Making Business Case For Women Football Sponsorship In Nigeria

Asisat Oshoala is a well known face in the world of football today. The 2015 BBC World Woman Footballer of the year; and three times CAF AfricaWoman Footballer of the year 2014, 2016 and 2017; may have brought growing interest into women football in Nigeria.

Oshoala currently earn $20,000 USD a week playing with Dalian Quanjian in Chinese Women Super League, far beyond what most of Nigerian men footballers earn even in Europe. She has played for some of the biggest women clubs in the world: Arsenal and Liverpool.

Oshoala is a product of FC Robo and Rivers Angels, two of top flight clubs in Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL). The league that has produced world class players like Francesca Oredga, now playing for Atletico Madrid in Spain, Desire Oparanozie playing for Guigamp in France, was also a product of Bayelsa Queens; Maureen Mmadu last played for Avaldsnes IL in Norway and a product of Jegede Babes here in Nigeria.

Sport marketing school of thought point out that put side by side, Women football has done better than their men counterpart. Super Falcons has won African women championship 8 times as against Super Eagles winning only 3 AFCON trophies.

Super Falcons has at their best got to the quarter finals of Fifa world cup in 1999, while Super Eagles only got to the round of sixteen in 2002.

When it comes to Individual honors, Asisat Oshoala, Super Falcons' player remain the only Nigerian ever to have won BBC World Woman footballer of the year in 2015

Then put together Mercy Akide Udo, Pepetua Nwocha and Asisat Oshoala have won Africa woman footballer of the year ten times as against Rashidi Yekini, Emmanuel Amunieke, Victor Ikpeba and Nwankwo Kanu winning six times in the men version. Pepetua Nwocha won four times more than any Nigerian: 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2011.

Recently, women football has began to balance up interest. Data reveals that attendance averaged at 5000 in Samuel Ogbomudia Stadium Benin during 2017 NWFL Super Eight play off  last year and in this years 2018 Aiteo Cup, the Women has recorded more attendance than the men. Aiteo Cup women's games attendance averaging at 7000 while men's games attendance averaging at 5600.

The thing is, women football are more condusive for family attendance and  for blues entertainment devoid of such inordinate tensions arising from the quest to win at all cost seen in most men football games.

With some high profile events on the way over the next year: Fifa women World Cup in France June 2019 and the African women qualifiers going on, Sport marketers forum are saying that there could be a tangible shift of attention and gender balanced interest in women's football across Nigeria. So this is the right time for more brands to get involved?

I know there’s still a perception that the market is relatively immature or it’s one that brand managers don't know very well, so the sense of risk seems a little high.

The big thing we picked up on when we were sounding out our case to some brand managers at the forum was that there isn’t enough data to support the claims that women football in Nigeria is making about itself.

To help build the business case, GreenHunters Sports International is ready to partner with NWFL and it's clubs to highlight the value of womeit's Football in Nigeria based on data and go all out to convince brands to take Sponsorship like Aiteo. If you are interest contact us: +234(0)809 877 2556 or email: gh.sports1@gmail.com

The Rise and Fall of Micheal Essien

 There are those that think that Essien is too old to still be playing the game. But he doesn't feel so.Be that as it may, Essien, the former Chelsea and Madrid player, will have to find a new adventure where he can contiinue his playing career. But must he under go such treacherous snubs from club to club after such an illustrious career?

The player, who learnt his trade in France, was one of the great midfielders of the 2000’s, but time catches up with everyone.

Essien was first talked about during his time at Lyon. His great performances for the French side meant that Chelsea signed the player, making him one of the key parts of Jose Mourinho’s team.

He had the best years of his career with the ‘Blues’, maintaining a consistently high level of performance in the first four years of the six he spent with the club. His final season with Chelsea was marred by injuries, but he was part of the squad that won the 2012 Champions League.

After Chelsea, he spent a season with Real Madrid, which coincided with Mourinho’s first season at the club. Mourinho was so fond of the Ghanian legend that he recently said he was Essien’s ‘White Daddy’
“He was not my player, he is my son – I am his white daddy,” Mourinho said during an Interview with a Malaysian TV recently.

“He was probably the only one who took me to his home, to the real home. To the place he was born, to the street where he played football as a kid. He made me fall in love with Ghana, with Accra where he lived, because then I had a better understanding of his mentality.”

