Ref Attack: LMC fines Heartland N4million

*deducts three points

*orders team to play behind closed doors

Premier league contenders Heartland of Owerri have been handed a fine of N4million by the League management committee (LMC) following the attack on match officials by fans of the club in the tie between Heartland and Plateau United.

A breakdown of the fine indicate that the Nazi Millionaires are to pay N1million for the attack on match officials, pay N1.5million to as compensation to match officials, another N1million for issuing public statement capable of bringing the league to dispute and N500,000 for failure to use and issue match tickets for record and crowd control purposes.

Series of tweets dished out by the league Management Committee on Friday includes;

"Heartland have also been fined N1m for assault on match officials after game vs Plateau Utd. The club will also pay N1.25m as compensation to the match officials

"Heartland have been further fined N1m for issuing public statement capable of bringing the league to disrepute"

Another N500, 000 fine will be paid by Heartland for failure to use & issue matchday tickets for record & crowd control purposes"

The Owerri based club also had three points deducted from them.  But if you think that is the end of the story and the punishment you are indeed very wrong.  Team Manager Mobi Oparaku has been suspended from all NPFL activities for the next matches while the team will play the next three matches behind closed doors. Matchday 18 game at the Dan Anyiam Stadium ended 1-1 and reports afterwards indicate that hell broke loose as Heartland supporters not satisfied with the result accusing the officials of deliberately extending the game unnecessarily thus handing Plateau united the advantage of equalising.

Abiodun Thompson scored in the 21st minute to give Heartland the lead before a very late equaliser by Tosin Omoyele for Plateau in the 94th minute to earn the reigning champions an away point.

Centre Referee Yusuff Garba was reportedly attacked alongside other officials Akaninye Udoette as the first assistant referee, Elisha Owolabi as the second assistant referee, and Felagha Awudola as the fourth official.

CHAN 2016: What has Tiwa got to do with it?

Pictures they say speaks volumes. Few days back I saw a picture posted on twitter where staff of Rwanda Air were excited having Nigeria's music sensation and Afro hip pop queen Tiwa savage on board.

Ordinarily it could have passed for any other picture, but it rather took my mind back to the 2016 edition of the Championship of African Nations (CHAN) hosted by Rwanda. Incidentally it was the last assignment of former Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh for Nigeria.

 His boys on that occasion, contrary to initial predictions that they would be the team to beat, failed to make it to the knockout stage.

The team began the journey with a 4-1 defeat of Niger thus firing what was then dubbed a warning shot for other opponents to beware because the Eagles had landed, but that was where it ended because that impressive result was followed by a 1-1 draw against Tunisia and then a lone goal loss to Guinea which earned the team a crash out ticket.

And trust me it can be very boring continuing the coverage of a championship when your team has been sent packing, but of course you have to bury the emotions and do the job.  That is what journalism is all about, but like they say all that now is history.

Then I recall in course of coverage that on a couple of occasions I had to take motor bike which is a very popular means of transportation in Rwanda, and I   got into conversation with some bike riders who on discovering I was a Nigerian began to enquire  about Nigerian musicians and players alike .  In the players category Jay Jay Okocha , Nwankwo Kanu  and current Super Eagles captain and former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel got mentioned .  Top on the list of musicians they were eager to hear about was Tiwa Savage.Not forgetting  that mention was also made of high flying super producer Don Jazzy. 

I was asked whether I Love Tiwa 's music, whether I attend her shows and more importantly I was asked to explain the meaning of “Doro Buchi"

Well I did my best to provide as reasonable answers as possible to the delight of my listeners who at that moment literally saw me as 'Nigeria's ambassador to Rwanda or should I better say Nigeria's minister of Foreign Affairs.

Anyway, I had it in mind to write about the encounter on my return from Kigali but you know in sports things happen per second per second and in fact that was at the hit of the brouhaha between former coach Sunday Oliseh and his then employers NFF with accusation and counter accusation of sabotage and all that so there were so many things engaging attention. But that picture triggered off the power of recall. My analysis of that encounter with the motorcyclists, receptionist at the hotel I had lodged and some other groovy spots especially on free match days, is that  Tiwa Savage is one artist that will pull crowd in Kigali should she decide to hold a show there. 

She may not have been in Rwanda when the 2016 edition of CHAN was held but her name cropped up, not on the pitch anyway but off the pitch, and why not sports and music most times form a perfect blend!

Gold Coast 2018: We went, saw and conquered declares Igali

Team Nigeria may not have topped the overall medal table as the Commonwealth Games came to a close Sunday in Australia, but President of Nigeria Wrestling Federation Daniel Igali, says there is every cause to thank God describing the outing especially that of the wrestlers as impressive.

The Nigeria Wrestling Team accounted for 33.3% of the medals garnered by Nigeria at the just concluded Games raking in  3 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals.

An elated Igali whose federation has continued to receive commendation from far and near for constantly seeking ways of keeping the athletes busy round the year, expressed satisfaction with effort of the wrestlers selected to fly the nation's flag declaring "So proud of this Team!

