Sports

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Real Madrid have condemned the “racist and xenophobic” attack on their Brazilian player Vinicius Jr. 

Real Madrid said, in a statement released via its website on Friday, that the club has instructed its legal staff to pursue legal action against anyone using racist remarks toward its players before this weekend’s LaLiga clash against Atletico Madrid.

“Real Madrid CF rejects all kinds of racist and xenophobic expressions and behaviours in the field of football, sport, and life in general, such as the regrettable and unfortunate comments made in recent hours against our player Vinicius Junior.

“Real Madrid wants to show all its love and support for Vinicius Junior, a player who understands football as an attitude towards life-based on joy, respect and sportsmanship.

“Football, which is the most global sport that exists, must be an example of values and coexistence.

“The club has instructed its legal services to take legal action against anyone who uses racist expressions towards our players,” Real Madrid said in the statement

Remember that for his dancing celebration, Vinicius was the target of a racial comment made by Pedro Bravo.

The Brazilian international is well-known for dancing at the corner flag in front of fans, whether they are in the home or away end of the stadium, to celebrate the majority of his goals.

Pedro Bravo, the head of Spanish football agents, did make a statement on Vinicius’ celebration while appearing on El Chiringuito.

Bravo said, “You have to respect your opponents. When you score a goal, if you want to dance Samba, you should go to sambodromo in Brazil. You have to respect your mates and stop playing the monkey.”

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

As a mark of respect to the Queen, this weekend round Premier League has been postponed and fixtures during the period of mourning will be provided in due course, Premier League disclosed on their official website on Friday.

The full statement reads, “As our longest-serving monarch, she has been an inspiration and leaves behind an incredible legacy following a life of dedication.

“This is a tremendously sad time for not just the nation, but also for the millions of people around the world who admired her, and we join together with all those in mourning her passing.”

Further updates regarding Premier League fixtures during the period of mourning will be provided in due course.”

The Queen died on Thursday after a reign which spanned seven decades.

By Muhammad Sabiu

Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro is set to leave Real Madrid for Manchester United for close to £60m after negotiations between the Laliga and the Premier League giants.

Fabrizio Romano, a journalist in the know of the deal, quoted Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti to have said, “I have spoken with Casemiro. He wants to try a new challenge. We understand his decision”.

“Negotiations are ongoing, but he has decided to leave Real Madrid”.

The Brazilian footballer has been playing at Santiago since 2013. He won 5 Champions League trophies, Laliga titles and other domestic trophies.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

British long-distance runner Sir Mo Farah disclosed that he was not who the world knew him to be.  

Sir Mo Farah revealed that he was a victim of child trafficking and was brought into the UK illegally under the name of another child at the age of 9. He disclosed that his real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin

“The truth is I’m not who you think I am,” Sir Farah said.

“Most people know me as Mo Farah, but it’s not my name, or it’s not the reality.”

According to him, the woman who flew with him to the UK told him he was being taken to live with relatives and to say his name was Mohamed as she had fake travel documents that showed his photo next to the name “Mohamed Farah”.

Sir Farah, the first British track and field athlete to win four Olympic golds, said his children motivated him to tell the truth about his past.

“I’ve been keeping it for so long; it’s been difficult because you don’t want to face it, and often my kids ask questions, ‘Dad, how come this?’ And you’ve always got an answer for everything, but you haven’t got an answer for that,” he said

Farah’s recent revelation is in sharp contrast with previous interviews he granted, in which he claimed otherwise.

By Muhammad Sabiu

Real Madrid have secured a place in the Champions League final. They will play against the English Premier League Giants, Liverpool, after crashing Manchester City out of the competition today, Wednesday.

City had their opener through Mahrez in the 73rd minute, while Madrid had their goals thanks to Rodrygo’s brace—the first one in the 90th minute and the second one in the 91st minute—and Benzema’s third penalty goal in the 95th minute. That made the match end 3-1.

The goal aggregate emerged 6-5 as Madrid made it to the final even after being beaten 4-3 by the City last week.

