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Media officer of the female U-17 national football team, the Flamingoes has said that there is still plenty of room for improvement to be made in female football in the country despite the great efforts already invested in developing female football in Nigeria.

Akujobi confirms that greater efforts in developing the female version of the game would make it catch up with male football observing that in spite of the challenges facing female football, the players and their coaches still work hard to maintain the female league.  “Female football has grown in leaps and bounds but the league is not there yet, but I think we are moving in the right direction; it may take a while, sponsoring is till a major drawback but if the league get a sponsor, I bet you the girls would be doing better that what they are doing currently”, she said.

She however calls for support for the female league to make the coaches and the girls more comfortable with the game. According to her, some of the girls are bread winners in their families.

The Federal Government has planned to immortaise late Super Eagles Striker, Rashidi Yekini.

Sports Minister, Bolaji Abdullahi who already spoke to the late Yekini’s family in Abuja confirmed that the government would do something meaningful to immortalise the late striker.

Abdullahi also promised to speak to Kwara State government on its plans to mark the first anniversary of the striker’s death. “You know Yekini and I came from the same State and we shall do everything to support the family he left behind and the Federal Government can never fold its arms and neglect the legacies Rashidi Yekini left behind”, Abdullahi said.

Rashidi Yekini was the fist Nigerian to win the African Footballer of the year award and the first Nigerian to score in the senior world cup.

Yekini died on the 4^th of May 2012 and plans are underway to commemorate the anniversary with a two day event.

Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan has promised more support for the development of the Nigeria Police Games, to facilitate discovery of more talents for international competitions.

The President made the promise in Port Harcourt during the closing ceremony of the 10th Biennial Police Games. He said the support was necessary to promote sportsmen and women in the police force and to also enhance the nation’s sports development.

Represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo, he said ‘the history of Nigeria will not be complete without the roles the police played to the development of the country”, adding that  Nigeria recorded a remarkable achievement from the police force, commending the legends that had been discovered through police games.

”To all the participants in the 10th biennial games in Port Harcourt, I urge you to consider your participation in the games as an honour to Nigeria,” he said.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, said that the games had been a breeding ground for discovering of stars in the country.

”The best of Nigeria Police has been displayed in the games; I urge those that participated not to rest but to utilise their talents.

”The time demands that you must work hard for you to become a legend,” Abubakar said.

The Rivers Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, congratulated the organisers of the games, and expressed optimism that the aim of the games had been achieved.

”We have seen unity among the police and the entire Nigerians; I hope they have learnt much about Rivers state,” Amaechi said.

Represented by his Deputy, Mr Tele Ikuru, the governor said that unity, which was one of the objectives of the games, must have been achieved through interactions among the participants.

To further encourage Nigeria’s under 23 football team, the Flying Eagles, participating in the 2013 African Youth Championship (AYC), the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) has increased the win bonus to $2,000 per player in the group stage.

The team’s Media Officer, Sam Audu, said  that NFA  Director of Competitions, Sanusi Mohammed, announced the increase to the players when he visited their training camp in Tunisia on Saturday.

According to the statement, the gesture is to spur the players to defend the title they won two years ago, as they previously received 1,000 dollars.

Mohammed enjoined the team to do Nigeria proud in the competition taking place in  Algeria.

“After what your senior brothers achieved in South Africa, all attention is now on any Nigerian team and so you must go on and again do the nation proud.

“You did it two years ago in South Africa and you can do it again in Algeria,” he said.

Having dismissed Roberto Di Matteo earlier in the day, Chelsea FC have appointed Rafael Benítez until the end of the season, the Spaniard’s first managerial job since 2010.

Chelsea FC have appointed Rafael Benítez as their interim manager until the end of the season following the dismissal of Roberto Di Matteo.

Di Matteo left the club after Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat at Juventus, a result that means Chelsea are in serious danger of becoming the first UEFA Champions League holders to fall at the group stage of the following season’s competition. Di Matteo led Chelsea to that European crown with a final victory against FC Bayern München in May and also won the FA Cup during his eight-month reign at Stamford Bridge but has now paid the price after, as the club said in a statement: “Recent performances and results have not been good enough”.

Chelsea have turned to Benítez, who guided Liverpool FC to the UEFA Champions League title in 2005, when his side overcame Chelsea in the semi-finals – a feat they repeated two years later. The 52-year-old Spaniard left Anfield for FC Internazionale Milano in summer 2010, but lasted only until that December at San Siro and has recently been working in the media.

