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Chiamaka Nnadozie dreams of Olympic glory in Paris

Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie, voted Africa’s best goalkeeper in 2023, has also been a key player for Paris Football Club (Paris FC) since 2020, helping the team to a clear victory (3-0) over Montpellier last weekend. Her Super Falcons, Nigeria’s national women’s football team, face South Africa on April 4 and 9 as they vie for a spot in Paris. In the run-up to her adopted city’s Olympic Games, “Maka” is staying strong in her belief that nothing happens by chance.

On July 25, the eve of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Chiamaka Nnadozie hopes to take to the field with her team against Brazil to kick off her first Olympics. Before that, the 25-year-old goalkeeper must help the Super Falcons overcome the last African obstacle in their path: South Africa, whom Nigeria must beat in a double-header on April 4 and 9.

“South Africa have a very, very good team. I think one of their strengths is keeping the ball. They don’t believe in physical football at all. They’re good tactically, technically. I think we will try to work on that to see how we can stop them,” she says with a confident smile.

“It’s meant to be,” she adds. France has had a special importance for the Nigerian goalkeeper throughout her career.

‘The connection is just there’

Nnadozie first captured attention at FIFA’s 2018 Under-20 Women’s World Cupin France, where her performance earned her a call-up to the senior squad for the that same year. She was the Super Falcons’ goalkeeper for the 2019 Women’s World Cup, also held in France.

There, the 1.80-metre-tall goalkeeper came up against Les Bleues in the group phase, persistently stymying the French forwards before finally being forced to concede defeat i african nations cup n a disputed penalty. But it didn’t matter: Nnadozie had caught the eye of the footballing world.

So much so, in fact, that her club future was sealed when Paris FC signed her in January 2020. Initially seen as third in their goalkeeping hierarchy, Nnadozie quickly established herself as the first-choice keeper and became a fixture at the club’s training centre in Orly, a southern suburb of Paris.

“It was so, so terrifying [to leave home]. Because I’m the last child of my parents and I have a very, very good relationship with my mom. She’s like my best friend,” she recalls with emotion.

“But you know, at this point in life, you need to work for yourself. You need to hustle to make a living.”

Life in France was a bit difficult at first. “At first I didn’t like it because it was cold. But with time … I’m used to it now. Now, apart from the language barrier, I’m very happy here … I need to learn French,” she says with a laugh.

“I think I’m a Parisian because I play for Paris, see? And it’s in my blood, and I love it … The connection is just there,” she adds.

And she hopes to be here for the Olympics, even if the road is a long one. If the Super Falcons get over the hurdle presented by South Africa, they’ll have to reach the quarterfinals, or even the final, before they can play in Paris.

An extraordinary 2023

The year 2023 was rich in emotion for the player known as “Maka” by her teammates and fans. In March, she officially extended her collaboration with Paris FC until June 2025.

In the summer FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, Nnadozie once again shone on the world stage. Nigeria came within a whisker of eliminating England, the eventual finalists, in the Round of 16 (beating England 4-2 on penalties after a 0-0 draw). In the group phase, she saved a penalty to snatch a draw against reigning Olympic champions Canada.

Nnadozie also contributed to her team’s success at the club level last year. In September, she helped her side to a surprise victory over Arsenal and Wolfsburg, giving the Parisian club their first-ever appearance in theChampions League finals.

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NDDC committed to developing athletes discovered at Niger Delta Sports Festival

A new approach to grassroots sports development will see athletes discovered at the ongoing Niger Delta Sports Festival (NDSF) undergo periodical camping where scientific methods of training would be applied.

Sir Itiako Ikpokpo, the Co-Chairman of the Main Organising Committee (MOC) of the festival, dropped the hint at a media parley with journalists covering the games and said over 60 athletes have already been spotted as at Day 4.

“This festival is not about who came first or who won gold. Our scouts are looking out for hints of potential, quality that can be groomed for future success,” Ikpokpo responded to a question about objectives of the festival.

