Nigeria Content Online

FIFA,
according to its code of ethics, is supposed to constantly strive to
protect the image of football, from jeopardy or harm but the ban on
Nigeria seems to be protecting a particular clique from harm and not
football development in the country. This piece is not to review
whether the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) ban
is good or bad or whether it will do the game any good. What it seeks
to achieve really is what the world governing body of football, FIFA,
really wants? Is it that FIFA consciously supports corruption and
corrupt officials or they do not just want any kind of government
interference in their ‘cup of tea’?

There had been
various warnings to the Nigerian government that the hammer would fall
but in an era where next year’s elections are on the front burner,
football can go burn itself – football will not run or ruin the country.

It is also a well
known fact that FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, was irritated, vociferous
and quick to officially react when French politicians debated about the
performance of their national football team in South Africa.

That has been the
kind of imperial authority that the Switzerland-based body seeks to
wield over the game and that has led many to call FIFA a monopoly. What
FIFA does not understand is that it can so irritate countries to mutiny
and that could spell its end. How the English Premier League was formed
should be an adequate example for the football body.

FIFA can consider
itself important now but it is the game, most importantly, the players
that are important. Without them, there will be no game to administer
and the faster Blatter and his mates get that, the better it will be
for them in their handling of football affairs.

Nigeria’s President
Goodluck Jonathan tried to ban all national teams from international
soccer games for two years, following very poor performances by the
Super Eagles in South Africa added to immense corruption allegations
against football officials, but he was dissuaded from that line of
action by pleas from the Nigerian people.

Cleansing the football stable

Now it was
inevitable that the football house had to be cleansed with the FIFA
ban. But the recent pronouncements, out of court settlements and
re-instatements – no one actually knows when the Aegean stable will be
cleaned.

Though FIFA has not
come out to discuss the allegations of corruption levelled against its
officials, they are quick to issue a ban over government interference.
I believe the nation has more to gain by this ban – because there will
be no competitions to go to and therefore no estacodes or monies to be
shared. If the ban can go on for up to two years, most of the so-called
football administrators will find other businesses to do – like
importing rice! A member of the deposed board of the Nigeria Football
Federation (NFF), Felix Anyansi-Agwu condemned FIFA’s action but blamed
it on the work of saboteurs.

“It should now be
clear to Nigerians who are the real enemies of Nigeria. Why should a
group of two or three people stand out and want to scuttle what the
majority have done. The election into the board of NFF was free and
fair and everybody saw it.

“I want to say in
clear terms that this is sabotage against the President of this country
who wants Nigerian football to move forward. These are the same people
who advised him to withdraw Nigeria from international football.”

Former chairman of
the Nigeria Professional League Board, Onyuki Obaseki is more concerned
about the slap on Nigeria’s sovereign status by FIFA.

Obaseki questioned
FIFA’s intrusive nature on Nigeria’s internal affairs, saying that the
country was a sovereign nation with laws that govern it.

“A court order
stopped the NFF from conducting the elections that brought about all
these problems. The NFF defied that order and FIFA is now suspending
the country,” Obaseki said.

Saluting corruption

Internal political
interference in sports can have many consequences but one thing is
sure, financial and political excesses need to be moderated – the
financial part is what makes FIFA culpable in this matter. Sports, nay
football may have major political and economic implications in a
country like Nigeria and yes, FIFA’s intervention at times may be
welcome and needed but wisdom and justice is needed especially in cases
of apparent corruption.

FIFA comes across
as saluting corruption with the inaction of the body towards the
infamous Jack Warner from Trinidad and Tobago and the wanton excesses
of the North Korea government concerning its players and coaches.

Blatter and FIFA
have been very quick to threaten Nigeria and France with bans – and
have actually suspended Greece in the past – but on cases of corruption
and human rights abuses, they have been conveniently silent.

The North Korean
government has subjected football coach Kim Jong Hun, and his players
to public ridicule. The safety of the coach in the totalitarian regime
is at risk and FIFA will not act as the body knows where its bread is
buttered.

President-elect of
the NFF, Aminu Maigari refused to comment on the situation. But
Bertrand Ekenwa, a football agent, said: “Nigerian football has been
put in jeopardy because of a selfish few. It’s only a madman that will
think of challenging FIFA.”

