The Lagos West Senatorial District is gearing up for a vibrant display of sporting talent as the Obasa Games begins on November 15, 2024.

The grassroot development focused competition, set to conclude on December 14, will bring together budding athletes from the 11 Local Governments (LGs) and 19 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) within the district.

At a press conference held on Friday, Abdulganiu Obasa, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), announced the transformation of the event from the previous “Obasa Cup,” which focused solely on football, to the expanded “Obasa Games.”

The revamped competition now includes four additional indoor sports: Scrabble, Chess, Table Tennis, and Boxing, with the aim of promoting inclusivity across the participating LGs and LCDAs.

“Last year, it was only football within Agege, but this year, we’ve taken it to the Lagos West Senatorial District, bringing young athletes from across the local councils together,” Obasa explained.

“We’re expecting over 200 to 300 athletes, with top teams like Robo FC of Mushin and Dannaz FC of Ikeja set to participate. Alongside football, we’re excited to introduce indoor sports like boxing, table tennis, scrabble, and chess.”

According to him, the competition will provide opportunities for young athletes to showcase their skills, with cash prizes up for grabs, saying the football champions will take home N3 million, while the runners-up and third-place teams will receive N2 million and N1 million, respectively.

He added that the boxing and table tennis winners in both male and female categories will receive N1 million each, while scrabble, and chess champions will win N500,000 each with additional prizes valued at N500,000 will also be distributed.

Obasa noted that the games will primarily take place in the afternoon, coinciding with school closing times to encourage student participation and attendance, mulling that the next edition would feature track and field games.

“Next year, we plan to introduce track and field events,” he added. “It would be exciting to find out who the fastest person in Lagos West is, but we are gradually expanding the games.”

He said the registration would be done online to engage participants, particularly targeting secondary school students.

“What we have done is to use technology this time around, to create an online link, share it across, social media to engage a lot of participants and we have started seeing a lot of people registering even more than we actually do but we have decided to give the young one a chance. We will filter their age, local government, and educational level. We will refer to secondary schools in the competition,” he said.

The football matches will take place across three venues: Dairy Farms Secondary School, Awwarul Secondary School, and TTC Ifako Ijaye, while the indoor sports will be hosted at the Agege Sports Complex.

The disciplinary committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has awarded three points, three goals to the senior national team of Nigeria for the abandoned game against Libya, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Super Eagles defeated Libya 1-0 in Uyo, but had to abandon the away game against Libya after they were left unattended to for over 16 hours at the airport upon arrival without food and water. They also survived a plane crash when their flight was inexplicably diverted to another airport 300km away from the city of the game.

CAF suspended the game and handed it to their disciplinary committee for a decision on the next step on the game, and they have declared a win for Nigeria with three goals. A result which effectively seal their spot at next year’s AFCON.

In its ruling on Saturday, signed by the chairman, Ousmane Kane, the Disciplinary Board ruled:

1) The Libya Football Federation is found to have breached Article 31 of the Africa Cup of Nations Regulations as well as Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code.

2) The match No. 87 Libya v. Nigeria of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers 2025 (scheduled to be played on 15 October in Benghazi) declared lost by forfeit by Libya (by a score of 3-0).

3) The Libya Football Federation is ordered to pay a fine of USD 50,000.

4) The fine is to be paid within 60 days of notification of the present decision.

A cross section of players of the senior national team of Nigeria say they want the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to order a replay of the abandoned game against Libya and not offer them a win, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.

Super Eagles defeated Libya 1-0 in Uyo, but had to abandon the away game against Libya after they were left unattended to for over 16 hours at the airport upon arrival without food and water. They also survived a plane crash when their flight was inexplicably diverted to another airport 300km away from the city of the game.

CAF suspended the game and handed it to their disciplinary committee for a decision on the next step on the game, which includes declaring a win for Nigeria with three goals. A result which will effectively seal their spot at next year’s AFCON.

However six players of the team who spoke exclusively to our correspondent say they want a replay of the game preferably at a neutral ground, because they still don’t feel entirely safe playing in Libya judging by the hostile reception they got upon arrival.

They say they want Libya to pay for their sins on the pitch, and they are confident that they will trash them silly as the treatment has motivated the players to go all out.

A decision is expected by this weekend.

