Nigerian Football
Battle for continental tickets reaches a crescendo
The Nigeria Premier Football League is on the home stretch this season with direct confrontations of table toppers and also those battling against relegation. The teams have all to fight for as their destinies are still within their hand reach.
For the table-topping battle, second-placed Rivers United will be hosting leaders, Remo Stars. Former African powerhouse, Shooting Stars are hoping to return to the continental competition for the first time in 26 years.
After recent fluctuating fortunes, they hope to regain steam as they face former battler against relegation-turned top four aspirants, Ikorodu United. A win for Shooting Stars will see them in top contention to return to the continent where they last featured in 1999.
Remo Stars, even with a match still outstanding will remain on top if they lose their away match to Rivers United. But losing may not be an option for them as a win will put them at the cusp of their first elite national success since bringing the first NPFL match to the now sportingly bubbling Ikenne on 26 December 2021.
The clash with Rivers United will undoubtedly be the most challenging in the remaining five matches in the season.
Abia Warriors who started the season with a home loss are now seeing a silver lining in the possibility of picking a continental ticket which they missed last season after losing in the President Federation Cup. This Sunday, they face Enyimba in Aba in an Abia State derby.
A win will secure their current third place. But a loss could see them losing the spot to Shooting Stars who are hosting Ikorodu City in a Southwest derby. A win by Enyimba could see the former multiple champions bouncing back into the reckoning to get a top-three slot as the season winds down.
Just as the battle is fierce at the top, so also is it tough at the backwaters as teams fight for a lifeline against relegation.
The 19th-placed Nasarawa United host fellow relegation battler, Akwa United. It is a relegation battle that could save or make a team sink deeper into the abyss. Nasarawa will be banking on home support. But Akwa United has shown resilience in recent times and could come out of the battle with at least a point.
Matchday 32 Fixtures:
- Bendel Insurance 0-0 Enugu Rangers
- Heartland FC 2-0 Kano Pillars
- Rivers United vs Remo Stars
- Shooting Stars vs Ikorodu City
- Plateau United vs Kwara United
- Lobi Stars vs Sunshine Stars
- Katsina United vs Bayelsa United
- Niger Tornadoes vs El-Kanemi Warriors
- Nasarawa United vs Akwa United
- Enyimba vs Abia Warriors
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Rivers United have closed up an initial five-point gap that Remo Stars established at the summit of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) after a hard-won win in a table-topping contest in Port Harcourt on Sunday.
The duel was drawing into a barren draw before Boluwaji Sholumade scored five minutes into regulation time, offering Rivers United a 1-0 win. But Remo Stars still hold on to the first position, even with an outstanding match against Lobi Stars.
The contest for the third position is still very tense. Abia Warriors still hold on to the third position with 50 points to peg Shooting Stars at the fourth position. Shooting Stars had the opportunity to claim the third position, but they were denied the chance by Ikorodu City who held them to a 0-0 draw in Ibadan.
Abia Warriors could have consolidated on the third position after taking an initial 1-0 against former multiple champions, Enyimba in an Abia State derby.
Enyimba fought back gamely to snatch a 2-1 win. Just as the contest at the top is keen, so also it is at the backwaters. Sunshine Stars thought they could navigate their way upstream after taking a 1-0 lead over fellow backwaters team, Lobi Stars, but the latter fought back to snatch a 1-1 draw that keeps both sides in the murky waters of relegation.
Both teams are kept at the bottom with Lobi Stars taking the 20th position while Sunshine Stars are 19th.
RESULTS
- Rivers United 1-0 Remo Stars
- Lobi Stars 1-1 Sunshine Stars
- Enyimba 2-1 Abia Warriors
- Plateau United 0-0 Kwara United
- Niger Tornadoes 2-0 El Kanemi Warriors
- Nasarawa United 2-0 Akwa United
- Katsina United 1-1 Bayelsa United
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The Surulere Centre of Crest Football Academy will resume its training of aspiring young footballers on Saturday. According to the proprietor, Godwin Dudu-Orume, the training will be held at Iponri Secondary School, behind the Leadway Assurance office in Iponri, Lagos.
The session begins a 7.30 am with the physical registration of participants on site.
Physical registration will be done on-site. This also affects those who registered online as they are expected to produce proof of payment.
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The Nigeria Football Federation has congratulated the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Engineer Ahmadu Musa Kida on his appointment as the non-executive Chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
In a letter signed by the NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, the football-governing body said it was not surprised about Kida’s appointment by the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, given Kida’s proven ability, capacity, demonstrated competence and sagacity in the nation’s oil sector over the decades.
“Your appointment is another testament that a goldfish has no hiding place. Your legacies as the most-impactful President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) ever, as a true leader of the oil sector in Nigeria and internationally, and as an administrator of the highest repute, have eventually found you out as deserving of a higher national assignment, and we heartily rejoice with you.
“The NFF has absolutely no doubt in your capacity to lead the new board to a level of enhanced operational efficiency, restoration of investor confidence, local content-boosting, remarkable economic growth and the advancement of gas commercialisation and diversification, as envisioned by Mr. President,” Sanusi wrote.
The NFF commended Mr. President for the appointment while praising Kida’s track record as an adroit manager of men and resources, a lover of excellence and an individual whose endless innovation and gravitas have seen to the remarkable growth of all establishments he has journeyed through on his way to the top.
Kida, a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, heads the newly constituted 11-member NNPCL board with Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the Group Chief Executive Officer.
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