Nigerian football drama continues as 17 ‘Club Owners’ sack LMC

The drama in Nigerian football assumed a new dimension on Sunday when 17 Nigeria Professional Football League club chairmen and managers met at Lamonde Hotel, Wuse, Abuja and unanimously dissociated themselves from the League Management Company (LMC). The club proprietors in a statement gave their reasons for the dissociation saying LMC was an "illegal company” and it “was registered without the consent, resolution and approval of the clubs who are the supposed directors of such company as well as the allocation of 20 million shares to Honourable Nduka Irabor representing 80 percent of the total shares and five million shares to Alhaji Aminu Maigari on behalf of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) representing 20 percent of the total shares." 17 clubs with exception of Heartland FC, Sharks FC and Dolphins FC, signed the communiqué issued after the Sunday, April 21, 2013 emergency meeting of the Nigeria Professional Football League club chairmen and managers. The Club Owners, as they are fondly called, summed up by sacking the League Management Company. "Consequent upon the illegal registration of the League Management Company Limited by Hon. Nduka Irabor League Management Committee, we hereby disassociate and derecognise the League Management Committee forthwith".

Chelsea in third place in the Premier League

Chelsea moved back into third place in the Premier League after cruising to a comfortable 3-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Wednesday night.

Manchester United earn 2-2 against West Ham

Manchester United twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw against West Ham at Upton Park that moves them within six points of a record 20th Premier League title.

Basic Concepts of Analytical Chemistry

Basic Concepts of Analytical Chemistry

Can this be true... that Nigeria Football Federation is broke

That the Nigeria Football Federation is broke can stand alone and wreck every good work that was constructed by the surprise win of the Super Eagles in February but it can also become a good thing in the end if well handled. The question most people will be asking is why the Nigeria Football Federation is unable to raise the monies that it has budgeted to be spent in the 2013 fiscal year? That answer can only be given by the president, Aminu Maigari but the surety is that the football governing body in Nigeria does not make enough to run itself. That admission in itself is a sign that the present board has failed in its purpose because one of the things promised at their inauguration was that they would be self-operating but unfortunately that has not been the case.

Heineken's 'Road to the Final'

As some of the best football teams in the world battle it out in the Quarter-Finals of the UEFA Champions League, Heineken has unveiled the latest element of its ‘Road to the Final’ campaign with the launch of a new ad campaign. The ad demonstrates how, with imagination and resourcefulness, one man is able to witness club football’s most prestigious event the Final itself.

Premiering today in more than 170 countries, the ad is the latest element of the brand’s global integrated ‘Road to The Final’ campaign as it celebrates its seventh consecutive year sponsoring the UEFA Champions League. 

The ad features one lucky fan, who receives a ticket to the UEFA Champions League Final.  The only problem is that he is on the other side of the world and faces a race against the clock to get to the match. Through a combination of resourcefulness, imagination and inventiveness he manages to overcome every obstacle put in his way – to be rewarded with the ultimate football experience – a pitch side seat at Wembley, arriving just before kick-off.

In line with the new campaign, Heineken will be rewarding Nigerian fans for displaying inspiring and imaginative behaviour by offering tickets to the UEFA Champions League Final in Wembley, London. Heineken® invites open minded Nigerian UCL fans to take part in a race to win 5 tickets to UEFA Champions League Final in Wembley, London on an all-expense paid trip. 350 fans will be invited for this once in a lifetime race from the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos on the 13^th of April, 2013, where only the first five contestants to complete the race will win the tickets to the Final. On their journey they need to solve riddles to overcome obstacles and complete the race.

For this we are truly excited to organise the race to the final for the first time so we can reward the biggest Heineken fans in Nigeria with an all-expense paid trip to the UEFA Champions League Final in Wembley, London.

Arsenal's push for a place in next season's Champions League

Arsenal’s push for a place in next season’s Champions League received a welcome boost on Saturday as a Tomas Rosicky double inspired them to their third Premier League win a row against West Brom. Clinical strikes either side of the break from the Czech midfielder had given the Gunners a comfortable lead but Per Mertesacker’s 70th-minute sending off and James Morrison’s subsequent penalty made for a frantic finish.