The pilot who flew the ValueJet chartered flight of the senior national team of Nigeria to Libya for the 2025 AFCON qualifiers which was later abandoned is facing serious threats from the authority in Libya, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria were due to take on Libya in the reverse tie of their AFCON qualifiers after winning 1-0 in Uyo , but the game was abandoned after the Nigerian team were left at the airport for 16 hours without food and water upon arrival.

Their flight was also diverted to another airport 300km away from the original landing base in Benghazi the city of the game. A situation which the Libya said was an instruction from the higher authority when the pilot warned them of the likelihood of a crash, because it’s against the safety procedures of aircraft safety.

Captain Abdellatif Merchergui was called by CAF to testify before their disciplinary body and he narrated his part of the story, which was largely in favor in Nigeria explaining how he was forced to land in an airport without the usual safety procedures, and the team was saved because of his knowledge of the airport.

His statement didn’t go down well with Libya’s CAF Exco member, Abdul Hakim Al-Shalmani who voiced his unhappiness over the Tunisian pilot for backing Nigeria against his fellow Arabs.

Al-Shalmani who is not an aviation expert, described Merchergui’s testimony as “false and slanderous,” noting that the pilot provided testimony that served his Nigeria’s interests “instead of adhering to diplomatic relations between the two neighbouring countries of Libya and Tunisia.”

He has threatened to follow-up with legal action against Merchergui, as an official memorandum of complaint will be filed against the Tunisian pilot who, according to Al-Shalmani, “violated the rules of integrity and honesty.”

According to Libya Akhbar publication, Al-Shalmani pointed out that the Nigerian team exploited the fame of its professional players in international leagues to create the impression that they were victims of Libyan attacks or conspiracies.

Despite this media pressure, Al-Shalmani expressed his denunciation of this strategy, stressing that the facts on the ground are completely different from those that the Nigerian team is trying to present. He added: “What the Nigerians are trying to portray as injustice on our part is in fact an attempt to cover up the truth, as the testimony presented was completely false.”

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has made official the final ten man shortlist for the Africa Player of the year award, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

CAF via its official handle on social media platform X formerly known as Twitter picked the Nigerian duo of Ademola Lookman and William Troost-Ekong alongside 8 others, but surprisingly left out Victor Boniface.

Boniface was huge for German side Bayer Leverkusen who went all the way to lifting the league and cup in Germany without losing a single game. Their only loss came in the Europa League final defeat to Atalanta powered by a hattrick by Lookman.

However it appears the duo of Ekong and Lookman edged him on account of their involvement with the senior national team of Nigeria, who went all the way to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations before losing 1-2 to Cote d’Ivoire in the final.

Boniface missed the tournament through injury, and it appears that has proved costly with all the nominated players pivotal for their national teams in the period under review for consideration to be nominated for the award.

Below is the full list of nominees.

Amine Gouiri

Edmond Tapsoba

Simon Adingra

Chancel Mbemba

Serhou Guirassy

Achraf Hakimi

Soufiane Rahimi

Ademola Lookman

William Troost-Ekong

Ronwen Williams

Justin Oboavwoduo stole the show yesterday for the youth side of Manchester City with a hattrick in their 3-0 win over Sparta Prague in the UEFA Youth League, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The young English forward of Nigerian descent single handedly wrecked the visitors with his treble taking his goal count for the season to six goals in nine games for the youth side of the English champions.

He has progressed through the ranks at the club quite quickly, last season, he played for both City’s U18 and EDS teams and was part of the squad that won the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia. To top off a fantastic season, he made 30 appearances and contributed to 12 goals, including a goal at the Etihad during City’s 4-0 FA Youth Cup final victory over Leeds United.

Many expect him to be the next in line for a promotion to the first team of the champions , which could likely spark a tug over his international future between Nigeria and England as he is eligible for both countries despite representing England at various youth levels.

His mother Judith in an interview with Flashscore expressed her joy at seeing her son hit the ground running, and also hinted that his international future is very open because as much as he was born and raised in England, he is still a Nigerian by origin.

“It feels great actually, awesome it feels great that he is playing well, doing well and be able to score goals for his team; I think it’s great,” Mrs. Oboavwoduo told Flashscore.

She continued: “I have always said we are open to where God leads. I will always bring God (factor) in everything. If it’s England or Nigeria – because we are still Nigerians – it’s fine because we are still following closely how Nigeria is playing in their leagues and everything, so that’s great.

“Right now, my younger daughter – Justin’s younger sister is at the U17 World Cup in England and she is just 14. While the game was going on, I was speaking with her and we have been closely following her. I have been watching all the (Flamingos) games because Nigeria is there.