“The owner and the board believe that in Benítez we have a manager with significant experience at the highest level of football, who can come in and immediately help deliver our objectives,” said a Chelsea statement to announce the appointment. Benítez, winner of UEFA’s Coach of the Year award in 2004 and 2005, is described as having “outstanding pedigree” by his new employers having also landed two Liga titles and the 2003/04 UEFA Cup with Valencia CF.

From uefa.com

LONDON Roberto Di Matteo’s successful but short-lived reign as Chelsea’s head coach came to a sudden end Wednesday when he was fired only six months after guiding the club to an unlikely Champions League title.

Russian owner Roman Abramovich displayed his trademark ruthless side by sacking Di Matteo following an emergency, middle-of-the-night executive meeting at Chelsea’s training ground, which came after a 3-0 loss at Juventus in the Champions League.

That result left Chelsea’s defence of the European trophy in tatters, with the team on the verge of becoming the first reigning champion to be eliminated from the group stage. Chelsea has also dropped to third place in the Premier League, picking up just two points from its past four matches.

“The team’s recent performances and results have not been good enough and the owner and the board felt that a change was necessary now to keep the club moving in the right direction as we head into a vitally important part of the season,” Chelsea said in a statement.

There was no immediate announcement on a replacement for Di Matteo but former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is the favourite with British bookmakers, having already declared his interest in the role. Benitez, who was flying to London from Abu Dhabi on Wednesday for talks with Chelsea, has been out of work since being fired by Inter Milan in December 2010.

Pep Guardiola, currently on a one-year sabbatical from coaching after leaving Barcelona at the end of last season, is also a contender, along with Harry Redknapp and one-time interim Chelsea manager Avram Grant.

“The club will be making an announcement shortly regarding a new first-team manager,” said the statement, with Chelsea not saying whether the appointment will be permanent or temporary.

Given Abramovich’s history of hastily firing managers — he is looking for his ninth in nine years — there was a certain inevitability about Di Matteo’s demise, even though the Swiss-born Italian was only hired on a full-time basis in June after an impressive spell as caretaker coach.

Di Matteo was told by chairman Bruce Buck and chief executive Ron Gourlay he had been fired at the 4 a.m. training-ground meeting, soon after landing back in England following a flight from Turin. He is believed to have already said farewell to his players in the dressing room after the loss to Juventus.

“Wow, Chelsea have sacked their manager!! … its a madness,” Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said on Twitter.

Chelsea was in disarray when Di Matteo, then an assistant coach, took over from the fired Andre Villas-Boas in March. The former Italy midfielder brought together squabbling factions within the squad and led the team to the FA Cup title — the club’s seventh — and then a first Champions League trophy, beating Barcelona in the semifinals and then Bayern Munich in the final.

Di Matteo, with his typical coolness, has also been praised for the way he handled a racism case involving John Terry that engulfed the club. Chelsea is in the middle of another racism incident, having accused a Premier League referee of abusing one of its players.

Abramovich moved quickly and mercilessly following the team’s first disappointing run of results this season.

“It’s been a difficult day,” Chelsea playmaker Juan Mata said on his Facebook page. “I would like to thank him for all this time with us and wish him the best of luck for the future.”

In the Premier League, Chelsea had been leading for much of the season but now trails Manchester City and Manchester United in the title race.

The team is third in Group E of the Champions League behind Shakhtar Donetsk and Juventus with one match left. The Blues next face Danish club FC Nordsjaelland, but they will be eliminated even if they win if Juventus earns at least a point in Ukraine.

“The club faces a difficult task ahead in qualifying for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League as well as maintaining a strong challenge for the top of the Premier League while competing in three other cup competitions. Our aim is to remain as competitive as possible and challenge strongly on all fronts,” Chelsea said.

If a replacement is appointed before this weekend, as expected, he faces a tough start to his tenure — Chelsea’s next game is at home to unbeaten Man City, the defending champion, on Sunday.

In Benitez’s favour is his experience — he won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005 — and his close relationship with Fernando Torres from their time together at Anfield. Getting the best out of Torres could be crucial to pleasing Abramovich, who signed the Spain striker for £50 million ($79.5 million) in January 2011.

Hiring Benitez would raise eyebrows, however, given his trademark defensive approach. Abramovich is widely known to prefer his team to show a more attacking style, demonstrating this by spending a combined reported £70 million ($111 million) on attacking midfielders Oscar, Eden Hazard, Marko Marin and Victor Moses in the off-season.

