THE Nigerian Premier League was thrown into dark moment on Sunday with the death of Ocean Boys of Yenagoa left back defender, Emma Ogoli.
Ogoli, e News sports learn he slumped on the pitch of the Samson Siasia Stadium, Yenagoa after playing only for 39 minutes during the team's week six tie against visiting Niger Tornadoes of Minna which ended 2-1 in favour of the homers.
The stopper who joined Ocean Boys from sister club,Bayelsa United suddenly collapsed on the pitch and was rushed to a waiting ambulance at the stadium but died on the way to the hospital.

In his reaction, Head Media and Awards Committee of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL),Akin Akinbobola described the incident as pathetic, adding that the player's death was not only a loss to his immediate family and club, but to the the entire Nigerian football fraternity.


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Arsene Wenger is in no doubt the Barclays Premier League is the toughest it has ever been as he looks to keep Arsenal top of the table against title rivals Manchester United on Monday night.
The Gunners have been beaten four times already, but still returned to the summit last weekend after victory over Fulham when United's game at Blackpool was postponed and Chelsea dropped more points.
"I don't agree with the people who say that the overall quality of the league is lower this season. In fact, you can say exactly the reverse," the Arsenal manager said.
"Last Monday night, two quality teams - Aston Villa and Liverpool - met and both sides were in the bottom half, so that opinion is not really proven by concrete facts.
"The whole Premier League is more difficult for everybody and what you call mid-table teams and bottom-table teams have improved - every single game today is a cup game for everybody."
Wenger, though, admits surprise Arsenal are still in such a strong position given the number of points they have dropped, losing three games at home.
"We are top of the table at the moment, and at the start of the season if you had said we would lose four of our first 16 games, I would not have thought we would be top, that is for sure," the Gunners boss reflected.
"It means the other teams have lost games as well, apart from Manchester United, but they have had many draws.
"We have not had many draws, and have won five games away. The positive thing is that if we manage to add home consistency to our away form, we will be very dangerous."

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The United States is competing against bids from Qatar, Australia, Japan and South Korea. The 2018 event will go to England, Russia or joint bids by Portugal and Spain and the Netherlands and Belgium. The voters will be members of the 24-member FIFA executive committee, because two of those members have been barred from voting because of the latest corruption scandal.
The competing countries made their final presentations to FIFA on Wednesday and Thursday morning. Former President Bill Clinton and the actor Morgan Freeman joined the star soccer player Landon Donovan to make the case for the United States on Wednesday.
President Obama made a video appearance at the American bid presentation, which was broadcast live from Zurich before Thursday’s vote.
The presentation focused on the diversity of the United States, its passion for soccer, preparedness for the World Cup and the country’s ability to assist FIFA in its social mission to use soccer as a unifying global force.
Clinton picked up on this theme, noting that proposed American host cities each have residents from 100 to 150 nations.
“Maybe America’s best claim to this World Cup is that we have the only nation that can guarantee, no matter who makes the finals, we can fill the stadium with home nation rooters,” Clinton, the honorary chairman of the United States bid committee, told FIFA officials.
This process has been extraordinary for several reasons, not the least of which is the two-for-one announcement. FIFA has done it only twice in the past, in 1946 and 1966, but both times, only a single country was bidding for each tournament.
This bidding process has been marred by charges of corruption against 6 of the 24 members of FIFA’s executive committee. Two members have been barred from voting, and some have called for the vote to be postponed, saying it lacks credibility. FIFA has said it will hold the vote as scheduled.
The scandal took off in mid-October when reporters for The Sunday Times of London, posing as lobbyists for American companies, reported that two FIFA executive committee members had offered to sell their votes. As a result, Amos Adamu of Nigeria and Reynald Temarii of Tahiti were barred from the sport and fined by FIFA.
The Sunday Times of London also reported that it secretly filmed a former general secretary of FIFA, Michel Zen-Ruffinen, giving the names of officials who could be bribed. The paper reported that he also said the Portugal-Spain bid for 2018 and the Qatar bid for 2022 were colluding on a vote-exchange scheme to enhance their chances.
Bid officials denied the charges. FIFA said it found no evidence of a vote-swapping scheme. But the charges of corruption have continued.
Voting will be done by secret ballot. If a winner does not achieve a majority of votes in the first round, subsequent rounds of voting will proceed with the country with the lowest vote total dropping out and the survivors moving on. This makes the voting even more unpredictable.
“I’m not sure how many people in their own mind have worked through all the permutations on both World Cups if A, B, C, D and E happen,” Sunil Gulati, the head of the World Cup bid for the United States, told reporters Wednesday. “Until that happens, everything is in play.”



