Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, says the 20th National Sports Festival in Edo will go ahead as planned from April 2 to April 14 under strict COVID-19 protocols. Dare also said that the reduced 8,000 athletes and officials for the Games would go through all the necessary COVID-19 protocols. The minister’s Special Adviser (Media), John Joshua-Akanji, quoted him as giving the assurance on Friday in Benin after a facility tour of the venue and meeting with Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo. Dare said the camp for the festival would open on April 2 while the official opening of the Games would be done by President Muhammadu Buhari on April 6. He said that said that the ministry was working with relevant health stakeholders to ensure that the COVID-19 safety protocols were observ...
The 20th National Sports Festival billed for Edo State will go ahead as planned from April 2 to April 14, Minister of Sports Development and Youth, Sunday Dare, said. Dare also said the 8,000 athletes and officials participating in the Games would go through all the necessary COVID-19 protocols. Dare spoke in Benin after a facility tour of the venue and meeting with Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo. Dare said the camp for the festival would open on April 2 while the official opening of the Games would be done by President Muhammadu Buhari on April 6. He said that said that the ministry was working with relevant health stakeholders to ensure that the COVID-19 safety protocols were observed. “We are working closely with the PTF, NCDC and others to ensure that the necessary support we need in terms...
The ministers of youths and sports development, Sunday Dare, yesterday confirmed April 2nd to April 14th as the new date for the 20th National Sports Festival to kick-off. He made the announcement during a visit to the Edo State Government House in Benin City, the Edo State capital. He also announced that Edo State will be used for the National Camp in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games taking place later this year. Dare said further that the Federal Government is determined to go ahead with the Unity Games which is the sequel to participation at the Tokyo Games. However, he noted that due to logistics under the circumstances occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of athletes has been reduced from 14,000 to 8,000 athletes. Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki in response as...
RB Leipzig climbed top of the Bundesliga on Saturday with a 3-0 romp at Freiburg to replace previous leaders Bayern Munich, who later host Dortmund in Germany’s ‘Klassiker’. Christopher Nkunku, Alexander Sorloth and Emil Forsberg scored the goals in Freiburg which lifted Leipzig one point ahead of Bayern, who are at home to Dortmund (1730GMT). “That was a mature performance,” Leipzig sports director Markus Kroesche told Sky. “Anything is possible,” he replied when asked if Leipzig can stop Bayern winning a ninth straight league title this season. Leipzig impressed in their final tune-up before facing Liverpool in Budapest next Wednesday in the last 16 of the Champions League having lost the first leg 2-0. Leipzig took the lead at Freiburg after a first-half blunder by home goalkeeper Flori...
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has called for the Europa League knockout rounds to be played over one leg after Manchester United’s away game at Real Sociedad was moved to Turin. The first of United’s two-legged tie against the Liga side has been moved to Italy due to current travel restrictions imposed by the Spanish government over Covid-19, preventing the team from flying in for the game without the need for quarantine. Real Sociedad’s director of football Roberto Olabe hit out at UEFA over the ruling which saw the Spanish side have to find an alternative venue for next week’s game, claiming Manchester United had an unfair advantage – and Solskjaer agreed, adding that he would have backed it being a one-legged occasion. Solskjaer said: “With Europe, we hope it’s going to be sustainable. Different...
File Photo The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Aare Gani Adams, says food crisis is imminent in the South-West region of Nigeria due to the onslaught on farmers by Fulani herdsmen. According to him, farmers in attack-prone areas have stopped going to their farms for fear of being assailed by suspected herders. “They have discouraged Yoruba people from farming now and if care is not taken within one year, there will be famine in Yorubaland,” Adams said on Wednesday while featuring on a Channels TV programme. The chieftain described the situation in the South-West as “a serious invasion”, adding that drastic measures must be taken quickly to stop the ugly trend. “We have been seriously infiltrated by Fulani herdsmen. Most of the reserved forests have been taken over by the Fulani herdsmen an...
Uganda’s long-time leader Yoweri Museveni held a commanding lead in a presidential election according to partial results on Saturday morning, with final results expected later in the day, though his main rival Bobi Wine alleged widespread fraud. With ballots from 86% of polling stations counted, Museveni had won 5.3 million, or 58.8%, while main opposition candidate Wine had 3.1 million votes (34.6%), the electoral commission said just after 9 a.m. (0600 GMT). The government ordered the internet to be shut down the day before voting on Thursday, and the blackout was still in place. Wine, 38, had galvanised young Ugandans with his calls for political change after 35 years of Museveni, 76, ruling the country. The run-up to the election was more violent than in previous polls. Security forces...
Morocco will be the host country for the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations, the Confederation of African Football has announced. Congo had been due to welcome to the competition in 2020 until they pulled out in July 2019, leaving the event without a host before the event was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic a year later. Before the cancellation, Caf had made a positive step with the expansion of the African Women’s Cup of Nations from eight to 12 teams, which was the first change to the format after 11 editions. Besides that, a record total of 36 national teams have entered the qualifying tournament for the 2020 Awcon finals, with 11 countries expected to make it out of the qualification series. “Morocco has been designated host of the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations,” interim...
Japan on Sunday reported that four people who had arrived in Tokyo from Brazil were found to be infected with a new variant of the coronavirus. The four passengers, who landed at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on January 2 from the state of Amazonas, Brazil, tested positive after spending time in the airport in quarantine, Japan’s Health Ministry announced. Takaji Wakita, head of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, said the variant was different from those already spreading in Britain and South Africa, Kyodo News reported. The institute reported that there was no evidence at present that the new strain was more contagious. Of the four, a man in his 40s had been hospitalized after his breathing difficulties worsened, a woman in her 30s complained of a sore throat and headaches, and a mal...