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Baba Sule was a teacher but I reduced his age for U17 World Cup– Nana Fitz

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Football administrator Nana Fitz has confessed that he changed the age of midfielder Baba Sule to make him eligible to play at the 1995 U-17 FIFA World Cup.

‘Baba Sule was a teacher but I reduced his age for U17 World Cup’ – Nana Fitz

According to him, Sule was a college graduate and was already working as a teacher, which meant his age had to be reduced.

The former youth star was on a promising path in the mid-1990s after helping the Black Starlets to win the U-17 World Cup in Ecuador.

The midfielder scored in the group stages against the hosts and was also on the scoresheet as Ghana defeated Brazil 3-2 in the final to emerge champions.

Baba Sule and the 1995 U17 World Cup winning team Pulse Ghana
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Despite his exploits at youth level, Sule didn’t enjoy as much success when he made the leap into professional football.

Having made his name with Ghanaian side Cornerstones FC, he joined Spanish outfit Real Mallorca but was blighted by illness.

He was later diagnosed with Hepatitis and ended up playing for several lower-tier teams in Spain before calling time on his career in 2011 after a three-year stint in Nigeria.

Speaking to Ernest Brew Smith, Nana Fitz, who used to be the Chairman of Cornerstones, revealed that he reduced Sule’s age to make sure he played at the 1995 World Cup.

“The boy [Sule] is my son, anytime look at him or see him I feel ashamed. Because I did something that is against my principles. I reduced Baba Sule’s age,” Nana Fitz disclosed.

“I was told that the [Real Mallorca] scouts are interested in Baba Sule. When Baba Sule was travelling he had completed sixth form in Secondary School and had even completed Wisely College and was a teacher.

“He was the captain of Corners. So we met and his mother gave me his letter and everything (documents). That’s where I felt bad, it really boxed me.”

Nana Fitz, however, admitted that reducing the age of the footballer was the wrong thing to do and begged for forgiveness from Sule and his family.

Veteran football administrator Nana Fitz Pulse Ghana

He noted that he regrets taking such a decision and, in hindsight, would not have gone against his principles.

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“Now I think he is doing well. He said he is an assistant coach on one of the teams. Anytime I see him like that, it hurts me.

“They should forgive me. Baba Sule, Cornerstones, and everybody I’m sorry. I wouldn’t do it today. Because I’m one of the fighters against this but I made a mistake,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sule worked as a driver for David de Gea when the goalkeeper played for Atletico Madrid, having shared the same agent with the Spain international.

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2024 WAFCON qualifier: Super Falcons arrive Praia for Cape Verde clash

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Ahead of Tuesday’s second leg of the 2024 Women’s African Cup of Nations qualifier, Nigeria’s Super Falcons have landed in Praia for the game.

The Nigerian side dominated and won the first leg 5-0 at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja on Thursday and the result gave them hope to scaling the hurdle to the competition.

Super Falcons departed the shore of the country on Saturday and safely arrived at the Praia, the capital city of Cape Verde in the early hours of Sunday.

Falcons are willing to qualify and do better in the competition next year after they finished in the 4th position in the last edition that was held in Morocco.

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The game against the Blue Shark of Cape Verde is scheduled to take place on Tuesday with the winner over the two legs reaching the competition slated for Morocco.

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Osimhen won’t renew Napoli contract

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Nigeria international Victor Osimhen’s departure from Napoli is almost looking certain after Italian football transfer expert Fabrizio Romano said the striker was unlikely to renew his contract with the Italian champions,

Osimhen has been linked with several European clubs with English Premier League duo, Chelsea and Arsenal, leading the race for the Nigerians.

Napoli president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, had on several occasions said that the club’s most prized asset would not be sold this summer even if their valuation of €200m was met.

“Osimhen will stay here. He won’t leave,” he told Sky in August.

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Super Eagles drop two places in latest FIFA rankings

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The Super Eagles of Nigeria have dropped by two spots in the latest FIFA ranking to place 42nd in the world.

In the ranking table on the website of the world football governing body, on Thursday, the Eagles dropped 16.04 points to rank 1474.44 points as against 1490.48 in October.

However, the drop did not affect the team’s placement on the continent, as it still remained the 6th team on the continent, behind Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt, respectively.

The drop in ranking comes after the Super Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw in their two 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Lesotho on Nov. 16 and Zimbabwe on Nov. 19.

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Although Argentina (1st) still leads the way ahead of France (2nd), England (3rd, up 1) is now in the trio of teams at the front of the pack, followed by Belgium (4th, up 1), who have also climbed one place.

Although Brazil (5th, down 2) have lost ground following back-to-back defeats by Colombia and Argentina, they have clung on to their place in the top 5.

The Netherlands (6th, up 1) and Portugal (7th, down 1) have traded places in the top 10, which is once again completed by Spain (8th), Italy (9th) and Croatia (10th).

Uruguay (11th, up 4) have made solid progress, but they have to be content with a place just outside the top 10.

The Comoros Islands (119th, up 9), meanwhile, enjoyed an even better month with wins against the Central African Republic and Ghana, and have two reasons to celebrate as they are now in 119th place, their highest-ever position.

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Kosovo (101st, up 4) may not have climbed as many positions as the Comorans, but the Kosovans are also now higher in the ranking than ever before.

Guinea-Bissau (103rd, up 7), Azerbaijan (114th, up 6), Libya (120th, up 6), Malaysia (130th, up 7) and Rwanda (133rd, up 7) are the other big movers in the November ranking.

The ranking also had the re-entry of Samoa (187th), American Samoa (188th) and Tonga (196th), who were all playing international football again following months of inactivity.

The ranking took into consideration FIFA World Cup qualifiers that took place in African countries as well as in Asia and South America.

The other confederations’ schedules considered included UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying matches, Concacaf Nations League 2023-24 encounters and the Pacific Games 2023.

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These matches all had a significant effect on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, including on the make-up of the podium.

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