By Muhammad Sabiu

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of eight Manchester United stars who could depart this summer, Danny Mills, a former Manchester City right-back, claimed.

According to Mills, Ronaldo, Paul Pogba, Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof, Phil Jones, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata, and Nemanja Matic might depart United at the end of the season.

Ronaldo has struggled since joining Manchester United from Juventus last summer, despite scoring 22 goals in all competitions for the Premier League giants.

Mills told Football Insider that making Ronaldo a part of the rebuilding process at Man United is pointless because Erik Ten Hag will take over from Ralf Rangnick.

“Ronaldo might be a difficult one, but I am sure somebody would take him. Remember, they didn’t pay too much for him. It’s not like they are going to take a huge hit in terms of a transfer fee.”

“Ronaldo still has something to offer, but if you are talking about a rebuilding process, and he’s only going to be there for one season, what’s the point? He becomes more of a hindrance than a help. Every time you lose, it is ‘Why is Ronaldo not playing?’ That is the difficulty that you have. If you’re going to start afresh, give yourself that opportunity to start fresh,” Mills was quoted as saying.

By MMuhammad Sabiu

Office of the Head of Service of the Federation has announced to civil servants that work would Tuesday be closed at 1:00 am so as “to mobilise support for the Nigerian Team [Super Eagles]” ahead of its World Cup Qualifier against Ghana.

This is contained in a circular signed by Dr. Ngozi Onwudiwe, Permanent Secretary (Service Welfare Office), on behalf of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

The circular reads, “As you are aware, the Super Eagles of Nigeria will be meeting the Black Stars of Ghana in continuation of the 2022 FIFA World-Cup Qualifier, Playoff, (Return Leg).

“Consequently, I am directed to inform you that all offices will be closed at 1:00 pm on Tuesday, 29th March 2022.”

Dr. Ngozi also urged Permanent Secretaries to disseminate the information contained in the circular more widely.

By Muhammad Sabiu

Angel Di Maria, a winger for Paris-Saint-Germain, is scheduled to depart the French Ligue 1 club at the end of the season.

PSG will not give Di Maria a new contract in the summer, according to L’Equipe (as relayed by AS), allowing the Argentine to depart for free.

PSG’s current contract with Di Maria will expire at the end of the season.

PSG is yet to offer the former Manchester United player a new deal.

The 34-year-old moved to PSG from Manchester United in 2015 for a reported £56.7 million.

Di Maria’s playing time has been severely curtailed as his current manager, Mauricio Pochettino, continues to favour players like Neymar.

By Muhsin Ibrahim

Cristiano Ronaldo is unquestionably one of the greatest footballers in the world. Needless to say, he has lifted almost all trophies, except the World Cup. Notwithstanding, his recent performance at Manchester United is anything but superb. I am not a football pundit, but I am old enough to understand if someone is no longer in their prime or the odds do not favour them anymore.

Naomi Osaka is a much younger athlete than Ronaldo. She had a winning streak, including defeating her role model, the undisputable tennis GOAT, Sareena Williams. However, the lady luck stopped smiling at her after that remarkable performances and victories. Much unlike her much older athlete colleague (i.e. Ronaldo), she didn’t summon her grit at that time. Instead, she had a rethink. Thus, she tried the fashion industry and, well, succeeded.

In his book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know, Adam Grant subtly criticises Angela Duckworth’s argument on grit in her famous book, Grit: Why passion and resilience are the secrets to success. He says we should avoid “escalation of commitment”. What’s that?

Grant defines escalation of commitment as “When we dedicate ourselves to a plan, and it isn’t going as we hoped, our first instinct isn’t usually to rethink it. Instead, we tend to double down and sink more resources in the path.” Isn’t it what many of us do?

Of course, Osaka goes back to tennis. And, yes, Ronaldo may come back. However, if I were him, I would rethink my commitment to professional football. Grant (2021:229) points out that “gritty people are more likely to overplay their hands in roulette and more willing to stay the course in tasks at which they’re failing, and success is impossible”. In other words, gritty people go into foreclosure.

