Sports Briefs
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BROWN Ideye, Nigerian Super Eagles striker, has signed for West Bromwich Albion, WBA, an English Premiership side, for a fee of 10 million pounds.Ideye, 25, signed a three-year deal with an option to increase it by a year.
He has been given jersey number nine, which makes the club’s main striker. He will be playing alongside Victor Anichebe, his compatriot.
“Brown is a quality striker and I’m looking forward to working with him,” Alan Irvine, head coach, told the club’s website, adding: “He’s a strong, quick, powerful player who likes to get in behind defences and has plenty of Champions League and international experience.”
Ideye used to play for Dynamo Kiev, an Ukranaian football club. He has played for Ocean Boys football club in the Nigerian League and also featured for clubs in Switzerland and France.
He was a prominent part of the Nigerian squad that won the African Nations Cup but was not selected for the just-concluded World Cup.
Jelks American-born Opts for Nigeria
MARK Jelks is an American born and bred athlete, who dreams of making it big like compatriots Tyson Gay, Justin Gatlin, Maurice Greene, Carl Lewis and other greats. But when there seemed to be no room for Jelks in the American team to world athletics events, he grabbed the offer made him to represent Nigeria.
Jelks is making his first international appearance at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, which started on Thursday, July 23. Jelks earned the right to be in the Nigerian team when he beat the likes of Ogho-Oghene Egwero and Obinna Metu in the men’s 100m at the last All Nigeria/Cross River Championships in Calabar. He ran 10.23 seconds, but the athlete originally from Indiana, USA said in the days to come he would improve on his performance.
As should be expected some people are not happy about allowing the athlete to wear the Nigerian national colour. Olusoji Fasuba, African record holder in the Jelks discipline, is one those questioning his inclusion in the Nigerian team.
Uchenna Emedolu, a Nigerian coach, feels that the country should rather invest on young talents or at best recruit athletes who could produce podium performances even when they have just woken up from their sleep.
But the athlete could be disturbed. “I love it here in Nigeria. And it is humbling and exciting to become a champion so quickly. For so many years I have been contemplating switching nationality. But now I am getting closer to retirement, I feel that it was best decision for me and my family to come over to Nigeria,” he said.
Jelks may come face to face with some of the big names in world 100m at Glasgow, comprising Jamaicans Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Nesta Carter and Trinidad and Tobago’s Richard Thompson who has the men 100m fastest time of 9.82 seconds so far in the season.
His personal best in the 100m is 9.99 seconds and in the 200m is 20.28 seconds: Times that he did in 2008 and 2009 respectively. This season ran a 10.13 season’s best.
However, it was not certain if the AFN had done the paper work to clear Jelks and others to make them eligible for the Commonwealth Games. A check on the IAAF list of athletes indicated that Jelks and the others like him were still being classified as American athletes.
Foreign Players Abandon Ukraine Clubs
AT least seven foreign players for two top Ukrainian football teams have refused to return to the country as tensions mount after the Malaysia Airlines crash, media reported Sunday, July 20.
Six of the players are for Shakhtar Donetsk and one Argentine player with Metalist Kharkiv, were said to be too scared to return to their respective clubs.
The six Donetsk players refused to fly back to Ukraine after their side were beaten 4-1 by Lyon in a friendly Saturday, July 19, in the French town of Annecy, ITAR-TASS news agency said. It named five of the players as Brazilians Alex Teixeira, Fred, Douglas Costa, Dentinho and Argentine Facundo Ferreyra.
“I don’t want to give any comments for the moment,” Sergei Palkin, Shakhtar general manager, was quoted as saying by Tribuna information site.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Blanco, Metalist Kharkiv’s Argentine midfielder, refused to return to Ukraine from a training camp in Austria, the R-Sport agency reported. “After the Malaysian plane’s crash I have no intention to return to Ukraine. The situation there is currently abnormal. I decided to stay in Buenos Aires.” the 26-year-old footballer was quoted as saying.
Ukrainian Football Federation, FFU, is maintaining the start of the national championship for July 25, despite the troubles in the east of the country heightened by the apparent shooting down of the Malaysian Airlines jet on Thursday, 17.
“The entire country mourns over the tragedy that happened. It’s terrible. But it will not influence the national championship kick off. We insist that football should stay out of politics.” Pavel Ternovoi, an FFU spokesman, said.
— Aug. 4, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
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