Well, the gauntlet has been thrown down and time will show who was right or wrong.

In the end, it just
seems that some people are taking advantage of FIFA’s protective laws
to perpetrate a lot of corruption and disharmony in Nigerian football.

This will not be the first time that Nigeria will be banned and may
not be the last. Nigeria was banned in 1996, by CAF, for pulling out of
the Nations Cup in South Africa and also suffered a two-year FIFA ban
in 1985 from age-group competitions because of age falsification.

Liverpool are on the wrong end of the English Premier League table and languishing in massive debt but they remain top of the table as far as income earned from shirt endorsement deals are concerned.

Without a doubt England’s most successful football club and one of the biggest sides in the world, Liverpool’s performance as far as the 2010/2011 season is concerned has been one not befitting of a club with such a proud history.

Although they have not won a league title for close to 19 years, they have added a host of other titles to their long list of honours, and even won the UEFA Champions League for the fifth time in their 118-year history as ‘recently’ as 2005.

But they are currently in the relegation zone on the Premier League table and, worse still, could suffer a nine-point penalty if their present owners’ holding company is put into administration.

Previously, it was believed that Liverpool will not be penalised if Kop Holdings, the company owned by Tom Hicks and George Gilliett, were to be put into administration but now a nine-point penalty is reportedly becoming a serious threat especially if Hicks and Gilliett continue to block the proposed £300 million takeover by New England Sports Ventures (NESV) and do not pay off their £280m debt by October 15; a situation that might force the Royal Bank of Scotland to put Kop Holdings into administration.

Premier League rules state that because Kop Holdings is solely focused on the ownership of Liverpool and football-related matters, a nine-point penalty is a possibility.

West Ham United were in a similar situation when their holding company Icelandic Bank Straumur became insolvent, but they escaped a point deduction because Straumur had financial interests in other ventures, not just a football club, unlike Kop Holdings.

Pick of the pack

But the Reds, irrespective of their current travails, are right there at the top when it comes to shirt endorsements along with bitter rivals Manchester United who, like Liverpool, were purchased by an American investor.

Although the disparity between the top teams and the bottom is wide, all the 20 Premier League clubs can boast of shirt deals that are comparable with those of some of the world’s top football leagues.

In total the Premier League clubs have signed shirt deals worth £403.9 million, with durations ranging on the average between one and four years. And on top of that list are Liverpool and Manchester United with deals worth £80 million, about £20 million annually.

Globally, only two other clubs have shirt deals greater than those of these two. They are Spain’s Real Madrid and Bayern Munich of Germany, both with annual figures slightly under £22 million.

Chelsea and Tottenham follow suit behind the fierce English rivals with shirt deals that annually rake in £12 million and £10 million respectively for them. Manchester City follows next before the duo of Aston Villa and Arsenal follow suit.

Although Arsenal’s deal with Emirates only rakes in around £6 million annually, the United Arab Emirates-based airliner’s deal with the London based club signed back in 2006 saw Emirates doling out £100 million for a 15-year period, along with the right to the name of their current home ground.

Back in 2006, the deal was considered outrageous by industry watchers as it was unprecedented. But just four years down the road, what was then considered the most expensive sponsorship deal ever is proving to be quite small compared to existing contracts with other clubs in the same category as the Gunners.

Worse part of it all for Arsenal is that they still have another 11 years to go before the end of their deal with Emirates.

Lucas
Radebe is a personal friend of Nelson Mandela, a FIFA ambassador and
one of Leeds United’s finest players of modern times but he still
vividly recalls the grim Christmas when he nearly turned his back on
what was destined to be a brilliant future.

He had his bags
packed, an airline ticket in his pocket and was ready to secretly
escape from Leeds and fly back to Johannesburg.

It was that Christmas of 1994 that he made the best decision of his life. He took his hand off the doorknob and stayed.

His first few
months in the north of England had been tough and he hated the place
which now reveres him as an adopted son and one of Leeds finest players
of modern times.

“I arrived there knowing nothing about Leeds. Going overseas for me was like walking into a dark room blindfolded.

“I had no idea what
to expect, I didn’t know anything about Leeds United – and when I
arrived it was horrible, I hated it,” he told Reuters in an interview.

By the December he
had started just one match in four months, made a few brief appearances
as a substitute, and explained how he came to be facing a swift return
home.

