Olympics
Super Falcons test might with Olympic champions, Canada
Barely one year after both teams battled to a goalless draw at the Women’s World Cup in Australia, Nigeria and Canada senior women teams go toe-to-toe for the second time in one year on Wednesday, in a closed-doors training match in Malaga, Spain.
The clash amounts to the final test for both teams ahead of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament starting in France in eight days.
The match will commence at 6.30pm Spain time (5.30pm Nigeria time) at the La Quinta Football Centre, Malaga. It also draws the curtain on the Super Falcons’ camping programme in Spain.
Both teams were involved in a hard-fought FIFA Women’s World Cup Group B opener at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium on 21 July 2023, with the game ending 0-0. Nigeria’s goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie saved a penalty kick by veteran Christine Sinclair, and made 14 other big saves in the afternoon encounter.
Coach Randy Waldrum is unlikely to make many changes from the squad that played that match, though defender Ashleigh Plumptre and forward Francisca Ordega, who started that match, are not in Spain.
Waldrum will most likely stick with goalkeeper Nnadozie, defenders Osinachi Ohale, Oluwatosin Demehin and Michelle Alozie (alongside, perhaps Chidinma Okeke), and midfielders Toni Payne, Christy Ucheibe and Deborah Abiodun.
The strike-force may be entirely different with captain Rasheedat Ajibade (who missed the clash with Canada in Melbourne due to a red card bagged in the Women AFCON semi-final clash with Morocco in July 2022) coming in, alongside perhaps Uchenna Kanu and Chinwendu Ihezuo.
The nine-time African champions will fly into France on Thursday, where they will spend a week in further training ahead of their first match of the tournament against Brazil at the Stade Bordeaux on Thursday, 25th July.
Nigeria’s other matches in the group phase are against Spain (28th July) and Japan (31st July), both at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes.
The Olympic rings installed on the Eiffel Tower since June to celebrate the upcoming Olympic Games were removed from the Parisian monument early on Friday morning, as confirmed by an AFP photographer. But the Paris City Hall intends to replace them with a more permanent structure until 2028.
The five-coloured rings, measuring 29 metres in length and 15 metres in height, were placed between the first and second levels of the iconic iron structure on 7 June.
According to Inside the Games publication, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wants the Olympic symbol to continue decorating the monument until the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
But the descendants of the tower’s creator, Gustave Eiffel are opposing the move. They are insisting that the Olympic rings are aesthetically in conflict with the concept and design of the Tower.
The 30-tonne rings initially installed on the Eiffel Tower were also not designed to withstand winter weather conditions.
Olympics
Despite Egypt winning 3 medals at Paris Olympics, President Al-Sisi orders sports system overhaul
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered a comprehensive evaluation of sports federations that participatedat the Paris Olympic Games, following a mission report submitted by the country’s sports minister.
The mandate includes a thorough expenditure check and a performance review to better highlight areas of improvement and fund allocation in future Games.
Additionally, the president plans to take necessary measures against federations —such as limiting funds— that had negative results in the Paris Games.
Egypt’s participation in sports where it lacks a competitive advantage will also be limited, as the president aims to direct resources to promising athletes to ensure optimal results. The president also aims to reduce administrative and technical staff within Olympic delegations and task relevant ministries with preparing future Olympic athletes.
Al-Sisi’s Olympic overhaul is to be presented to the cabinet for approval and urged the government to prioritise amending the sports law for the House of Representatives for review.
Egypt took home a total of three medals in the Summer Games. Ahmed El-Gendy triumphed in modern pentathlon, Sara Samir claimed the silver in weightlifting, and 21-year-old fencer Mohamed El-Sayed earned the bronze.
-Insidethegames
Paris 2024 sold a record 12 million tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics, beating the Games record previously set by London 2012, organisers said on Sunday.
Some 9.5 million tickets were sold for the Olympics and 2.5 million for the Paralympics, which end on Sunday.
In 2012, London organisers set the record for the Paralympics with 2.7 million tickets sold but only 8.2 million were sold for the Olympics.
-Reuters
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