The Lagos State Sports Council, LSSC, has declared that it would not tolerate the activities of dubious and fake sports organisers and marketers who stage series of competitons in the state without getting clearance from the council's sports associations.

Its Chairman, Agboola Dabiri, said the decision became imperative to curb the activities of the organisers in order to safe sports and enhance the development of sports in Lagos.

Dabiri, said the council would appreciate people with genuine interest to aid the development of sports through staging of regular sporting activities, adding that many people under the pretence of organising grassroot tournaments have misused the opprotunity to defraud people.

He urged local government councils to help the council to put a stop to the trend as he advised people who are genuinely interested in promoting sports to approach the concerned sports associations before starting any competition, adding that they stand to gain more by involving such associations instead of bypassing them.
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NFF denies castigating PTF.

The Nigeria Football Federation,NFF, has denied making any insinuation to the effect that officials of the Presidential Task Force on Nigeria’s World Cup qualification caused distractions in the Super Eagles’ camp at the African Nations Cup finals in Angola.

NFF, said the PTF was a body set up by the Federal Government and they have been working smoothly with the body ever since inauguration.

While acknowledging the noble and immense contributions of the PTF to Super Eagles 2010 World Cup qualification, the Federation tenders apology to the eminent persons who constitute the Presidential Task Force if the statement made had offended them.

The Nigeria Football Federation wishes to again use this medium to solicit the continued support of the Presidential Task Force as the Federation's begin in earnest the preparations for a credible outing at the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa.

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Lagos commissions Campos Square.

Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola will tomorrow record another milestone in the area of sports development in the State with the official commissioning of the Campos Square Sports Centre.

The commissioning of the sports edifice according to Prince Ademola Adeniji-Adele, the Commissioner for Youth Sports and Social Development, was coming at a time the state sports ministry is doing everything to see that Lagos continue to play the leadership role in the area sports development in Nigeria.

The Commissioner, who described the Campos Square which use to serve as cemetery for the dead Brazil and Cuba returning especially those of the Campos lineage, said the administration of Fashola has adopted a policy of building state of art facilities in all the local communities.

Prince Adeniji-Adele describes the coming of Governor Fashola (SAN) as governor of Lagos State as the best thing to have happened to the Centre of Excellence in several years.

Adeniji Adele, said the Campos Square which later became an open playground when the cemetery was relocated now have an artificial turf for football, a multi purpose outdoor court, floodlights, a generator, a clinic and a mini conference hall.

According to him, some selected basketball players would take to the court for a dunking contest while there would an Under 13 football match and also fireworks to herald the ceremony.
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CAF Bans Togo

Togo has been banned from playing in the next two edition of the Africa Cup of Nations for pulling of the tournament.

The Hawks pulled out of the 2010 edition which is currently being held in Angola after a terrorist attack on their team bus.

The African Football Confederation (CAF), said the body has decided to ban Togo because government had interfered in their decision to pull out.

CAF president Issa Hayatou said the decision was based on "governmental interference.
Togo decided to pull out of the tournament after two members of their delegation were shot and killed during an attack on the team bus as it passed through the restive Angolan enclave of Cabinda.

The armed wing of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda, embroiled in a decades-long separatist struggle, claimed responsibility for the attack.
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Mohammed undergoes successful operation

Super Eagles defender,Yusuf Mohammed, has recorded a successful operation in Johannesburg South Africa as the player will be out of active soccer for nine months.

The operation on the Sion F.C of Switzerland defender’s ruptured Achilles tendon took place at the Rose Bank Clinic close to the Residence of the Nigeria High Commissioner to the Republic of South Africa, General Buba Marwa.

Super Eagles’ physiotherapist Ekundayo Ogunkunle,said the Nigeria High Commission in South Africa did a great job by providing necessary materials needed before they landed in Johannesburg as NFF made an initial deposit of ten thousand dollars.

According to him, Mohammed is already wearing boots and they would manage him for three weeks before he returns to Nigeria.

The NFF promptly arranged for the player to be flown to South Africa after he ruptured his Achilles tendon in the second half of the Nations Cup semi final match against Ghana’s Black Stars .
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Babafemi Promises To Surpass Sports Festival Records.

The Head Coach of Lagos State Amateur Boxing Association, Adefemi Babafemi, is optimistic that the state's puglists to the this year's National Sports Festival in Rivers State will surpass thier records in the tournament.

The Coach's assurance was a results of the new dawn in the association through the Lagos State Boxing Hall of Fame which has been organising regular boxing tournamnets tagged Monthly Staurday Boxing Show.

Babafemi, said the competiton which started last year has been able to improve the standard of the sport and it has also renewed the interest of the boxers to feature in the competition following their opportunity to exhibit their skills.

