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Nigeria: 55-Man Pompey Contingent Arrives Tomorrow
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This Day (Lagos)
23 July 2008
Posted to the web 24 July 2008
Duro Ikhazuagbe
Lagos
Organisers of the Tinapa football tournament have confirmed tomorrow as the arrival date of English FA Cup kings, Portsmouth ahead of their Sunday clash with Europe champions Manchester United FC.
According Bassey Ndem, managing director of TINAPA Leisure and Business Resort, organisers of the inaugural TINAPA Invitational Football Fiesta, the English club parading the duo of Super Eagles players Nwankwo Kanu and John Utaka, will touch down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja with a contingent of 55 players and officials in the early hours of Friday aboard a chattered aircraft straight from South Africa.
Manchester United, who are in South Africa for a pre-season tournament, are being expected in Abuja in the early hours of Sunday morning from Johannesburg with a delegation of 60.
The Pompey team led by the manager Harry Redknap, is expected to feature England internationals, keeper David James who is the club's back-to-back Player of the Year, and team captain Sol Campbell, new club record signing and England international, Peter Crouch, who on July 11 penned a deal reportedly worth 11 million pounds, Glen Johnson, David Nuggent, Senegalese star Papa Bouba Diop and Ghanaian international Sulley Muntari.
Others are Lasana Diarra, Jermain Defoe, Silvain Distin (vice captain), Niko Kranjar, Pedro Mendes, Frank Songo'o, Djimi Traoré among others.
Meanwhile, Pompey boss Redknapp and the members of his FA Cup-winning squad are to be honoured by their home city.
The team beat Cardiff 1-0 at Wembley to claim the title in May and is to be given the Freedom of the City by Portsmouth City Council.
The move was put forward at a full council meeting yesterday and is set to be given the go-ahead at a special council meeting on July 31.
The council also plans to amend street signs at the entrance to the city to read: "Home of Pompey, FA Cup Winners 2008".
And the authority is considering renaming one of the bells in the Guildhall which are being refurbished to once again play the football club's anthem, the Pompey Chimes.
Portsmouth City Council chief executive David Williams said: 'It was very much Portsmouth Football Club's day at yesterday's meeting of Portsmouth City Council.
'The councillors - still overjoyed at the club's FA Cup success - and in the presence of the cup itself, started the formal process towards granting Freedom of the City for the squad and Harry Redknapp.
'A special council meeting to decide on this will be held at the Guildhall on Thursday of next week.'
Meanwhile, Portsmouth coach Harry Redknapp is confident that Nwankwo Kanu will sign a new one-year deal with the club.
Harry Redknapp took over as manager of Portsmouth in early 2002, with Jim Smith as assistant. Just over a year later, Portsmouth was celebrating winning the Division One Championship and promotion to the Premier League, winning the title with a game to spare.
Since arriving in the Premier League, the club finished 13th, 16th, and 17th in its first three seasons before being bought by businessman Alexandre Gaydamak in January 2006.
With large amounts of money available for the manager to make record signings, the club finished their 2006-2007 season in the Premier League in the top half of the table for the first time, only one point short of European qualification.
In the just concluded season 2008, Portsmouth reached the FA Cup final for the first time since 1939 after beating Championship side West Bromwich Albion 1-0 on 5th April at Wembly Stadium in the semi-finals, the same day that the club celebrated its 110th birthday. Portsmouth went on to win the cup with a 1-0 win against Championship team Cardiff City with Kanu Nwankwo's goal. The win earned them a place in the 2008-09 UEFA Cup, the club's first time of playing European football.
Their best Premiership finish occurred in the 2007/2008 season when they ended on the 8th spot.
WAFU, Chida Sign Partnership Deal
Ahead of its Executive Committee meeting holding this weekend in Abuja, West African Football Union, WAFU, has sealed a partnership deal with frontline Abuja hotel, Chida International.
Speaking at the contract-signing Tuesday in Abuja, WAFU President, Dr Amos Adamu said Chida was coming in to the partnership as the official hotel of the regional football ruling body.
He noted that WAFU decided to have the relationship with Chida because of the hotel's record of impressive performance, adding, "this is not just happening by accident. We are coming to the table today to sign this pact with Chida after painstakingly weighing our options and concluding that Chida has the facilities and personnel to cater for our guest."
Adamu also disclosed that WAFU has been holding talks with many prospective partners in other sectors, noting that the official broadcasters of the organisation would soon be unveiled.
In his own speech at the event, Chairman of the hotel, Chief Gabriel Agada, described the partnership as a challenge to the hotel to maintain its core value of excellent service delivery.
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Agada promised WAFU 's guests at the forthcoming Executive Committee meeting a swell time as a way of justifying the choice of Chida as the official hotel of the regional soccer body.
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