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Australia, Qatar and the United States are bidding against South Korea and Japan to host the 2022 competition.





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President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday announced the re-naming of the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, Oyo State as Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, just as he paid tribute to the visionary leadership the sage offered Nigeria while alive.
Jonathan made the announcement at the Ikenne home of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, when he paid a courtesy call on Yeye Oodua, Chief (Mrs) HID Awolowo, as part of his official tour of the state.
The president was accompanied on the visit by dignitaries, including Ogun State governor, Chief Gbenga Daniel; his counterpart in Oyo State, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala; Minister of Works, Senator Sanusi Daggash; Minister of Commerce, Senator Jibril Martins- Kuye; Minister of Youth Development, Senator Akinlabi Olasunkanmi; members of the National and state assemblies, among others.
The renaming of the stadium came shortly after the president inaugurated an expressway in Ikenne town named after the sage and which was constructed by the Ogun State government.
The president, who expressed happiness that he was visiting the Awolowo home for the first time in his life and for him to be received and blessed by Mrs Awolowo, disclosed that the renaming of the Liberty Stadium was a decision reached between him and the affected state governor.
According to him, the Awolowo family’s significance transcends Ikenne and Ogun State where the family took its roots, declaring that the sage remained a national figure.
Dr. Jonathan recalled the struggle made by Chief Awolowo as a young man and through his old age to establish his foot-prints on the evolution of the country’s march towards greatness, noting that his efforts resulted in the building of Cocoa House, the Liberty Stadium and Western Nigerian Television (WNTV) now Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), which was the first of its kind in Africa.
The president, who noted that Awolowo distinguished himself among his contemporaries in his pursuit of an ideal society and life abundant for the masses, promised to pursue the vision of the sage in order to transform the country.
“We will continue with his vision to transform the country into a better place,” President Jonathan promised.
While welcoming the president, Chief (Mrs.) Awolowo assured him of her prayers and support for the success of his administration, just as she recalled the very cordial relationship between her husband Awolowo and the Ijaws, urging the president to feel at home.
Chief (Mrs.) Awolowo noted that there existed enormous challenges in governance of the country, especially at the level of the presidency, but said such challenges were not insurmountable.
“The presence of challenges is not to stop a man from reaching his goal, but to bring out the best in him,” she said, adding: “I equally wish to encourage you to be very strong and focused in your service to over fatherland.”
However, Mrs Awolowo, who recalled that Papa Awolowo, like some of his contemporaries, devoted quality time to analysing these challenges and proffering solutions to them as expressed in some of his various books,   later presented the president with a few of them.
“I will not only recommend these books to you, but would rather present you with some copies to help you in discharging your constitutional responsibility. It is my honest belief that Your Excellency will find them very interesting and insightful,” she said.
Speaking further, she paid tribute to the Ogun State governor, Chief Daniel, whom he said had transformed the state into one of the fastest growing states in Nigeria.
“Having commissioned some projects during your short stay, I have no doubt that you have been convinced that Ogun State is one of the fastest developing states in Nigeria,” Mrs Awolowo said.
“On this note, I wish to commend the efforts of our indefatigable governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, for all his achievements,” she further said.
Dignitaries, who also joined her in welcoming President Jonathan to Ikenne include Bishop Michael Olusina Fape, who prayed at the event; Chief Mohammed Jobi-Fele, Reverend Adebajo Olusesan and Chief Kessington Adebutu.
Members of the Awolowo family were also in attendance and they included Reverend (Mrs.) Tola Oyediran, Publisher, Tribune titles, Master Oluwole Awolowo and grandchildren.
It will be recalled that the Liberty Stadium was built and declared opened on September 30, 1959, a development which heralded sporting development in Nigeria.
The sage had built the stadium when he was Premier of Western Region and the stadium was recorded as the first of its kind in Africa.
According to findings, the stadium was so named to commemorate the attainment of regional self-government by Western Nigeria.
The stadium’s construction was handled by a reputable chartered architect, JEK Harrison, in consultation with the then Ministry of Works and Transport of Western Region.
Liberty Stadium was as well known as the only Olympic Standard Stadium in the country until 1972 when the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, was inaugurated in preparation for the All Africa Games, hosted by Nigeria in 1973.
Among the major events that brought glamour to the stadium was the famous world title fight  between Nigeria’s Dick Tiger and Gene Fulman in 1963.
The stadium had also hosted world football tourneys, including the group games of the Africa Nation’s Cup held in Nigeria in 1980 and the Group C games of the 1999 World Youth Championship, Nigeria 99.

