Russia 2018: Rohr opens W’Cup door to Martins

Obafemi Martins could have a chance to play at another World Cup if he maintains his scoring form, Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has told KweséESPN.

"For now, we have Kelechi (Iheanacho) who is playing not all the time. (But) we played with Kelechi against Argentina and he did well.

“Then Anthony Nwakaeme also did well against Algeria and Odion Ighalo, who is injured now, did very well against Cameroon. But we have also other players, like the young boy Victor Osimhen, and we have to look everywhere.

“We have a lot of opportunities for the strikers, and so Martins, if he is scoring goals, will be welcome.” said Rohr

Wenger, Houlier Recommends Rohr To Nigeria – Pinnick

President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick has revealed two Frenchmen, Coach Arsene Wenger of arsenal and ex-Liverpool boss Gérard Houllier were contacted before the appointment of Gernot Rohr as the coach of Nigeria in August 2016.


Nigeria was forced to go in search of an expatriate manager after the draw for the third round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers pitted the national team in the same group as Cameroon, Algeria and Zambia.


”When we saw the draw for the World Cup, we knew we were condemned [by a tough group] and we determined that we must overcome it,” Pinnick said at a Nigerian Federation event attended by KweséESPN’s Colin Udoh.


“The first thing we identified was that we needed a new coach so we reached out to Arsene Wenger, to Gerard Houllier, and one name kept coming to the fore: Rohr.


“Now we have no regrets about hiring him and he has proven himself not just by qualifying for the World Cup, but with the foundation he is laying for our team, which now has young players from the age of 19, [he is] doing well.”


German-born Gernot Rohr, who is also in the possession of a French passport, has signed a two-year contract extension and his wages have been paid until December 2017.

LEADERSHIP

CHAN: VAR to be used during the championship

The Confederation of African Football has confirmed the introduction of Video Assistant Referee [VAR] for the 2018 African Nations Championship. 
 
The biennial competition is scheduled to take place between January 13 to February 4, 2018 across four Moroccan cities of Casablanca, Marrakech, Tangiers and Agadir. 
 
The Caf Referee’s Committee in a meeting in Egypt on Monday agreed that the technology will be experimented from the quarter-finals stage of the tournament with officials already shortlisted for the next year’s World Cup and with previous VAR trainings to be invited.

Let there be peace, Ekiti FA move to resolve crises

The Local Football Council Chairmen in Ekiti State have agreed to put all unresolved issues behind them to advance the frontiers of football in the state, codedreporter.blogspot.com.ng gathers.

Board members of the association led by the Vice Chairman and other LFC heads made this known after rising from an emergency meeting that sought to clarify some grey areas between the state football association chairman and board members after several intervention efforts had failed.

The emergency meeting is the first in several months since the board was formed owing to the FA chairman's disingenuous plans not to carry board members along in fundamental activities.

It was gathered during the meeting that the state rather than progress in it's sports activities like other states was back peddling due to the lack of attention and proper planning.

One of the board members, Mr Oloworemo Oluwole expressed disgust at a situation where the slot that will allow an Ekiti man to be a committee member  in NFF was given away by the EKFA chairman.

This according to him was one of the impunious decisions that has kept the state in recent times on a back foot as it concerns football development.

Another member, Mr Fatukasi Joseph  revealed that the emergency meeting held plans to revert to the FA's Statutes to revive the state of football in Ekiti which has produced popular footballers such as Sunday Alimi and the likes.

Although the state of football in Ekiti State might be in a dire condition,the Ekiti State FA tied up with it's board members have vowed not to allow any selfish interests dissuade their desire to institute to a worthy legacy for the generation unborn.

The meeting ended with the forum agreeing to work within the provisions of the State FA Statutes to move football forward in the state.  The members of the Board presence led by the VC of the EKFA, Otunba Ariyo A.Y.O. were charged with the responsibility of organizing the 2017 AGM before the end of the year

LA LIGA to storm NLO Super 8

A new twist of excitement is in the air concerning the NLO Super 8 slated to begin next week in Katsina as officers of La Liga have promised to grace the occasion in furtherance with the partnership the custodian of Spain elite league have with the cradle of football in Nigeria.


Olushola Ogunnowo in a chat with the media in Abuja on Monday  revealed that the Country Director of La Liga Global Network and his representatives  have confirmed that they will be at Katsina to witness action on the field as the eight teams in the tournament battles for supremacy from the blast of the whistle.


"There was a meeting we held in Lagos between the NLO and the Country Director of La Liga , Javier Del Rio and he stated that it categorically that La Liga representatives will be at NLO Super 8 to witness the matches live at the Mohammadu Dikko Stadium in Katsina city," Ogunnowo said.


He stressed further that : "The nationwide league is saturated with a lot of youthful talented footballers and the NLO is not surprised that La Liga will be sending their scouts to watch the players that will be paraded by the eight teams in the tournament.


"Their purpose of coming is to fulfill their partnership with NLO, which is in area of players development and i am quite sure that they will see some players with unique football talents at the tournament," he added.


The NLO Super 8 tournament is expected to kick off on December 4 and it will end on December 9 in Katsina state.