Raphael Varane has announced that his time at Manchester united will come to an end at the end of the current season after a three-year spell at the theatre of dreams. The former France international had the season disrupted by injuries and has not featured for his side since the 4-3 loss to Chelsea on April 4.

Varane arrived at Old Trafford amidst jubilation from the fans from Real Madrid in 2021 for an initial fee of about £34 million ($43 million) but did not live up to expectation. Although it was not entirely his fault as the club have been out of depth for a long time.

He was part of the team that won the 2023 league cup after newly appointed Dutch manager; Ten Hag led them to his first trophy with the club, which is the only cup that the club has lifted since Mourinho led them to silverware in the 2016-2017 season.

The experienced defender took to social media to announce his impending exit and to thank the club, teammates and fans for the love he was shown, in his post, he said “To you guys, supporters of Manchester United it’s been an amazing few years to play for this special club and wear that shirt.

“The first time I went to Old Trafford as a Man United player was insane, the atmosphere was amazing.

“I fell in love with the club, with the fans. You have to play for Man United to understand what that represents.”

The club hierarchy also appreciated Varane for his service to the club and wished him success in the next step of his career. According to their post, Varane added a “great deal of class and experience to the team”.

Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti has granted clemency to four officials of the State Sports Council who were suspended due to the inadequate kitting of state athletes at the 7th National Youth Games in Asaba, Delta, in September 2023.

Dr. Olusola Osetoba, Technical Advisor to the Governor on Sports Development, made this announcement while addressing members of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Ekiti chapter, in Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday.

She disclosed that the four officials, including the General Manager Mr. Adekunle Adeyemi, Mr. Isaac Elegbeleye, Mr. Isiaka Oluyemi, and Mr. Olusola Ibitoye, have been reassigned to positions within the ministry.

Osetoba further stated that new officials would soon be appointed to fill the vacant positions within the sports council.

In addition, she mentioned that the government has imposed a ban on training and other unauthorized activities on the pitch of Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti, emphasizing that plans for the stadium’s refurbishment are underway.

The advisor also revealed that arrangements have been finalized for the construction of a sports hall at the Ekiti Kete Pavilion, which will host various sporting events.

Furthermore, Osetoba announced the government’s intentions to carry out a comprehensive restructuring of the two state-owned football clubs, Ekiti United and Ekiti Queens, citing administrative deficiencies as the reason. She assured that a new board would be constituted to rejuvenate the clubs’ performance.

Expressing gratitude to SWAN members for their past support during her tenure as Chairman of the Sports Council, she appealed for continued support in her new role.

Lastly, she urged sports writers to fully endorse Governor Oyebanji’s efforts to elevate sports to greater heights in the state.

It’s worth noting that the officials were suspended for alleged mismanagement of funds and inadequate kitting of Ekiti athletes at the 7th National Youth Games in Asaba in 2023.

By Dr. Salau Dee Elf (NUGA Publicity Liaison Officer- 1993-2001)

The Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF) is the body that is saddled with bringing out and taking care of Primary and Secondary School Athletes in Nigeria.

Prior to the establishment of NSSF, Regions/States has different organizations for Sports development in Students in their area of jurisdictions.

In the 1950s and 1960s, many School Sports athletes represented there Regions/States in different sporting competitions. It is on record that intra and inter Regions/States sporting competitions were dominated by School Sports Students from different Schools in Nigeria.

The likes of Haruna Ilerika, Samuel Ojebode, Christian Chukwudi, Emmanuel Okala are some of the products of the popular Principal’s Cup that was played all over Nigeria then. The same takes place in Athletics, Basketball and Table Tennis which are popular sports in Nigeria then

In the 1980s, School Sports Students dominated all facets of Nigerian Sports from Football where we have Adokie Amesimaka, Segun Odegbami, and others while Sunday Bada, Falilat Ogunkoya ruled the tracks with other School Sports athletes. The Table Tennis was purely for School Sports athletes as is the same with Basketball and others. Cricket pitch was dominated by Students from Kings College, St Gregory, Government College, Ibadan Students.

This good old days showcased School Sports products with raw talents fine-tuned for Nigerian Sports in all facets of the country’s sports. They competed and won laurels for the Country effortlessly.

From the 1990s till date, the era of short cut to proper development programme in sports saw the Nigeria School Sports activities pushed to the background for hurried Sports Academies. The motives of this Academies is not for the development of the athletes but the monetary gains. This eroded the important contributions of School Sports Students to the progressive development of sports in Nigeria

In the interest of progressive development of sports generally in Nigeria, it’s now or never that we revive the Nigeria School Sports Federation competitions to detect budding talents in Football, Athletics, Basketball, Table Tennis, Tennis and others for the greater glory of Nigeria.

Let’s urge the Federal, States and Local Governments to return to the Era of the development of the veritable assets in our Schools. The Principal’s Cup, Intra and inter States Athletics Competitions, Table Tennis Championship and others must be revived. This is the only way we can continuously get enough budding talents for Nigeria’s sports development

Dr Salau Dee Elf writes from Lagos and can be reached via
[email protected]