Nigerian authorities believe both men are hiding in the Iranian Embassy, located down a quiet street in Abuja, the capital, and which is being watched by Nigerian security officials.
"If Nigeria finds at the conclusion of the investigation that there has been a breach of international law, a breach of U.N. sanctions, Nigeria is a member of the U.N. Security Council (and) we will do what is necessary," Ajumogobia told reporters.
In a 2007 resolution stepping up sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, the U.N. Security Council banned Iranian arms exports, forbidding the sale or supply of weapons by Iran, whether directly or indirectly. It requires nations to prevent any such transfers and prevent their citizens from obtaining any weapons from Iran.
Mottaki's visit came after Nigerian authorities had concluded that Iran's government was behind the arms shipment, according to internal Nigerian government documents seen Thursday by The Associated Press.
The Nigerian foreign minister said Mottaki cleared the way for Nigerian security officials to interview Azimi Agajany, one of the men who Nigeria says organized the secret arms shipment through a Tehran-based company called International Trading and General Construction. Ajumogobia said Agajany may be questions as early as Friday.
The internal government reports seen by AP say Agajany received a visa to travel to Nigeria after getting an endorsement from Sheikh Ali Abbas Othman, also known as Abbas Jega, a Nigerian who worked for Radio Tehran's Hausa language service and studied in Iran. Jega is in the custody of Nigeria's State Security Service, a Nigerian government official told the AP.
The other Iranian implicated in the case, Sayed Akbar Tahmaesebi, entered Nigeria after Nigerian authorities received a letter of recommendation from Iran's foreign ministry saying he would "provide administrative support" at its Abuja embassy, according to the internal Nigerian reports.
Tahmaesebi has diplomatic immunity and cannot be questioned without Iran's consent, Ajumogobia said.
"If the Iranians are willing to waive immunity then we will pursue that, but in the meantime we are taking one step at a time," the Nigerian foreign minister told journalists.
Inside the cargo containers at Nigeria's main port in Lagos, inspectors found 107mm artillery rockets, rifle rounds and arms. The rockets can accurately hit targets more than 5 miles (8.5 kilometres) away with a 40-foot (12-meter) killing radius. Insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq have used similar rockets against U.S. troops. China, the United States, and Russia manufacture versions of the rocket, as does Iran.
Displaying a lack of knowledge about Nigeria's geography, Agajany initially wanted the consignments shipped to Abuja, the documents said. When Agajany was told there is no port in Abuja, which lies hundreds of miles (kilometres) from the coast, he came up with Lagos as the destination.
By shipping arms to the country, Iran may be attempting to "tweak" Western powers by showing it can influence affairs in a country vital to U.S. oil supplies, said David Bender, a Washington-based analyst who studies Iran for the Eurasia Group.
"From their perspective, it doesn't cost anything," Bender said. "But it gives the impression that they are a global player."
Nigeria has a predominantly Muslim north and Christian south. Targeted killings allegedly committed by a radical Islamic sect have been shaking the north while militants have launched attacks in the oil-rich southern delta. Presidential elections are scheduled for next year in Africa's most populous country that embraced democracy only a decade ago after a string of military dictatorships and coups.

Important

"Carlos is an important player for us," said Mancini. "He played well against a strong defence.
"He ran well although he may have been a little tired like some of the other players.
"When you play every three days it is not easy, especially when you have to play a derby game."
Last season's corresponding fixture saw Paul Scholes notch a late winner in injury-time to a seal a 1-0 triumph for United, and Mancini was pleased with his side's clean sheet this time around, praising the work of his players in the middle of the park.