“Nothing was happening for me and I wanted to go. Breaking into the first team under Howard Wilkinson was tough. I hadn’t.

“I was only used
sparingly. I never played in the big games and I was getting depressed
and homesick. Me and (teammate) Phil Masina used to save up 50 pence
pieces to phone home from a payphone. That’s how bad it was.

“It was December
1994. The worst part was the weather, it was horrible and I thought,
‘my bags are packed, I’ve got my ticket, I am just going to go’. I
wasn’t going to tell anybody, I was just going.” But he changed his
mind, won a place in the side at the start of a glittering decade of
good times and is now lauded as a Leeds great as well as being a
personal friend of former South African president Mandela, who has
described the 41-year-old as “my hero”.

From the streets

He also works as a
FIFA ambassador and his new autobiography, “From the Streets of Soweto
to Soccer Superstar,” tells his astonishing life story which has seen
him rise from a Soweto hoodlum who stole and hijacked cars, became the
victim of a street shooting, but is now one of Africa’s best-loved
footballers.

“I got involved in
crime, gangsterism, hijackings. We made sure that when tomorrow came we
had something in our stomachs. But that’s the lifestyle I knew growing
up,” he said.

“There were no role
models, we didn’t have access to TV or international events, it was a
day-by-day existence and survival of the fittest.”

Radebe’s lucky
break came through his parents. They sent him away from Soweto at 15 to
school in the rural homeland of Bophuthatswana. There he began to
develop into such a superb footballer that he was signed by Kaizer
Chiefs. After three years there, reports of a talented centre-back were
circulated to clubs in England and Scotland.

“I know Dundee
United were interested and I could have gone there, and some clubs in
London. But Leeds made the best offer and I went there instead. I was
already 25, I wasn’t young but had no real idea what I was heading for.
I had never been out of South Africa, I didn’t have a clue,” he laughed.

Personal tragedy

Personal tragedy
has blighted his life too including the death of his 34-year-old wife
Feziwe from cancer two years ago leaving him to bring up his three
children alone.

But everything would have been different if he had opened that door in his digs in Leeds all those years ago and gone home.

“Standing there, I
realised the opportunity I had, and the responsibility I had, not just
of representing myself but also my country and of the chance to open
some doors for other African players.

“I changed my mind.
I thought I would rather fail having tried than not try at all. I had
been through all the dark days of apartheid, I had been shot, I had had
nothing but I survived. That’s what transformed me.

“Coming through
that childhood in which I saw many of my friends killed or jailed,
built my character and helped me face the challenges in Leeds – and
George Graham coming in as manager was absolutely brilliant for me. He
gave me my chance and the great days began.”

Champions league

In his decade with
the club, Leeds challenged for honours, reached the Champions League
semi-finals and between 1998 and 2002 finished between third and fifth
in the Premier League.

Their recent
revival after slipping down to the third tier in England pleases him
and he was given a hero’s welcome when he went back to visit Elland
Road last week.

But right now other
matters are occupying his thoughts – not least the legacy the World Cup
finals will bring to South Africa and Africa as a whole.

“If somebody had
told me in my lifetime that we would have hosted the World Cup in
Soweto, I would never have believed it. It was a tough, tough place to
grow up, I played football in the street, we had little in the way of
facilities.

“But just the fact
that Soweto hosted the World Cup was a triumph in itself.” He says the
opening day of the World Cup was one of the most emotional of his life.

“I was doing TV
with Francois Pienaar, the winner of the 1995 Rugby World Cup and when
both teams came out, I am telling you, we looked at each other, we had
goosebumps, we were like kids. It was such a great achievement, it was
the greatest thing.” The stadiums, he says, will serve as an
inspiration to future generations.

“I am sure the
World Cup, the new stadiums, everything, will take us to another level.
We don’t want to be like Japan or Korea who demolished the stadiums
after spending so much money on them in 2002.

“For me they are an
investment for youth, for the grass roots of the game. The stadiums
stand as a symbol of inspiration for the upcoming generations and can
pay dividends for the young for years.”

And what of the former Soweto bad boy who is now friends with Mandela?

“That is truly amazing. I go round to see him with my kids for lunch
or tea sometimes. He has been an amazing friend since my wife died and,
well, it’s a long way from where I started.”