“Nigeria has qualified (for the next round) and England has qualified, so it’s just awesome. So, wherever it leads, we would go.”

The former president of Al-Dhahra Football Club Al-Siddiq Abu Hadima has called on the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to hand punitive measures to any official of the Libya Football Federation (LFF) who was involved in the controversy that led to the abandonment of the 2025 AFCON qualifiers game, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria arrived in Libya for the reverse tie of their 2025 AFCON qualifiers game against Libya after winning the first leg of the tie 1-0 in Uyo, but were forced to boycott the game after spending over 16 hours at the airport upon arrival forcing CAF to suspend the game.

Ahead of a possible ruling later today Abu Hadima in a publication on Libya outlet said if those involved fail to submit a report that will exonerate them when the Sunday 20 October deadline issued by CAF lapses, “then they must be prosecuted and permanently dismissed.”

Al-Wasat got Hadima’s comments from his post on Facebook and remarked that “this negligence – if it happened – constitutes a betrayal of trust and a lack of awareness of the gravity of responsibility.”

Former Nigeria international striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni says his international career shouldn’t be remembered for the goal he missed at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa against South Korea, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Yakubu made his international bow as a 17 year old and went on to become the 4th all time highest goal scorer in the history of Nigerian football, only behind Rashidi Yekini , Segun Odegbami and Victor Osimhen.

Despite his healthy goal tally which he achieved in just 58 games, he is fondly remembered for the chance he missed in the 2-2 draw against South Korea at the 2010 World Cup that played a huge role in Nigeria’s exit from the tournament.

Despite scoring in the game, Yakubu said many people only remember him for that miss 14 year after and he kept getting reminded of the miss, rather than the beautiful memories he had with the team during his playing days, but he said he has no regret playing for the Super Eagles.

“Me, regret playing for Nigeria? No chance. It is an honour for me playing for Nigeria, every player wants to play for his country. I was born in Nigeria, grew up in Benin, Edo state Nigeria. It is an honour to wear Nigeria’s green and white jersey of Nigeria,” Yakubu told Flashscore in a no-holds-barred interview.

“Being at the World Cup in South Africa is (another) great (opportunity) representing my country. We should all forget the miss and remember the good ones. It is funny when people still talk about it – it is almost 14 years already – and people still talk about the miss and not the good ones.

“They did (not talk) about when I qualified Nigeria for the World Cup in South Korea and Japan but was dropped; they never spoke about that. I still had the courage to take the penalty after 10 minutes and people still send me message about it missing that goal.

“I don’t think we would still win the 2010 World Cup. We have been to other World Cups plus the ones we did not qualify for but people never talked about it.

“We all watch Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, they all miss chances, but people still talk about my own miss – I think people just love me for that.”

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) says the secretary of Libya Football Federation (LFF) Nasser Al-Suwaie orchestrated the maltreatment the Nigerian team suffered when they arrived in Libya for the reverse tie of their AFCON 2025 qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Super Eagles defeated Libya 1-0 in Uyo, but had to abandon the away game against Libya after they were left unattended to for over 16 hours at the airport upon arrival without food and water. They also survived a likely plane crash when their flight was inexplicably diverted to another airport 300km away from the city of the game.

The disciplinary committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has listened to the submission of both countries after the decision to suspend the game. At the hearing former president of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and FIFA executive committee member Amaju Pinnick represented Nigeria.

Pinnick was clear in his submission that the General secretary of Libya Football Federation (LFF) went against the principle of fair play by switching off his phone after making three separate promises that he was on his way to meet the team at the airport.

Libya were represented by represented by Abdul Hakim Al-Shalmani, a CAF Executive member and former president of the Libya Football Federation, he argued that their actions was in retaliation to the treatment they suffered in Nigeria when they came for the first game of the back to the back tie.

A claim which has long been dismissed as false, because their chartered aircraft landed in Port Harcourt instead of Uyo , and when the NFF secured a landing permit for them in Uyo they declined it on the ground of the cost implications.

It was also established that they decided to embark on the trip by night despite the NFF making arrangements for them to the contrary. Al-Shalmani was however silent on the reason behind the diversion of the flight, which could have led to a possible plane crash as that route wasn’t in the initial flight schedule.

A decision is expected to be made today with sanctions expected to be placed on Libya, who have also indicated their willingness to challenge any decision that goes against them with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).