Barcelona'92: NOC mourns handball coach Chukwuemeka

• Published date: 18 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

The Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) has joined the handball family in mourning the national handball team coach to the 1992 Barcelona Games Ephraim C Chukwuemeka who passed at 82.

A statement signed by Tony Nezianya, the Public Relations Officer of the NOC, said that Chukwuemeka who died on January 2, during a brief ill-health in Isikwuato, Abia State, was one the two coaches that led the first-ever national team sport to the Olympic Games.

He alongside his partner, late Coach Paulinus Chukwu from their days at the Grasshopper's Handball club of Owerri led the national team to the Barcelona Games.

They had paired to lead the squad that defeated the then-highly-rated Angolan side at the African Championships in Egypt in 1991 to qualify for the Olympic Games, making handball the first team sport to qualify for the Games.

During his illustrious sporting career that spanned more than three decades, he doubled as FIFA Badged Soccer Referee.

In those heady days, Dr Lanre Glover , a well-known...