Honestly, I side with Grant’s argument more than Duckworth’s. We may be passionate about several things. Nevertheless, we may not succeed even after trying our best possible. For instance, how many relationships have had to let go? That doesn’t mean they aren’t our calling. Instead, it tells us that we aren’t cut for it. Hence, instead of pushing and pushing, rethinking and reversing may be our best way out – and, of course, way forward.

Being on social media for nearly two decades, many young people (I am also young, by the way) have talked to me about their passion for writing or doing postgrad programmes abroad, among other things. So naturally, I do my best to advise many, if not all of them. But, frankly, some of them should rethink their dreams. It’s glaring that some do not have what it takes to be writers or secure foreign scholarships.

I am also experimenting with a profession outside academia. Bluntly, I am beginning to rethink. I am not under duress to foray into any field. I am deeply grateful to God that my take-home salary pays my bills and more. While I may still pursue the – or another – profession in addition to teaching and research, I will not foreclose my thoughts.

Finally, try and try harder. Suppose you fail ad infinitum, please, stop and have a rethink. Rethinking should not necessarily come after a series of failures. It could or should come almost at any time. Moreover, that doesn’t mean grit is unimportant. I think without it, both Ronaldo and Osaka would not have gone that far. Even yours faithfully had to apply grit to be where he is – Alhamdulillah.

Muhsin Ibrahim wrote from Cologne, Germany. He can be reached via muhsin2008@gmail.com.

By Abdulrazak Iliyasu Sansani

It is no longer news that another African coach has won the African Cup of Nations, bringing it to six out of the last nine editions won by African coaches. Coach Aliou Cisse of Senegal joined the illustrious list of African coaches that have won it in the period under review:  Hassan Shehata of Egypt, three times, Steven Keshi of Nigeria, Djamel Belmadi of Algeria,  all once.

While I don’t know have anything personal against expatriate coaches, I have everything against the perception that our African coaches are not technically sound to manage our national teams. This is absurd. There are good coaches all over the world.

There are brilliant football managers all across mother Africa who should not be disapproved merely because of what can be referred to as our syndrome of not valuing our own. It shouldn’t be so. 

Of course, Nigeria’s best coach in history is a Dutchman, Clemens Westerhof, who coached Nigeria from 1989 to 1994: winning silver in Algeria 1990, bronze in Senegal 1992, and winning gold in Tunisia 1994.

Westerhof Qualified Nigeria to her maiden World Cup, played some of the most entertaining football ever in Africa and achieved the highest ranking by an African national team, 5th in April 1994 FIFA rankings.

Thus, there isn’t any way I would despise foreign coaches. It isn’t logical. However, I advocate that they be given fairgrounds to compete with our local coaches, and when appointed, all should be supported sufficiently to succeed. 

It is still fresh in my mind how Nigeria Football Federation got itself trapped in a web it is still striving to overcome. They sacked Gernot Rohr at the eleventh hour, which I still think is debatable. Yet, they went ahead to ‘appoint’ a new manager while an interim manager was in place. Who does that before a major tournament and the World Cup playoff around the corner? 

I had thought they should have waited for the AFCON to conclude before appointing any manager, especially with an interim manager already appointed. And all those who shared my views have been proven right with the latest development of allowing the interim manager, Austin Eguavoen, to continue until after the World Cup playoff against Ghana.

I think we would have been saved all this rigmarole if the NFF had at least trusted him enough to be the interim manager and not gone ahead to supposedly have an agreement with someone to succeed him regardless of his performances. 

Until, the Nigerian football fanatics reigned and rallied around the interim manager after some spectacular displays at the group stage of the AFCON, which seemed to have been adequate to make NFF take this recent decision, despite our shock elimination at the last 16 by Tunisia.  May we learn to give our best any job, support, and trust them to deliver. God bless Nigeria. 

Abdulrazak Iliyasu Sansani wrote from Turaki B, Jalingo, Taraba State via abdulrazaksansani93@gmail.com.