Pattison has for long been the unsung hero of the Brazilians' midfield and was excited at getting called up on Wednesday by Bafana head coach Pitso Mosimane, for this prestige friendly international against USA ranked 25th in the world.
Pattison (24) said he would use the game as a stepping stone for his career if he should earn his first Bafana cap. “This is a step in the right direction for me and I am thrilled about playing for my country," he said Thursday.
"If I get game time I will make it count.”
Pattison celebrated in style on Wednesday night when he scored his first goal for Downs to help the PSL leaders defeat Free State Stars 2-0 at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville.
“Our club coach (Antonio Lopez Habas) has been encouraging me to go forward and score. I have come close this season but tonight it all fell into place," he said after the match.
"The Bafana call up was a boost for me and now this goal has really pumped up my confidence level.”
Pattison will not be overawed if he gets to play against the well respected Americans. “I have gained invaluable experience playing in the English Premiership for Newcastle United and played over 65 games in the (English) Championship for Norwich City before joining Sundowns at the start of last season.
“This (US game) is the perfect platform for me and other fringe players. Being a friendly, there won't be that much pressure and hopefully it will be easier to express ourselves.”
Pattison said he harboured ambitions of featuring for Bafana in the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil. “I am delighted to have been given this chance against the US, but I do not want to be a one game wonder.
"I intend impressing and hopefully getting more matches in the African Nations Cup qualifiers against Egypt, Sierra Leone and Niger next year.
"My goal is Brazil and the African Nations Cup, but I know the ball is in my court and it is up to me to grab this chance with both hands. I am up for it, determined to prove myself at this level and if given the chance, I will not let my country or the coach down.”

City and United played out a dour goalless draw at Eastlands with neither side impressing.
It was the first stalemate since 2004 and leaves United four points behind Chelsea in the title race.
And United keeper Van der Sar claims it was Mancini's home side who were at fault for ruining the match.
He said: "I don't think it was a good point for us. The game was quite one-sided.
"We got the ball on the floor and passed it from player to player but we didn't create a lot because they shut us off well defensively.
"But City didn't really come forward and leave their defensive position.
"They were clearly aiming for a point and hoping for more whereas we really wanted to win and tried to play like that.
"It didn't really materialise for us but they were more defensive."
For all their possession and territory, United created only a couple of opportunities.
One was for Patrice Evra before the break and another, an acrobatic Dimitar Berbatov effort.
But City keeper Joe Hart was not tested, leaving United boss Alex Ferguson frustrated.
The Scot said: "I am disappointed we didn't win. We needed to win.
"But we only made two good chances in the game and I don't think they made any.
"Maybe all the tension in the build-up to the game was too much for it to be a real spectacle.
"There were good aspects to our play. We dominated and played some good football.
"But teams coming here are going to find it difficult."
Ferguson could be without three more key men for the trip to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Paul Scholes definitely misses the Villa Park encounter after collecting his fifth booking of the season.
Ferguson has also ruled young Brazilian defender Rafael out after he picked up a dead leg.
Evra was forced off with an ankle injury that will need to be assessed.
Ferguson said: "Rafael is a dead leg. He will miss Saturday, of course, but it is not so bad.
"Patrice has an ankle injury, which we will assess."

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has confirmed that the voting process for the World Cup hosting rights in 2018 and 2022 will go ahead as planned on December 2, despite recent controversies surrounding the executive committee.

FIFA's ethics committee has been forced to deal with allegations that two members of the executive committee, Nigeria's Amos Adamu and Tahiti's Reynald Temarii, asked undercover Sunday Times reporters for money in return for their votes.
It has also been alleged that the Spain/Portugal and Qatar bids have colluded to manipulate the vote by casting their support for each other, but this has been denied. Spain/Portugal is bidding to host the 2018 finals and Qatar is in contention for 2022.
Adamu and Temarii have also claimed they are innocent and although disciplinary proceedings have been opened against the two men, Blatter said the voting date will be unaffected.
Blatter said: "We are five weeks from the final decision so there was never a question of changing anything in the procedure.
So on December 2, here in Zurich, the executive committee of FIFA will decide in a secret ballot the national associations who are hosts for the World Cup 2018 and 2022.
However, Blatter has said that if Adamu and Temarii are still suspended when the vote takes place then neither man will be replaced in the process, meaning the remaining 22 members would decide who wins the right to host the tournament in 2018 and 2022.
"This is an uncomfortable situation for FIFA but we must say that inside FIFA we have the necessary instruments to react properly," Blatter said.
"The ethics committee are addressing a case that involves allegations of possible corruption. We will deal with them according to current regulations. If and when people are suspended for the vote on December 2 they will not be replaced."