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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Why the problem of Nigeria football might still persist!

In every sphere of human Endeavour, antecedents of the past serve as the bed rock for tomorrow’s well being. For the past decades, the most popular sport game in Nigeria; football has been on the decline despite the amount of man power and human resources poured into the field. At the world stage, the country failed to make it beyond the group stages in the world cup co hosted Korea and Japan in 2002. It also failed to qualify to the next event held in Germany 2006 and four years later in the first ever world cup held on the soil of Africa, the country had a terrible outing by existing the tournament in the group stage again. In Africa, the best the country has achieved is it traditional “birth-right” bronze (which is only played for in African’s nations cup) despite it abundant talent in the round leather game.
The same can be said about the Nigeria football league whom just like the national team has suffered from the indiscriminate board room award of points, in-depth corruption, poor security as a result of administrative failure, nepotism and organized hooliganism.
This poor showings of the national team has not only earned it a change in nomenclature from super eagles to SUPER Chickens but also affects the country’s round leather players and officials at the global stage. It now difficult to see the country national team players playing for the top teams in top European club while most of the little that do hardly make the first team. In the same vein, Nigerian referees, lines-men and other officials are hardly consider to officiate matches in the world cup and nations cup or other global football organized events.
The poor outing at the last world cup made the federal government to sack the entire executive council of the football body and suspends the nations from international engagement for two year which was later reversed as a result of FIFA threat to take further sanction on the football association. This brought into the limelight the obvious that there is a problem with our football.
To tackles these frequent failures, a new election that will not only rebrand the FA but also usher in a set of excos that will champion the needed revolution was held despite the uproar about it credibility, authenticity and intend to provide the needed change.
The same old wines that that had ruined the state FAs and the national FA in the days of it un-productivity are back into the association as executive member. These administrative bureaucrats are the major bane of Nigeria football development. They have been in the process and offered little or nothing at all and yet, they are hanging on to power. Many of those elected to run the FA have never played football, have no previous successful experience in football management and even in some cases have more interest in making money than in football or it growth neither do they have the strategic plan needed to develop the game at all level
The problems of Nigerian football such as corruption, age cheating, nepotism and favoritism, board room match fixing and point awards will still persist with these elected people (despite court order) to run the affairs of the football association.
What this country football association need are people with the passion for the game, people that have played the games and have the technical knowledge and knows the challenges faced by the boys in the fields not some administrative bureaucrats who do not know the total number of teams in the nation’s football league.
Abedi Pele of Ghana, David Beckham of England, Luis Figo in Portugal played special roles in their country’s football affairs, even the dictator mamma Ghadaffi appointed his son a former player with the passion for the round leather game to head the Libyan association. What is the faith of our ex international like Segun Odegbami, Austin Okocha and others willing to serves in what they love to do best?