Nigeria
received a reprieve on Friday in its face-off with world football
governing body, FIFA, as the ban placed on the country last Monday was
lifted on Friday after a meeting of the football body’s emergency
committee.

“The FIFA Emergency
Committee decided today, 8 October 2010, to provisionally lift the
suspension of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). The decision was
taken after observing that the situation had taken a positive turn in
recent days, with the claimant at the origin of the court actions
publicly committing itself to withdrawing its claim, the acting General
Secretary of the NFF returning to his post on 5 October 2010 and the
issue of the Nigeria League being left totally within the ambit of the
NFF,” FIFA said in a statement released after the meeting.

“The suspension has
been lifted provisionally until 26 October 2010, after noting that the
next hearing before the court is scheduled for 25 October 2010 and that
only then can the judge vacate the court orders. However, should the
NFF still be embroiled in court actions or any other issue preventing
it from working freely on that date, the suspension will be
automatically confirmed until all problems have been definitively
solved.”

The decision coming
at the time it did was not surprising. In the 72 hours preceding the
reprieve there had been a flurry of activities geared towards getting
the football body to rescind its decision. A number of prominent sports
personalities including Mary Onyali-Omagbemi, Falilat Ogunkoya, Henry
Amike, and Yusuf Alli had met in Lagos on Tuesday and called on FIFA to
to lift the ban. They also castigated some individuals within the
football family for initiating the ban on Nigeria.

Sacrificing Baribote

That same day,
Rumson Baribote, the chairman of Bayelsa United was fired by the
Bayelsa State Government along with other members of the board. The
action was done without much fanfare and people did not think much of
it. But for those who have followed events keenly, it was a strategic
move.

Baribote was one of
the central figures in the furore over the enlargement of the Nigeria
Premier League to 24 teams. His club had been relegated and he had
threatened to head to the Court of Arbitration in Sports (CAS) in
Switzerland if he did not get justice in Nigeria. Many believe the
enlargement of the league was done to appease him, an action that irked
FIFA, which had been informed by its agents in Nigeria that Ibrahim
Bio, the Minister of Sports, was responsible for the move.

In order to appease
FIFA therefore, Baribote had to go. The reasoning was very simple. If
he is fired as Bayelsa United boss, he will have no basis to head for
CAS. With Baribote out of the way, the next step was to get Harrison
Jalla, the man who had gone to court insisting that elections must be
held first into the state football associations before that of the NFF,
to withdraw the case.

On Wednesday, Amos
Adamu, Rafiu Ladipo, and a few others met with Jalla in Lagos during
which Jalla agreed in principle to withdraw the case from court subject
to the fulfilment of certain conditions, which were not immediately
made public. Jalla said if those conditions were not met before October
25, the day the case comes up for another hearing, he would have no
choice but to continue with the suit. With that agreement, Adamu
contacted his people at FIFA headquarters informing them that the coast
was clear for the lifting of the ban. The following night Bio met with
Jalla to “encourage” him to withdraw the case.

It was thus not
surprising that FIFA went into an “emergency” session on Friday after
which it lifted the ban. Jalla was not immediately available for
comment but Princewill Oviesan, Media Officer of the National
Association of Nigerian Footballers, said that in going into
negotiations, his organisation was motivated by the need to spare
Nigerian football as much pain as possible.

“We were concerned
about the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match between Nigeria and
Guinea, that was one of the reasons we went into negotiations and we
made our position clear that if by October 25, the agreements reached
have not been implemented then we would have no choice but to continue
with the case in court,” he said.

Not yet over

While October 25 is
two weeks away, the worst may not be over yet. One of the agreements
reached at the meeting between Jalla and Adamu was that bodies like
Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and the Nigerian
University Games Association (NUGA), who former President Sani Lulu
removed from the list of delegates eligible to vote during NFF
executive committee elections, should be re-instated. This is in
addition to his main demand that state elections must hold before those
into the executive committee.

It may be easy for concession to be made with regard to the first
demand, but it is not likely that there will be progress on the matter
of state FA elections. The reason, NEXT learnt, is because Adamu, whose
tenure on the FIFA Executive Committee comes to an end in less than a
year’s time, is desperate to ensure that his lackeys appropriate
leadership positions on the NFF board. That way, his re-nomination by
Nigeria for another term on the FIFA executive committee, is assured.