Sports

Kaduna Gears Up for Thrilling National Futsal Super League”

Published

2 weeks ago

November 11, 2025

Cyril Ogar

Kaduna city will host the maiden edition of the National Futsal Super League with the objective of recruiting players to form the bedrock of the national team.

Disclosing this is Shamsudeen Tijjani Yusuf, the managing director of Galaxy 5s Global Sports, a sports management company in partnership with the Nigeria Football Federation [NFF] to organize and help develop the game of Futsal in the country.

According to him, ‘’It will be a regional league format that will see teams from the 6 geo-political zone participating in the league for close to two weeks in the crocodile city.

‘’Our aim is to make Futsal attractive and appealing to the nation. Also, the league will produce players that will form the bedrock of the National Futsal team. During the Super League, coaching and refereeing programmes would also be introduced to help improve the knowledge of the game’’ Shamsudeen said.

‘After a 30-year absence of Futsal in Nigeria, we have taken the bull by the horn to relaunch, repackaged Futsal into the country through Galaxy 5s Global Sports initiatives, Nigeria has all the tools and right ingredients to become a Futsal powerhouse but there’s still plenty of work to be done. We decided to partner with NFF being the member association under FIFA to see the importance of the beautiful game in its own right,” he says.

“Embracing Futsal is the perfect fit for Nigerian football,” continues Shamsudeen. “Countries around the world who have embraced Futsal have witnessed its benefits first-hand. It’s become a really popular entry point into the game for many players at youth level.

“Over time we have seen the rise in standards at international level, especially in countries with a deep football culture, such as Brazil, Argentina, Spain and Portugal. Morocco have also shown that they can be a dominant force in the sport as the reigning FUTSAL African champions and are listed 6th in the world rankings and No 1 in Africa.

Futsal is officially endorsed by FIFA, with the first World Cup hosted by the Netherlands in 1989. Eight more tournaments have followed since then with Brazil dominating with 6 titles, followed by Spain with two titles and Argentina and Portugal with one each. Brazil are the reigning world champions after a narrow 2-1 over Argentina, which was hosted by Uzbekistan in 2024.

Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch.

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Sports

Team Nigeria Records Best-Ever Performance at Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh

Published

1 day ago

November 23, 2025

The Gleamer

…Finishes 8th on overall standings, secures Africa’s second best placement

Joel Ajayi

Nigeria finished eighth on the medals table with a total of 30 medals, marking its best-ever performance at the Islamic Solidarity Games, while Turkey emerged at the top of the standings.

This year has been a remarkable success for the National Sports Commission, which has supported more than 40 sports federations in attending international competitions, many of whom have delivered outstanding performances and secured medals – the count includes taekwondo, swimming, cricket, para-powerlifting, para-badminton, among others.

Nigeria’s haul, comprised 11 gold, 12 silver, and 7 bronze, a result that reinforces the National Sports Commission’s (NSC) strategic direction of sending only athletes with strong podium prospects to major international events.

Competing in seven sports, Taekwondo, Boxing, Athletics, Wrestling, Weightlifting, Para-Powerlifting, and Para-Athletics, the team delivered an unprecedented outcome, winning medals in every sports they competed in .

Weightlifting led Nigeria’s medal haul with 6 gold, 4 silver, and 3 bronze, followed by Athletics, which secured 2 gold, 4 silver, and 3 bronze. Wrestling added 2 gold and 2 silver, Para-Powerlifting contributed 1 gold, while Boxing and Para-Athletics each earned 1 silver. Taekwondo completed the tally with 1 bronze medal.

Director General of the National Sports Commission, Hon. Bukola Olopade, praised the team’s exceptional outing, stating:

“It is not a coincidence that Nigeria won medals in every sport we participated in at the 6th Islamic Solidarity Games. This achievement reflects the new direction we have taken in sports development. After meeting with our team at the Commission and the Elite and Podium Board led by Yusuf Ali, we made a deliberate decision to bring only podium prospects to Riyadh and today, that decision has paid off.”

He added that the performance in Riyadh sets the standard for future international engagements:

“From Boxing to Taekwondo, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Track and Field and Powerlifting, Nigeria secured medals in every sport we entered. This is the new benchmark at the National Sports Commission, guiding our preparations for upcoming competitions, including the Commonwealth Games and ultimately, the Olympics.”

Officials stated that Team Nigeria’s record-breaking finish in Riyadh marks a defining moment in the country’s sporting evolution and strengthens its position as a rising force in global multi-sport competitions.

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