He said some of the boxers who have been poached by other states are now participating in the tournament with a view of competing for the state at the National Sports festival in Rivers State.

He said all the champions in each weight category since the competition started would be invited to open camping ahead of the National Sports Festival in Rivers State.
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CAF suspends headbutted ref

Benin referee Bonaventure Coffi Codjia has been suspended by CAF after failing to take action against an Algeria player who head-butted him at the African Nations Cup.

A CAF spokesman told Reuters on Sunday that Codjia, also on the shortlist for the World Cup in June, did not mention the incident in his match report after deciding against taking any action on the field against Algerian goalkeeper Fawzi Chaouchi.

Codjia was clearly grabbed by the collar and headbutted by the keeper after Egypt took a 1-0 lead with a disputed penalty in Thursday’s semi-final in Benguela.

Chaouchi was enraged by the way in which Egypt’s Hosni Abd Rabou ran up to the ball, stopped and feigned his spot-kick before stroking it easily into the net.

Codjia awarded the goal and Chaouchi chased after the referee, grabbing him from behind and turning him around and butting him. He was quickly dragged away by teammates.

A minute earlier the referee sent off Algerian defender Rafik Halliche for a second caution for a tackle that led to Egypt being awarded the penalty.

Chaouchi was later sent off when an attempted kick at an opponent earned a second caution.
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Eagles’ stars hit Lagos today

There are indications that some Super Eagles’ stars like Osaze Odemwingie, Obafemi Martins, Chidi Ordiah, Obinna Nsofor, Yussuf Ayila and Obinna Nwaneire may hit Lagos today before heading back to their various European clubs.

Correspondent who was at their Alvalade Hotel on Sunday morning to make final checks on the players after their arrival from Benguela where they had beaten Algeria to another bronze medal, gathered that only the few stars who confident that they had played their all during the championship and for fans to judge will arrive Lagos to see their family members via either a South African or Ethiopian Airways flight that left Luanda Sunday.

Meanwhile, its not known how long they will be spending in Nigeria before heading back to their clubs.

However,English Premiership teams like Everton and Hull City will be welcoming back the likes of recuperating Joseph Yobo, Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Seyi Olofinjana to their folds before Tuesday or Wednesday as they might have connected from the Johannesburg International Airport a British Airways flight to London's Hethrow Airport or this morning do so as the case may be.

The same goes for the likes of Kalu Uche, Taiye Taiwo, Vincent Enyeama, Austin Ejide, Elderson Echiejiele, Dele Ayenugba, Sani Kaita and a few others that will connect a Europe bound flight from Johannesburg too.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), on Monday flagged-off a 40-man Desert Warrior expedition, led by the famous environmentalist, Dr. Newton Jibunor, with a call on the Federal Government to take the lead in the fight against desert encroachment in the country.

The Desert Warriors’ Reality Show is an expedition across the Sahara Desert, organised by Fight Against Desert Encroachment organisation in collaboration with the Lagos State Government, to raise awareness on the dangers of desert encroachment to the country.

In his brief remarks at the flag-off ceremony which took place at the Lagos House, Alausa, Fashola said there was the need for the Federal Government to take concrete steps in the fight to save the country from being taken over by the desert.

“For me, it is a national security problem,” the Governor said, adding, “Let us make this a national crusade to increase awareness among the people on the danger which we all face from the acts of nature but most significantly from acts we are not responsible for; the acts of industrialised nations who, as we know, are also looking for solutions and putting commitments on the table.”

Fashola said the importance of the fight against desert encroachment in the country particularly lies in the fact that “the desert is the food basket of Nigeria.”

He stressed that all the states where food, such as vegetables and cattles are produced in the country are facing the threat of being lost to the desert.

He said that Lagos State had been lucky not to have been affected in the light of world cities, villages and communities being dislodged by flood.

The Governor, however, added, “But we know that luck alone will not take us far. We need also to act proactively and decisively. Desert encroachment adds to Climate Change imbalance which increases water levels, and as a coastal state, Lagos will be the most impacted.”


In his remarks, leader of expedition and Chief Executive Officer of FADE, Jibunoh, said participants in the expedition will visit Abuja and Kano before finally taking off into the desert.

He added that the venture was to raise awareness in the country about the dangers posed by the menace of the desert.

Jibunoh said although over 670 people of different professions were screened for the expedition, 60 were chosen, adding that only 15 out of this number will take part in the journey while others would participate in future exercises.

He commended Fashola and the state government for the numerous projects and programmes being undertaken in the State to upgrade the environment in accordance with the Global battle against Climate Change.

Earlier, in his opening remarks, the State Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Muiz Banire said the state government undertook to support the expedition because of its relevance to the environmental programmes of the government.