Arsenal managed to hold on, though, and their fifth successive victory at the Hawthorns sees Arsene Wenger’s side move into fourth, with Chelsea and Tottenham not due to play until tomorrow.

Steve Clarke made just two changes from his side’s 3-1 defeat at West Ham last week as Morrison came in for the suspended Youssouf Mulumbu and Jerome Thomas replaced Romelu Lukaku.

The visitors, meanwhile, named an unchanged side from their 4-1 win against Reading as Gervinho and Olivier Giroud retained their places up front in the absence of the injured Theo Walcott.

Bayern Munich wrapped up the Bundiesliga with one Zero

Bayern Munich wrapped up the Bundesliga title with a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt at the Commerzbank Arena. Unsurprisngly, with the title there for the winning, Bayern took the early initiative, with Mario Gomez, Arjen Robben and Alaba all finding space down the wings, but the first effort of note came from Frankfurt as Takashi Inui fired over from distance.

The visitors, however, were certainly the team on top. Some neat build-up play from Robben and Thomas Muller presented Xherdan Shaqiri with the chance to shoot, and the Swiss youngster's long-range effort rattled the post. The former Basel man had another strike saved, Robben narrowly missed Gomez's left-wing cross then in the 26th minute they were presented with a golden opportunity to have a goal to show for their efforts. Marco Russ' shove on Thomas Muller saw the referee point to the spot, but Alaba's penalty was a poor one, striking the post en route to going wide. The miss almost proved costly. Within seconds, a fantastic last-ditch challenge from Jerome Boateng prevented Inui from running clear. Atfter that, the first half fizzled out disappointingly. Nikolov made a great save to keep out Schweinsteiger's cross-shot and Robben had another poor effort, but Bayern largely failed to craft many more chances. Muller had appeals for another a penalty turned down on the stroke of the break, ensuring parity at the halfway point. Jupp Heynckes' side came out with renewed intensity after the restart, with Gomez forcing the ball to Robben under heavy pressure, only for the Dutchman to miss from a matter of yards. But their wastefulness did not continue. Philipp Lahm found some space down the right and fed Schweinsteiger, who flicked it brilliantly into the net at the near post. Despite only trailing by one goal, Frankfurt had no sort of impetus until late on. Indeed, Manuel Neuer was not forced into a save of note until the hour mark, when he was forced to get down to save Inui's tame long-range strike. However, Heynckes withdrew both Robben and Muller which saw Bayern's intensity die down as the hosts enjoyed more possession, resulting in another Inui shot which Neuer blocked easily. Indeed, when they had committed men forward on the attack, a clearance almost had Lahm in on goal, but Nikolov's decision to rush off his line was vindicated when he beat the Bayern captain to the loose ball. The Bavarians were almost forced to put the champagne on ice 10 minutes from time when Stefan Aigner's ball found Srdjan Lakic unmarked, but Neuer was alert enough to make a brilliant save. The former Schalke keeper made another great block second later after a goalmouth scramble following a corner, ensuring that Schweinsteiger's strike was enough for the title.

Jay-Jay Okocha predict Istanbul match with Madrid

Former Fenerbahce player Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha has declared city rivals Galatasaray a difficult team to play in Istanbul as Real Madrid prepare to travel there for their second leg Uefa Champions League quarter final game. Jay Jay spent two seasons in Turkey and knows the temperament of his former club’s biggest rivals as he predicted a tough time for the Spanish giants who will take a 3-0 lead to Istanbul. “If you fly in as a visiting team from a foreign country, [Galatasaray fans] won’t let you sleep, they will come to your hotel and disturb you,” said Okocha at the Heineken Champions Planet in Victoria Island on Wednesday night.

          “And if you have a Galatasaray fan serving you in the hotel, I don’t think you will get the best service. “It’s a really difficult place to go to but I think with the experience of Real Madrid and with the result they have gotten [on Wednesday] they will do well,” he said. 

Okocha was guest of the Heineken Champions Planet's Legends Night where he talked about the game among other topics.