Sports

How Enabulele Is Driving Okpebholo’s Agenda In Edo Sports Commission

Published

2 months ago

October 6, 2025

Editor

The Edo State Sports Commission has outlined the remarkable strides achieved under the purposeful and dynamic leadership of His Excellency Senator Monday Okpebbholo, the Executive Governor of Edo State with Hon Amadin Desmond Enabulele, on the driver’s seat since he was appointed to assume office on December 18, 2024.

In less than a year, Enabulele has driven transformative reforms, strengthened grassroots development, and re-established Edo as a dominant force in Nigerian sports — all in line with the visionary sports agenda of Governor Monday Okpebholo.

Focused investments in grassroots talent have produced record-breaking results. At the 2025 National Youth Games in Asaba, Team Edo finished among the top performers, securing an unprecedented 33 gold, 18 silver, and 28 bronze medals — the best in the state’s history. Enabulele attributed the success to Governor Okpebholo’s steadfast commitment to athlete welfare and sports advancement.

Edo also impressed at the maiden Niger Delta Sports Festival in Uyo, finishing third overall with 89 medals (23 gold, 35 silver, and 31 bronze). At the 22nd National Sports Festival in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Edo athletes recorded a massive 302-medal haul — 76 gold, 101 silver, and 125 bronze.

Several Edo Queens FC players have continued to fly the state’s flag internationally. Seven players — Oscar Precious, Hunu Adeshina, Adegbemile Rebecca, Uzoma Ijeoma, Esther Inyang, Moses Chioma, and Kafayat Mafisere — earned national call-ups to the U-20 Super Falconets. Similarly, five female rugby players — Abba Chinaza, Precious Ukwuoma, Success Iyoha, Becky Okitikpe, and Vera Akhihero — were invited to Nigeria’s national camp ahead of the World Rugby League Series in Canada (October 17–27).

Through Enabulele’s unwavering support, Team Edo’s deaf athletes shone at the West Africa Deaf Athletics Championship in Abuja, where Deborah Ighawuanre won two gold medals, while Victory Odokara, Okpaise Nathaniel Jr., and Assurance Omoria picked multiple medals in sprint events.

Edo’s para-athletes also made their mark. Seventeen-year-old Ojieabu Favour Omo won six medals at the African Para-Cycling Track Championship in Cairo, alongside gold medalists Osaretin Godwin Grace and Divine Ogbe.

Team Edo maintained dominance across other competitions:

Para-Powerlifting & Karate Tournaments (Abuja): Five Edo athletes broke national and world records, including Tolulope Ogundolie (45kg) and Esther Oyema (55kg).

South-South Senior Badminton Championship (Asaba): Team Edo emerged overall best, led by Promise James Ekong’s double-gold performance.

CNS Swimming Championship (Asaba): Edo swimmers bagged 31 medals, with standout performances from Precious Tissa and relay stars Forcados Funfumimi, Christian Obomanu, Solid Government, and Victor Uruonah.

The Commission also launched the Under-17 Chess Tournament to discover and nurture young intellectual talents across the state.

At the National Hauxing Wushu Kung Fu Championship in Lagos, Edo athletes clinched 7 gold, 7 silver, and 6 bronze medals. Top performers included Kelly Alonge (2 gold), Osayande Osatahawen (1 gold), Destiny Obasi (1 gold), Joshua Emokpae (1 gold, 1 bronze), Onaifo Godwin (1 gold, 1 bronze), Osawoname Ohangbon (1 gold, 1 bronze), and Omokaro Iredia (1 silver, 1 bronze).

Edo also successfully hosted the South-South Zonal Eliminations for the National Sports Festival, earning commendations from the National Sports Commission for professionalism and organisation.

Edo Queens’ continued dominance as WAFU B Champions remains a model for Nigerian women’s football. Despite losing several players to international clubs, the team maintained top form under Governor Okpebholo’s supportive leadership.

Hon. Enabulele also celebrated Coach Moses Opuamowei Aduku, who led the Super Falconets to victory in their second-round qualifiers, describing his success as proof of Edo’s investment in coaching excellence.

The Commission has deepened partnerships linking education with sports development. The Governor’s Cup, backed by Governor Okpebholo, produced champions from Ogbe Secondary School (male category) and Idia College (female category), both of whom were rewarded with brand new buses.

Facility upgrades are ongoing to meet international standards, while the proposed Edo Indoor Cricket Complex, presented by the Edo State Cricket Association, highlights the administration’s commitment to sports infrastructure.

Under Enabulele’s watch, Edo has hosted several national tournaments, including the EKUS Judo Championship, Ardova PLC Handball Premier League, and the NBBF/Zenith Bank Women’s Basketball Premier League, cementing its status as Nigeria’s true sporting hub.

On the global stage, Hon. Enabulele lauded Bolade Bezi for setting a new Guinness World Record with a 57-hour, 10-minute E-Sports marathon on God of War, adding a digital dimension to Edo’s sporting legacy.

He also received a letter of appreciation from the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) to Governor Okpebholo for Edo’s vital support during the 2025 All Africa AirBadminton Tournament in Ghana, where Team Nigeria won two silver and four bronze medals, qualifying for the World Cup in Sharjah, UAE (December 11–14, 2025).

Sustaining this winning momentum through constant engagement with association chairmen, coaches, athletes, and stakeholders, Enabulele has firmly placed Edo State on the path to a lasting sports revolution.

According to him, “Our mission is clear — to make Edo State the model for sports governance and athlete development in Nigeria. With the unwavering support of His Excellency, Governor Monday Okpebholo, we will sustain this momentum and achieve even greater feats.”