Guardiola, the architect behind Barcelona’s stunning recent success, is believed to be Abramovich’s preferred choice. In four years at the Nou Camp, he won three Spanish league titles and the Champions League twice while retaining the team’s attractive passing style so admired by Abramovich.

From thespec.com by The Associated Press

Complete Sports have confirmed that referee Mark Clattenburg racially abused Super Eagles midfielder,John Mikel Obi and this tops the bill of the official complaint filed by Chelsea which is being investigated by the English Football Association .The referee also xenophobically insulted Juan Mata. Clattenburg,Complete Sports can reveal called Mikel a ‘Black M…’.and the Nigerian did not take kindly to this as he stormed the referee’s changing room after the game demanding for an apology.

‘The referee told Mikel to shut up after he (Mikel) went to complain to him about his handling of the match. He told Mikel,’Shut Up, you black M….”, revealed a source close to Mikel.

The source further revealed that Mikel would have physically confronted the referee if he had heard him use such a racist language on him.It was two of Chelsea’s players who heard the inapporopriate language from Clattenburg that drew Mikel’s attention to it”, further revealed the source.

Meanwhile the FA announced on Monday that it would be conducting an official investigation. It does not deny that the investigation,which will include gathering video evidence and talking to all four officials at the game, centres around two major incidents.

Chelsea’s complaint is that Mikel was the victim of a racist comment, while Spain midfielder Mata was allegedly called a “Spanish t**t” by Clattenburg.

Both incidents occurred on the field of play during the Sunday afternoon Stamford Bridge clash with Manchester United and not, as had been reported, in the tunnel.

Chelsea spoke to both players about the incidents at length before lodging their complaint with the FA, which is now certain to contact Skyand seek footage from the broadcaster’s 20 cameras at Stamford Bridge.

In an earlier statement confirming its investigation into Chelsea’s allegations of “inappropriate language” being used by Clattenburg, the FA said: “The FA has begun an investigation relating to allegations made following Sunday’s fixture at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Manchester United (Sunday 28 October 2012).

“The FA will make no further comment at this time.”

The Professional Game Match Officials organisation later confirmed that Clattenburg will not officiate a match this weekend stating, “that with any football match the focus should not be on the officials but on the players and the game itself.

“Mark Clattenburg is one of the elite referees in world football and, in these circumstances, the intense level of scrutiny would detract from the match and be unfair to the clubs and the supporters of both sides.”

The head of the Professional Footballers’ Association, Gordon Taylor, meanwhile, has urged the FA to deal with the accusations as quickly and fairly as possible.

Taylor is wary of the fact that the most recent row concerning racism in football – that involving Blues captain John Terry - dragged on for almost a year before he was banned by the FA, and he does not want this case to go on for such a long period of time.

“We’ve got to learn the lessons of the last 12 months,” Taylor said. “This is extremely serious for the referee involved so that’s why it’s important that it is dealt with in the most thorough manner and as quickly, efficiently, and transparently as possible.”

A no-nonsense arbiter,Bennet,a school-teacher at Mondeor Primary in Johannesburg,was voted South African Premier Soccer League (PSL) Referee of the Season in 2000–01 and 2010-11 and has been an international referee since 2003.

He will be assisted by countryman,Zekhele Siwela and Kenyan,Marwa Range Aden while Victor Gomes,another South African will serve as reserve referee.

Mouucharafou Anjorin of Benin repubulic will serve as match commissioner.

Chelsea and Nigerian midfielders, John Obi Mikel has shut down his twitter account after racist tweets were targeted at him by angry Chelsea fans.

Mikel was at fault in Chelsea Champions League game against Juventus after his misplaced led to Fabio Quagliarella’s equaliser thereby depriving them of the full 3 points.

While reacting Chelsea condemned actions against the Nigerian international, while also confirming that the midfielder had deleted his twitter account as a result.

Chelsea wrote on twitter to condemn the actions: “Abuse on social networks is  abhorrent. Racist tweet towards Mikel are totally unacceptable. Police informed. #CFC supports strongest action”

This came after the club had through an earlier tweet denied attacks on the midfielder on twitter forced the Obi into closing his account.

The earlier tweet reads thus: “Not true Mikel quit Twitter due to messages received. He’d wanted to leave for a while & deleted his acct today without looking at it.