The United boss also praised the lengths Essien was prepared to go to for his clubs and his team-mates. “I understand why as a player he was ready for everything, he was ready to die for the fellow players, for the club, for the manager, why he was ready to play like he did for me at Real Madrid with a knee that was not a knee anymore,” he added. “It was a destroyed knee but with that personality, that desire and that mentality he suffered, always he suffered, but always with a smile. Michael smiles a lot.”

Essien’s international career started with the Ghana under-17 national team, the Black Starlets, when he played in the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship in New Zealand and won the bronze medal.

He was part of the team that represented Ghana at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He played in midfield with team captain Stephen Appiah and Sulley Muntari and helped Ghana become the only African team to reach the second round of the World Cup. However, he was suspended for Ghana’s second round match against Brazil and could only watch as Ghana lost 0–3.

It was announced on 27 May 2010 that Essien would miss the World Cup after he was told he would not fully recover from his knee injury until the end of July, more than two weeks after the tournament was to end. He was therefore no part of the team that reached the world cup quarterfinals in South Africa and missed the semis after Luis Suarez Handled the ball on the goal-line and Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting penalty to break the hearts of all Africans.

Following on from his time with ‘Los Blancos’ he spent a while at AC Milan, but after that his career started to go downhill.

After two years with the Italian giants, he moved to Panithanikos during the 2015-16 season and then went to Persib in Indonesia, the same club that cancelled his contract earlier this year...with a crude Snub.

On 17 March 2018, Persib's club chief executive, Zainuri Hasyim said that Persib have now released Essien because the club already filling their maximum quota of foreign players based on the PSSI's regulation.

Essien had wanted to continue his career with the Romanian club CFR Cluj, but their coach Edi Iordanescu rejected him due to his age, as ‘Sport.ro’ reports: “We don’t need 35/36 year-old players. That’s why I put a halt to the negotiation”.

However, the Ghanian wants to find a new destination to continue his career and does not feel he is ready to retire just yet. There are those that think that Essien is too old to still be playing the game

Be that as it may, Essien, the former Chelsea and Madrid player, will have to find a new adventure where he can contiinue his playing career. But must he under go such treacherous snubs from club to club aftet such an illustrious career?

How Raja Casablanca Plotted Enyimba Defeat In Aba

Final Score: Enyimba 0 – 1 Raja Casablanca

Raja Casablanca of Morocco head coach, Juan Carlos Garrido, has stated that his team’s vast understanding of Enyimba’s  style of play played a key role in their 1-0 win against the People’s Elephant in Wednesday’s CAF Confederation Cup, semi-final clash in Aba.

The North Africans who dominated the game for long spells got their goal through Abdelilah Hafidi three minutes after the break.

Enyimba missed a goal opportunity to drag them back into contention in the game when Stanley Dimgba missed a penalty few minutes later.

Usman Abdallah’s men now face a daunting task in their bid to make it to the final as they will have to go all out for a win in the reverse fixture on October 24 in Casablanca.

“The reaction of my players was what gave us the win. We have all our respect for Enyimba for giving us a good match,” Garrido told reporters after the game.

“We were working and were focused on the game because we respect the quality of Enyimba. The motivation for our players was very high before the start of the game because they knew what to expect from them.

“We knew the strength and weaknesses of Enyimba before the game and we set our tactics to reflect that. It is just the first part of the match and the other one comes up in three weeks time.

“We have to play another very organized match and beef up the team to ensure that we play very well if we have to qualify for the next round.”

Cristiano Ronaldo Firmly Denies Rape Allegation, Say It’s Fake News!

Juventus soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo took to Instagram Live on Sunday to call a 2009 rape allegation against him "fake news."

According to Maya Oppenheim of the Independent, Ronaldo added, "They want to promote my name. It's normal. They want to be famous to say my name, but it is part of the job. I am a happy man and all good."

Ronaldo was responding to a report in German magazine Der Spiegel in which 34-year-old Kathryn Mayorga said he raped her in a Las Vegas hotel room nine years ago.

Ronaldo reportedly reached a $375,000 settlement with Mayorga in 2010 in exchange for agreeing to never go public with the allegations. Mayorga's lawyers are reportedly attempting to void the non-disclosure agreement.

According to Oppenheim, Ronaldo has denied the allegations and said the sex with Mayorga was consensual.