Sports

UK Unveils Record-breaking Bid For 2035 Women’s World Cup

Published

7 hours ago

November 28, 2025

Editor

UK football chiefs on Friday unveiled details of their unopposed joint bid to host the Women’s World Cup in 2035, with 22 proposed stadiums listed in the official submission.

The bid team said the 48-nation finals would be the biggest single-sport event ever staged in the UK.

It would be the first World Cup played on British soil since the men’s finals in 1966, which were solely hosted by England.

“With 63 million people living within two hours of a proposed venue, it would be the most accessible tournament ever,” the bid team said in a statement.

Sixteen of the stadiums on the shortlist are in England, including Manchester United’s proposed new 100,000-seater arena, with three in Wales, two in Scotland, and one in Northern Ireland, across 15 cities.

The final number of stadiums is expected to be whittled down to around 16.

A measure of the size of the event is that at the Qatar men’s World Cup in 2022, just eight stadiums were used.

FIFA confirmed later on Friday that the UK bid would be formally ratified at next year’s congress in Vancouver.

The April gathering of football’s global governing body is also set to approve the joint candidature of the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Jamaica to stage the 2031 women’s World Cup.

“Hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup would be a huge privilege for our four home nations,” the chief executives of the UK football associations  said on Friday.

“If we are successful, the 2035 tournament will be the biggest single-sport event held on UK soil with 4.5 million tickets available for fans.

“We are proud of the growth that we’ve driven in recent years across the women’s and girls’ game, but there is still so much more growth to come, and this event will play a key role in helping us deliver that.”

Manchester United’s existing Old Trafford stadium has been included, but the bid team intend to put the club’s proposed new ground forward for consideration by FIFA once plans are confirmed.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the bid showed the UK’s passion for football.

“The (England) Lionesses’ success has inspired girls across our country, and we’ll build on that momentum by welcoming millions of football fans from around the world to a tournament that will benefit communities and businesses in host cities up and down the UK,” he said.

England’s women’s team have won the past two European Championships and reached the final of the 2023 World Cup.
From 2031, the Women’s World Cup will be contested between 48 teams, up from 32.

The next Women’s World Cup will take place in Brazil in 2027.

Sports

NFF In Fresh N1.4b FIFA Women World Cup Scandal

Published

14 hours ago

November 28, 2025

Editor

Former Super Falcons head coach, Randy Waldrum, has questioned the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) management of the monies that the world football governing body, FIFA, gave the federation for the team’s preparation for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, reports allnigeriasoccer.com.

Waldrum’s team was eliminated from the championship in the second round by England through a penalty shootout. But the American alleged in a viral video on X that his team was handicapped by the NFF’s failure to make available the fund needed to properly prepare the side for the championship.

He alleged that the NFF received $960,000 from FIFA in October 2022 to support the Super Falcons’ preparations for the tournament.

He said: “I have a real close contact here in the US that is very connected with some of the board at FIFA. This person told me that in October, every country was given $960k from FIFA to prepare for the World, where is that money.

“If Nigeria got that money why didn’t we have a camp in November? We went to Japan, we flew in and played the game and went home. Some of our players didn’t arrive until the morning before the game, I think five players who were going to start for me, arrived the night before the game and the game was 4:00pm and they traveled 16 hours on the plane. And we played Japan and then we went home. We wasted the last five days of that window to train.”

Waldrum, who affirmed that FIFA provides financial support to federations that are unable to afford business-class travel, with deductions made from their World Cup earnings.

According to him, the NFF had no justification for suboptimal logistics. “So, all these questions I have is where is this money? And the other thing I found out through my FIFA connections is that if countries don’t have the money to buy business class tickets for everybody, FIFA will fund the money and buy those tickets and just deduct it from the monies you get from FIFA after the World Cup.

“So there’s no excuse to say we didn’t have money to buy tickets and then we didn’t have camps. These are the kinds of things that the people of Nigeria don’t question. In the US, they would be questioned. If the US Soccer Federation was doing the same things, the US Soccer Federation would have to answer to it.”

The coach also faulted the NFF for failing to maximise FIFA-approved staffing provisions, noting that while FIFA allows up to 22 technical staff members, Nigeria travelled with only about 11.

“So if FIFA will pay bonuses for up to 22 people, why didn’t we have 22 people? I didn’t have an analyst and I scout. Listen, the US has a scout in Europe, watching teams play in these exhibitions, in case they face them at the World Cup,” he explained.

“We didn’t even have scouts going with us to Australia. I didn’t even have anybody to scout games. If we got out of our group, I didn’t even have anybody to scout games in other groups. Everything I had to do was on videos and what I could pick up online.”

Sports

EPL: Berbatov Names Team That Can ‘Surprise’ Arsenal In Title Race

Published

3 days ago

November 25, 2025

Editor

Former Manchester United striker, Dimitar Berbatov, has named the team that could “surprise” Arsenal in the Premier League title race.

The Gunners are now six points clear of second-placed Chelsea, thanks to their 4-1 demolition of Tottenham on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta’s men could extend that lead to nine points, when they travel to face the Blues this weekend.

Berbatov has now said he expects Arsenal to be “really tested” over the hectic festive period and says their title credentials will become clearer in the New Year.

“Of course Liverpool are low in the table and Man City are dropping points, but there are other teams like Chelsea who can surprise people,” Berbatov told ESPN.

“Six points is a good cushion but in the Premier League it’s nothing and can go very quickly.”