Izuchukwu OkosiTottenham’s troubled Europa Conference League campaign is over, UEFA have confirmed on Monday morning.
Spurs needed to win their final group match against French side Rennes on December 9 to make it to next year’s knock-out stages but called off the match because of a Covid outbreak.
The governing body has a December 31 cut-off date for the completion of all group stage matches and because no alternative date could be found, Spurs have had to forfeit because they cannot fulfil the fixture.
The decision was expected but will still come as a blow to boss Antonio Conte, who is overseeing a transformation in mood and confidence at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs were one of the favourites to make it all the way to the first ever final of this new European competition – which takes place in Tirana, capital of Albania, in May.
The early exit from Europe will at least free up dates to help Spurs catch up with a backlog of matches – having had games against Burnley, Brighton and Leicester City called off in recent weeks because of bad weather and Covid.
Conte’s men are due to be back in action on Wednesday night against West Ham in the Carabao Cup semi-final and Crystal Palace on Boxing Day.
Spurs needed to win their final group match against French side Rennes on December 9 to make it to next year’s knock-out stages but called off the match because of a Covid outbreak.
The governing body has a December 31 cut-off date for the completion of all group stage matches and because no alternative date could be found, Spurs have had to forfeit because they cannot fulfil the fixture.
The decision was expected but will still come as a blow to boss Antonio Conte, who is overseeing a transformation in mood and confidence at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs were one of the favourites to make it all the way to the first ever final of this new European competition – which takes place in Tirana, capital of Albania, in May.
The early exit from Europe will at least free up dates to help Spurs catch up with a backlog of matches – having had games against Burnley, Brighton and Leicester City called off in recent weeks because of bad weather and Covid.
Conte’s men are due to be back in action on Wednesday night against West Ham in the Carabao Cup semi-final and Crystal Palace on Boxing Day.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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