Ronaldo's lawyers released a statement calling Der Spiegel's reporting "blatantly illegal" and saying they will seek "moral damages in an amount corresponding to the gravity of the infringement, which is probably one of the most serious violations of personal rights in recent years."

The 33-year-old Ronaldo is in the midst of his first season at Juventus after spending the previous nine campaigns at Real Madrid.

He is a five-time winner of the Ballon d'Or, the award given to the top soccer player in the world, and Forbes listed him as the third-highest paid athlete in the world this year with an income of $108 million.

Marcelo Drops Out Of Brazil Squad

 

                   Marcelo

Marcelo has dropped out of the Brazil squad for friendlies against Saudi Arabia and Argentina, the Brazilian FA (CBF) has confirmed.


The Real Madrid left-back has missed his team's last two matches, a 0-0 derby draw with Atletico Madrid in La Liga and Tuesday's 1-0 Champions League

loss away to CSKA Moscow.And Marcelo's calf injury will prevent the 30-year-old from linking up with Tite's squad during the international break, the CBF said on Wednesday.The World Cup quarter-finalists are yet to confirm whether they will call up a fresh face to replace Marcelo, who has made 58 appearances to date forhis national team. Juventus'

Alex Sandro would be the left-back's natural replacement in the starting line-up, while Filipe Luis could earn a recall after being omitted from
Tite's original squad.Brazil face Saudi Arabia on October 12 before taking on rivals Argentina in another friendly matchfour days later. Thiago Silva, Douglas Costa and Willian are among the big names to be missing from the group named by Tite.

Barcelona winger Malcom, 21, could make his international debut after being handed a maiden call-up.Malcom's Barca team-mates Arthur and Philippe Coutinho are also in the squad, as is Man United midfielder Fred.

Source:

https://www.tori.ng/news/107592/marcelo-drops-out-of-brazil-squad.html

Marcelo Accepts Suspended Jail Term

Marcelo

The Brazilian will now pay a total fine of €750k after admitting to using foreign firms to handle his earnings and thus defrauding the Spanish state.

Under Spanish law, a two-year sentence for a first offender can be served on probation and that will be the case for the 30-year-old full-back.

El Mundo reported a deal was struck with prosecutors as Marcelo becomes the latest figure to accept a suspended jail sentence following similar punishments for Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho, Neymar and Xabi Alonso.

Moses glad with return to Chelsea action

Chelsea of England winger, Victor Moses was glad to make a long-awaited return to action with The Blues as he was part of their dramatic away victory against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.

Liverpool’s Spanish defender Alberto Moreno (L) vies with Chelsea’s Nigerian midfielder Victor Mosesduring the English League Cup third round football match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on September 26, 2018.

/ AFP PHOTO

After missing all of The Blues’ matches so far this season in the English Premier League and Europa League, due to the new gaffer’s change in tactics, Moses was back in the squad for the trip to Anfield and played a key role in his side’s dramatic 2-1 win.

While Moses ended up playing all 90 minutes of the match, it was Belgian wonder, Eden Hazard who got off Chelsea’s bench to strike the crucial winner at Merseyside.

Moses, though, was just happy enough to be part of the night’s comeback thrills, as Daniel Sturridge had made amends for missing an earlier sitter by edging The Reds in front on the hour mark, only for the visitors to hit back in style.

Having initially been shut out of the game by the opposition, second-half substitute Hazard sparked into life and played a direct part in both late goals for his side.

The Belgian’s free kick led to Emerson Palmieri levelling up against the run of play, and the in-form forward then took matters into his own hands with an individual goal of the highest quality to win the tie five minutes from time. 

EPL: FIFA new law may force Nigerian star out of Chelsea

Nigerian international, Kenneth Omeruo, could forced out of Chelsea by FIFA new law on loan deals.

The law could force the club to drastically change the way they manage their squad.

According to Bild, FIFA is planning to restrict the number of players sent out on loan to only eight per season.

The Blues currently have about 40 players on loan to other clubs.

The limit would mostly apply to players over the age of 21, with homegrown youngsters exempt.

Of Chelsea’s 40 loanees, only 16 would currently count as homegrown youngsters.

The club would now need to trim their number of other loanees down from 24 to eight.

Omeruo has spent all the season’s as Chelsea on loan to other clubs and is currently on a season-long loan to Leganes in Spain.