps for Nigeria.
According to the statement, Onigbinde managed the Super Eagles in 37 international matches across two spells between 1983 and 1984, and later in 2002, recording 13 victories, 17 draws and seven defeats.
The association also paid tribute to former international midfielder Henry Nwosu, who was part of Nigeria’s victorious squad at the 1980 African Cup of Nations and represented the country for more than a decade.
Nwosu later served as assistant coach to Onigbinde during the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea and also handled several domestic clubs and youth teams, including the national U-17 side, Ibom Stars, Union Bank FC and Gateway FC.
The Sports Veterans Association said both men would be greatly missed for their lasting contributions to the advancement of football in Nigeria.
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Ted Turner, the pioneering media mogul who transformed television and sports broadcasting, has died at the age of 87, his family announced Wednesday.
Turner founded CNN in 1980, creating the world’s first 24-hour news network, and later launched TBS and TNT, which became staples for sports fans. He purchased the Atlanta Braves in 1976, helping turn them into “America’s Team” and guiding the franchise to its 1995 World Series championship. Turner Field, built in 1996, remains a landmark of his influence on Atlanta sports.
As owner of the Braves from 1976, Turner transformed the struggling franchise into a nationally recognised team through nationwide cable broadcasts on TBS, branding them “America’s Team.” Under his leadership, the Braves won the 1995 World Series title and moved into Turner Field ahead of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
In a tribute, the Braves described Turner as “a brilliant businessman, consummate showman and passionate fan,” crediting him for helping shape the club’s modern identity.
Turner also left a major imprint on basketball and professional wrestling. He owned the Atlanta Hawks for over two decades and helped expand the reach of the NBA through TNT broadcasts. He also built World Championship Wrestling into the biggest rival ever faced by Vince McMahon’s WWF.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred hailed Turner as “a visionary whose impact on the media landscape transformed how fans experience sports,” while NBA commissioner Adam Silver praised his role in growing the league’s global audience.
Beyond media and sports ownership, Turner was an accomplished sailor who won the 1977 America’s Cup and later earned induction into the America’s Cup Hall of Fame and the National Sailing Hall of Fame.
Widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in sports media history, Turner’s innovations reshaped how live sports and news are consumed around the world.
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