BREAKING NEWS, Sports
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| By Anayo Ezugwu |
THE feelings of most soccer enthusiasts in Nigeria in 2015 were mixed. The country’s soccer teams recorded series of successful outings. In November, the Golden Eaglets won the 2015 FIFA U17 championship in Chile while in December, the Dream Team VI won the Under 23 African Cup of Nations and qualified for the football events of the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
Also, the home based Super Eagles qualified for the 2016 Home Based Confederation of African Football. The Super Eagles also qualified for the final qualifying stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
But the Super Falcons of Nigeria, the female football team in Nigeria failed at group stages of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. The Falcons also failed to qualify for the women’s football events at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil even though the U-20 Women National Team, Falconets, qualified for the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
In athletics, Nigeria had an impressive outing at the 2015 All African Games in Congo Brazzaville, winning 20 medals. The team Nigeria won 10 gold medals, seven silvers medals and three bronze medals. But the team Nigeria at the 2015 IAAF World Championship in Beijing, China failed to win any medal.
In the Nigerian league, Enyimba of Aba FC won the Nigeria Glo Premier League and no Nigerian player both home and abroad was nominated for the Glo-CAF Award in 2015.
The lingering crisis rocking the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, was resolved this year. The NFF led by Amaju Pinnick sack Stephen Keshi as the head coach of the Super Eagles and appointed Sunday Oliseh as the new coach of the team.
On the European stage, Barcelona FC of Spain won the UEFA Champions League for the 2014-2015 seasons. In England, Chelsea FC won the English Premier League for 2014-2015 seasons. The year also witnessed the big transfer deals in England. Manchester United bought Anthony Martial 19 years old for $36 million from FC Monaco of France, making him the most expensive teenager in the world football.
In 2015, corruption scandal hit FIFA leading to the arrest of seven FIFA officials by the United States Federal Investigation Division and subsequent resignation of Sepp Blatter as FIFA president. The arrests was centred on the alleged use of bribery, fraud and money laundering to corrupt the issuing of media and marketing rights for FIFA games in the Americas, estimated at $150 million, including at least $110 million in bribes related to the Copa América Centenario to be hosted in 2016 in the United States.
In addition, the indictment handed down by the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, alleges that bribery was used in an attempt to influence clothing sponsorship contracts, the selection process for the 2010 FIFA World Cup host, and the 2011 FIFA presidential election. Specifically, an unnamed sports equipment company identified in multiple sources as Nike, Inc. is alleged to have paid at least $40 million in bribes to become the sole provider of uniforms, footwear, accessories, and equipment to the Brazil national team.
— Jan 4, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT
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