The star match of the President Federation Cup Round of 16 is the potentially epic confrontation of Enugu Rangers and Bendel Insurance.

The history of the Nigerian National Cup is littered with the epic duels of the two who have three times contested the final matches in 1978, 1981 and recently in 2023.

They clash again four steps before the final match. The two teams were involved in two of the most memorable final matches of Nigeria’s Cup competition in its 80-year history, with honours shared in 1978 and 1981.

The Benin Arsenal tore apart the form books to shock the nation’s football fraternity by spanking Rangers 3-0 in the final in Lagos in 1978, but the Flying Antelopes somewhat repaid the compliment with a 2-0 win at the same venue in 1981.

The setting for this Round of 16 clash is also in Lagos, though a different venue. But fireworks are expected by the waterfront from two teams aspiring for continental football.

Two-time CAF Champions League winners Enyimba FC, who eliminated Cup holders El-Kanemi Warriors in the Round of 32, will take on Abakaliki FC at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba.

Nasarawa United and Bayelsa United will square up to each other in the university town of Anyigba, while Warri Wolves and Wikki Tourists battle things out in the Federal Capital, Abuja.

Two great entertainers, Ikorodu City and Beyond Limits will be at each other’s jugular at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, where Solution FC will tango with Kwara United in an earlier game. Plateau United will confront Osun United in Anyigba.

 Akwa United and Inter Lagos are at loggerheads in Abuja.       

Round of 16 fixtures (Men) on Wednesday

• Enyimba FC (Abia) Vs Abakaliki FC (Ebonyi) – Asaba – 4pm
• Nasarawa United (Nasarawa) Vs Bayelsa United (Bayelsa) – Anyigba 10am
• Warri Wolves (Delta) Vs Wikki Tourists (Bauchi) – Area 3 Abuja – 1 pm
• Ikorodu City (Lagos) Vs Beyond Limits (Ogun) – Benin City – 4 pm
• Akwa United (Akwa Ibom) Vs Inter Lagos (Lagos) – Area 3 Abuja – 4 pm
• Solution FC (Anambra) Vs Kwara United (Kwara) – Benin City – – 10 am
• Plateau United (Plateau) Vs Osun United (Osun) – Anyigba – 1 pm
• Bendel Insurance (Edo) Vs Rangers Int’l (Enugu) – MJA Lagos – 4 pm

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The Los Angeles 2028 Olympics will feature 351 medal events —22 more than at Paris 2024— the International Olympic Committee Executive Board confirmed this week in a press conference in Lausanne. 

The Executive Board has approved the event programme and athlete quotas for the LA Games, with gender equality in mind. For the first time, all team sports will have at least the same number of women’s teams as men’s teams. The LA28 programme also added 698 quotas for the five sports proposed by the LA28 Organising Committee (baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash), in addition to the core athlete quota of 10,500.

“We are opening the door for more athletes to compete, win, and live out their Olympic dream at the LA28 Games where athletes have always been, and always will be, the heart of the Games. 

“We are proud to champion an athlete-centric vision that celebrates excellence and the unifying spirit of the Olympic Movement,” LA28 Chief Athlete Officer, Janet Evans, said in the organisation’s official press release.

New medal opportunities

In addition to the new sports set to debut at the Los Angeles Games, exciting new podium opportunities will be available for the established sports on the Olympic programme.

Coastal rowing will debut at the Games with the women’s solo, men’s solo and mixed double sculls in Beach Sprints, which will see competitors sprint across the sand, before navigating waves and surf for the top prize. 

Also making a splash are swimming’s fast-paced 50m distance swim and water polo. There will be six additional medal opportunities for the fastest swimmers in the world with the women’s and men’s 50-metre competitions in backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. The women’s water polo tournament will expand to 12 teams, matching the men’s —making it gender-equal for the first time at the Games. 

Sport climbing also gained two medal opportunities by separating a previously combined event and creating three distinct medal events: speed, boulder and lead. The sport will have a total quota of 76 athletes (38 women and 38 men).

“From the very beginning of our Olympic journey, we have always had the target of three sets of medals for our athletes. Each of our disciplines has its own unique strengths, and now everyone will see these at LA28,” IFSC President Marco Scolaris said in the federation’s press release.

While the medal events will stay the same, basketball 3×3 will also expand to include 12 teams per gender, from eight teams at the previous Olympics. This expansion reflects the sport’s growth over recent years and further highlights the sport’s global appeal and development.

“The additional quota allows more National Federations and players from all around the world to dream that they can make it from the streets to the Olympics. Los Angeles is one of the world’s most iconic basketball cities and has a thriving 3×3 basketball culture. We are very excited to be once again at the heart of a vibrant, urban sport festival atmosphere during the Games,”said FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis, according to FIBA’s press release.

Spotlight on women’s sport

Just weeks after boxing was approved for the Olympic programme after its controversial run at the Paris Games, the sport is set to achieve full parity at the next Olympics with an additional weight class added to the women’s competition: resulting in seven weight classes for both the women’s and men’s tournaments.

Women’s football will be showcased in LA28, with a record 16 teams, while adjusting the men’s tournament to 12 teams to maintain the overall tournament size consistent with previous Olympic Games.

“We’ve seen incredible growth in women’s participation in team sport and in popularity and visibility in women’s team sport, with football being an absolute leader in that regard,” The IOC’s Kit McConnell said. “Women’s football and men’s football have been hugely successful in the Olympic Games in terms of ticketing and broadcast audiences, and media coverage around the world. And what better place to increase the number of women’s teams than the USA itself?”

More mixed-teams

Six new mixed-gender team events will be part of the competition in Los Angeles. Compound archery will be at the Olympic Games in the form of a mixed-team event. It joins the five recurve events currently in the programme. 

Athletics will feature a mixed 4x100m, becoming the second mixed-gender event in the sport, joining the 4x400m relay. Golf, table tennis and artistic gymnastics will also add a mixed-team event at LA28.

Overall, the LA28 programme will bring together 10,500 Olympians across the 31 sports on the initial sports program, with up to 700 more athletes competing in the five new sports proposed by LA28 and added to the Olympic sports programme by the IOC.

-Inside The Games

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The United States has again reaffirmed Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara. This came up in a communication by US President Donald Trump to the Moroccan monarch, King Mohammed VI.

At a meeting on Tuesday in Washington between Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the latter reiterated that “the United States recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over [the] Sahara.”

Earlier, during a phone conversation in December 2020 between His Majesty King Mohammed VI and the President of the United States, Donald Trump, the U.S. President informed the Sovereign of the issuance of a presidential proclamation, an act with undeniable legal and political weight and immediate effect, announcing the decision of the United States to recognize the full sovereignty of the Kingdom of Morocco over the entire Moroccan Sahara region.

The head of American diplomacy also reiterated that the U.S. “supports Morocco’s serious, credible, and realistic Autonomy Proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute,” Spokesperson for the United States Department of State, Tammy Bruce, said.

Marco Rubio also reiterated that the U.S. “continues to believe that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the only feasible solution.”

In this respect, he stated that the U.S. President is “urging for the parties to engage in discussions without delay, using Morocco’s Autonomy Proposal as the only framework, to negotiate a mutually acceptable solution.”

 The Secretary of State noted that “the United States would facilitate progress toward this aim,” the Spokesperson concluded.

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