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2019 FIBAWC: Nigeria’s men’s basketball team accuse NSC of refusing to release funds allocated them for preparation

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Nigeria’s men’s basketball team,
D’Tigers have cried out over the non-availability of funds for their FIBA Basketball World Cup preparation.
The tournament is set to kick-off in
China starting August 31st, and the team is yet to receive funds to prepare .

D’Tigers forward, Stan Okoye accused the Nigerian Sports Commission of refusing to release the money allocated to them for training, travel, and food with just two weeks to the 2019 FIBAWC.

Speaking via his official twitter handle @StanOkoye_ he said, “I hate to do this, but as me and my teammates have been preparing for the upcoming World Cup we have faced a lot of adversity. As players, coaches, and staff we try to focus on the basketball side of things and avoid the politics.

Okoye continued, “I say all of that to say that the Sports Commission of Nigeria hasn’t released the funds held for us to lodge, travel, etc. Of course we will manage, show up to China, and fight for this country, but something has to change!
D’Tigers Ekpe Udoh also took to his Twitter page to call for the release of funds to aid the team to prepare for the World Cup tournament

Okoye continued, “I say all of that to say that the Sports Commission of Nigeria hasn’t released the funds held for us to lodge, travel, etc. Of course we will manage, show up to China, and fight for this country, but something has to change!
D’Tigers Ekpe Udoh also took to his Twitter page to call for the release of funds to aid the team to prepare for the World Cup tournament.

“Dear Sports World, with two weeks before the FIBAWC, the Nigerian Sports Commission refuses to release the money allocated

to us for training, travel, and food! We have a special team and possibly the best yet. I hope this gets resolved soon,” said Udoh.
Another member of the D’Tigers,
Chimezie Metu also made his complaints on his page.

“It has been an honour and privilege to play and represent Nigeria in preparation for the FIBA World Cup. However, the sports commission of Nigeria refuses to release the money allocated to us for training, food, travel, and equipment in order to properly prepare for the World Cup. It made things very difficult as the President of the Federation, coaching staff, and even players have had to pay for everything personally. Hopefully, this issue can be resolved among the higher authorities as my teammates and I look forward to continuing our preparation and goal of reaching the podium at the 2019 FIBA World Cup.”

Back in July, the home-based D’Tigers had to travel by road to Mali for the inaugural edition of the FIBA AfroCan. In another separate issue, D’Tigress also had to delay their departure for the FIBA Women’s Afrobasket 2019 in Senegal by two days due to financial challenges.

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Iheanacho, Ndidi promoted back to EPL with Leicester City

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Leicester City gained promotion back to the English Premier League (EPL) on Friday night.

The 2016 EPL champions were relegated last season. The Foxes’ promotion was confirmed following Queens Park Rangers’ 4-0 win over promotion-chasing, second-placed Leeds United.

Leeds United’s defeat means Leicester have an unassailable points haul that ensured they have picked up one of the two automatic promotion tickets.

The Midlands club earlier put their foot at the door with a 5-0 win over Southampton on Tuesday night in a match where Wilfred Ndidi, the Super Eagles of Nigeria midfielder, scored a goal.

Ndidi, who will return to the EPL with Kelechi Iheanacho, his international teammate, also congratulated the club via a post on X.

“Congratulations to me, the boys, the staff the club and the amazing fans.. 2 more to go!!! We back!! 😁,” the 27-year-old midfielder wrote.

Enzo Maresca’s team tops the championship table with 94 points and is well-placed to win an eighth championship title.

The King Power side have a four-point lead with two matches left in the 44-game season.

Leicester can now claim the championship title on Monday with a victory at Preston if third-placed Ipswich fail to beat Hull City on Saturday.

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No talks with Peseiro over Eagles return, says sports minister

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John Enoh, minister of sports development, says there is no ongoing negotiation to return Jose Peseiro as Super Eagles head coach.

On Thursday, there were reports that the minister had contacted Peseiro and was negotiating a potential return of the Portuguese to the helm of Nigeria’s men’s national team.

Reacting to the claims in a statement signed by Diana Mary-Nsan, his media aide, the minister described the reports as “entirely false” and “fabricated to create sensation”.

The statement added that Enoh “does not interfere or influence critical decisions of the federations” and “ensures that the federations meet the required expectations and standards in the discharge of their duties”.

Peseiro exited the Eagles role in February after leading the team to a silver medal-winning campaign at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is yet to announce a permanent replacement for the Portuguese since then.

The federation had called for public applications from interested and qualified candidates to fill the role, but little has been let out after.

On April 19, Enoh announced that a new coach would be named within the next two weeks.

Finidi George was the Eagles’ interim head coach for two international friendlies against Ghana and Mali in March.

Finidi led the Eagles to a 2-1 victory over Ghana in his first game at the helm but lost 2-0 to Mali in the second game.

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Juventus ordered to pay Ronaldo €9.7m unpaid salaries

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Juventus must pay Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo 9.7 million euros ($10.4 million) in back wages for the 2020-21 season, the Italian courts announced on Wednesday.

The Court of Arbitration, to which Ronaldo appealed, “orders Juventus Turin to pay the sum of 9,774,166.66 euros”, plus interest and procedural costs, it stated in its decision.

The sum equates to the difference between the salary actually received by Ronaldo and that which he should have received after tax and other deductions.

Ronaldo, who spent three seasons in Italy with Juventus (2018-21) before joining Manchester United (2021-22) and then the Saudi club Al Nassr, was claiming 19.5 million euros but the arbitration panel reduced that by 50 per cent.

Contacted by AFP, Juventus declined to comment, but said it would be issuing a statement “shortly”.

According to the rankings drawn up by the American business magazine Forbes, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner was the world’s highest-paid sportsman in 2023, with $136 million, including $46 million in wages.

Juventus, who are listed on the stock exchange, recorded losses of 123.7 million euros in the 2022-23 financial year, which ran to the end of June, it announced in October.

No provision has been made in the accounts of Italian football’s most successful club, currently third in Serie A, for the payment of this wages backlog.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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