He said the scouts made up of coaches, former athletes and scouts have so far submitted 64 names and most of them were not those that came first or second.

“We seek to set up camps for the identified athletes with a view to putting them through scientific research-based training supervised by certified coaches,” added Ikpokpo who is the lead consultant for the project.

“The real work is not this festival, it is to design and implement the plan to nurture the talents discovered here to go on and replace those who have been representing Nigeria,” he added.

Sponsored by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as part of its mandate to improve living conditions of people of the nine mandate states, the NDSF had about 3,000 athletes and 500 officials competing in 17 sports.

It began on April 1 and will end on April 8 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

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Niger Delta Sports Festival holds Golf Kitty as Cultural Expo fever spreads in Uyo

Managing Consultant of the Niger Delta Sports Festival, Sir Itiako Ikpokpo, teed off the Golf Kitty organised in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

This is even as the organisers rev up preparations for the Cultural Expo with the stage being rigged and rehearsals commenced.

Held at the Ibom Golf and Country Club on Saturday (April 5) morning, on the sidelines of the sports competitions, the event is part of the community engagement activities of the festival to foster social networking.

Over 130 golfers were in the kitty with members of the Main and Local Organising Committees of the Niger Delta Sports Festival in attendance.

“The NDSF project sponsored by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was designed to achieve multipurpose objectives of discovering and nurturing athletes, foster regional integration and engaging our host community.

“We have also provided opportunity for games demonstration towards bringing them in when the next edition holds. Cricket and Rugby are such games and we will keep redesigning the festival concept to accommodate more sports”, Ikpokpo told journalists at the event.

The festival also incorporated a Cultural Expo that will hold on April 7 and a number of upcoming entertainers from the nine mandate states will be on parade for comedy, music and masters of ceremony.

Edi Lawani, the country’s leading entertainment impresario said the Cultural Expo is a community engagement platform to provide the people of Akwa Ibom State, the festival community and tourists a time to wind down.

“Over 40 artistes will be on parade as we provide music, comedy, dance and food court for everyone in Uyo to feel the sports festival atmosphere outside the competition venues and make new social and business friends”, the thickly Lawani said donning his trademark shorts and backpack.

“Just as the NDSF is poised to discover new talents in sports, the cultural expo of the NDSF is equally designed to give a boost to and uplift young upcoming talents in the creative industry”, Lawani further stated.

Established talents like Comedian Destalker and singer Humblesmith are billed to perform to give inspiration and mentorship to the assembled young talents.

He said emphasis has also been placed on gender inclusiveness as there are female artistes, female Disc Jockeys and a female red-carpet host who are set take their place of pride at the event.

The Expo night which holds at the popular Unity Park also known as the Christmas Village, will enjoy the full complement of exotic show lighting display and large screen format projection.

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Govt Should Give Annual Grants To Nigerian Clubsides – Sanmi Doherty

Stakeholders of Nigerian football opined that governments at all levels should completely hands off sponsorship or ownership of football clubs in Nigeria.

According to some aficionados, the state-owned clubs have not thrived or perform better than privately owned clubs in recent times.

And yet, another strong voice in the fortunes of Nigerian football has joined the fray, albeit from a fresher angle.

Speaking in a recent interview, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ikorodu City Football club, Sanmi Doherty, admonished the federal government to establish a football trust fund that would empower the clubs to operate in line with the global best practices in world football. He added that Nigerian clubs would be able to compete favourably with their counterparts on the continent.

“I think government should only provide the facilities the enabling environment for the clubs. I think we can also have a trust fund fir Nigerian clubs. Tell me, why can’t the federal government earmark certain amounts of money as annual grants to help the clubs playing in the league?

“You know we’re not only promoting football, we’re also empowering the youths and using football to curb restiveness amongst the youths.

” Football is big business and capital intensive. For instance, if I know that I’m going to receive maybe N3billion from the government as my annual allocation, I can conveniently go for the best players, pay them very well, and ensure they get the conducive environment to ply their trades professionally and of course, the desired results will come,” the youthful club owner enthused confidently.