Nigeria finished 9th on the medals table with a total of 24 medals made up of 9 gold, 9 silver and 6 bronze. Hosts Australia carted away the medals in basket with a total of 198 medals, 80 gold,59 silver, 59 bronze followed by England with 136 medals,45 gold,45 silver and 46 bronze. India, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Wales, Scotland, Nigeria and Cyprus make up the top 10. Five countries ended up gold less and silver less but had a bronze each to show for their participation in the 11-days games.

They are CookIslands, Ghana, NorfolkIsland, Seychelles and Solomon Islands.

Nigeria had 12 medals short of the feat recorded at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. At that edition, Team

Nigeria finished 8th on the log with 11 gold, 11 Silver and 14 bronze.

While three African countries made it to the top 10 in 2014 namely South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, only South Africa and Nigeria made it to the top 10 in Australia. Kenya finished 14th this time with 4 gold, 7 silver and 6 bronze.

Expect surprises in Russia declares Pele

*sets final target for Brazil

Brazil legend Edson Arantes do Nascimento otherwise called Pele, has described football as a box of surprises because of the uncertainties inherent in the game. Pele who is marking 60th anniversary of his first world cup triumph noted that is normal to reel out big names as favorites ahead of any world cup but observed that the element of surprises cannot be wished away.

The 77 year old former Santos forward who made world cup appearance as age 17, predicted that there would upsets in Russia especially given the shock of Italy's failure to qualify for the event.

"Always we select the biggest names [as favourites], like Argentina, Italy, England, Spain," he said. "But football is a box of surprises and it's difficult to say. This World Cup, the teams are very even. You wouldn't have one big team.

"Then you have some surprises. Italy is out. For football, it's not good. Then you have two or three great teams who didn't qualify. As I mentioned, football is always a box of surprises,” he said

Although 60 years has rolled by since he first made appearance at the world cup in 1958, the 7-time Ballon d'Or winner still recalls the first time with nostalgia

"I played four World Cups. The first one always is a little special, because I didn't expect it, because I was 17 years old," he added.

"My father was a football player too and when my father came to my house after work, he said 'listen, you have been selected for the national team of Brazil'. I said 'Daddy, don't make a joke'. He said 'no, no, no, it's not a joke, it's true'. I started to cry, because it was a big surprise to me."

With 59 days to the world cup, Pele who is a strong believer in Neymar's ability expressed hope that the PSG forward would used his second chance at the world cup to shine.

"The last World Cup in Brazil, he got the injury, and Brazil lost. I think this is a great, great opportunity for him to recover. I think he's a good player. Let's see if he can help Brazil [win] this World Cup."

Pele believes Brazil boast the best collection of individual talents in the world and now hopes Tite can fit them into a strong system in time for their first group game against Switzerland on June 17.

"Everybody knows Brazil have the best individual players in Europe," he said. "I think our coach, Tite, has had little time to set up the team. We have three months to set up the team. Tite is a very good coach, but he doesn't yet have the team working together. This will be a short time for them. "But individual players, no doubt Brazil has a team to get to the final of the World Cup, he enthused despite the element of surprises.

TOWARDS A BETTER SOCIETY (TABS)

The society today is tuning upside down.  Increasingly there are few things to elicit happiness as more and more signs of irresponsibility take the centre stage.

There is so many pretenses in the system.  Things simply go bad and you wonder how we got to the point where nobody noticed.  It is not that nobody noticed, it is just that we are too pretentious for my liking. 

We constantly want to libel black spots white even in broad day light.  Those with superior argument able to sway others with power of oratory even if what they are saying is garbage, assume they are very smart and are in fact seen as such.

We see people do the wrong thing with reckless abandon and we pretend not to have seen it. This is actually a sin!

We see relatives who do things worthy of condemnation and nobody will muster enough courage to tell them to their faces that they are doing the wrong thing. 

We see friends, colleagues, classmates and course mates alike in absurdities and nobody will dare say you have gone off the mark.  We see a man that is so vindictive that he cannot forgive even the smallest of wrongs lasting over 30 years or more, and no one can remind him that he is not god and that if God were to mark all that he has done wrongly against other people he would have been 18feet not six feet below.

We cannot look into the eyes of such a fellow and say "man you are very wicked and vindictive, change your ways or perish"

No! We prefer to sing the praises of such fellows and by so doing help to spread the virus. Blogging offers you an opportunity to pour out your mind on issues of interest.

Sometimes either as a result of passion or line of job or training you could select a specialised area of human endeavor to concentrate upon.

So when I decided to try my hands on this vocation vide beam360blogspot.com.ng, it was an all sport affair but honestly it will amounting to boxing oneself in a corner to dwell on only one area when indeed there are so many areas that need to be talked about in the cause of forcing all to work towards a better society. 

We cannot continue this way so the focus will have to expand as I begin to address issues that must need to be addressed and even re-addressed. I may not promise that it will be on the stable every minute but something new whenever time and space permits because there are so many things needing attention within the 24 hours in a day.

When the line ups begin to roll, feel free to agree or disagree with the submission made and together we push towards a better society.

 It is time to join TOWARDS A BETTER SOCIETY (TABS) champagne. Call a spade by its name not by any other name.

Welcome!