Kicking off!

Former Secretary General of the then Nigeria Football Association, Dr. Tijani Yusuf has called the recently released guidelines for elections into the national sports federations the ‘Tsunami’ guidelines and the reason is obvious.

The guideline which stipulates that any president who had served two terms consecutively and any member of an international sports body is not eligible to contest in the forthcoming elections has induced heated debate among sports stakeholders.

The Nigeria Olympics Committee has since faulted and demanded for immediate review of what is now referred to as the draconian guidelines.

Our cover story therefore takes a look at the furore over the ‘controversial’ guidelines and the positions of some key stakeholders on the contentious issues.

In the interview corner, we have for you an interesting interview with one of the rising stars in the Nigeria Professional Football League, Destiny Ashadi of Katsina United. He spoke to us on his team’s performance in the first stanza of the league and the expectations for the second round.

It will also interest you to know that triple Olympic track champion Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia is aiming to complete a remarkable hat-trick by winning the London Marathon on Sunday.

And tomorrow, Barcelona without Neymar will be at Santiago Bernabeu for the final Clasico of the year and a chance to atone for their Europe exit in the hands of Juventus.

It is surely a daunting task considering their present form but Luis Enrique is confident Barcelona will seize the big chance and use it judiciously.

Without doubt, this is another exciting edition of your weekly sports companion SHOT!. Enjoy and have a splendid weekend.