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And we all thought
that football should bring enjoyment – the recent debacle loosely
referred to as the NFF elections draws attention to the less than
attractive side of the game. That it was a flawed process from start to
finish is stating the obvious. England’s Rugby Union had Bloodgate,
Golf had Tigergate, and Formula One had Crashgate, now we have our very
own NFFgate.

The election was
one roller coaster – initially scheduled elections were rightly
postponed only for the NFF to hold them a week later despite court
orders not to do so; Harrison Jalla, President of the National
Association of Nigerian Footballers (NANF) was escorted by police in a
bid to stop the elections and was met by armed police courtesy of the
security team at the NFF; Presidential candidate, Segun Odegbami sent
two written request to FIFA to intervene and the world football
governing body previously swift to act in the wake of the post-World
Cup suspension of all national teams, has been mysteriously struck
dumb. Several candidates pulled out of the elections as a matter of
integrity but votes were still counted for them. What an auspicious
start! There is no gainsaying that new blood is desperately needed in
our football administration. This foundation isn’t shaky, it’s
nonexistent. Nigerians had been hoping for a messiah and here we don’t
even have a John the Baptist. There is simply no recollection of the
NFF doing or achieving much without controversy.

If what we have at
the moment is an illegally elected Board, how do they plan to gain
acceptability? It would appear that is not their primary concern. It is
truly a sad period in the history of our football. Just when one
thought football has reached its nadir of decay, impossibly a new low
rears its head. It can be concluded that the expected shake-up is not
going to happen with this new executive. So it’s business as usual
while we watch helplessly from the sidelines.

Plunging to new depths

It’s not just
football that is in crisis, all our sports have sunk to new depths.
There are very few positive results to report in any aspect. Take the
forthcoming New Delhi Commonwealth Games; preparations are so far below
the radar as to have become invisible. The Games are to be held in
October and there is what we can call a deafening silence surrounding
them.

I’ll share a quote attributed to the president of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria:

“We are taking
steps to ensure successful (sic) outing at the Games but that may not
happen if our top athletes don’t approach the whole issue with the
seriousness it deserves.”

The first take-away
here is that one can actually use a good amount of words without saying
a single thing worthy of note. Mr President, would you care to outline
the steps you are taking? Also, could you explain what you mean by the
‘whole issue?’ The second take-away: if one is in a position of
authority, certain responsibilities come with this and it’s no good
passing the buck. Mr President, how on earth will the preparations of
the AFN be affected by the athletes’ approach? You do your work and
they’ll do theirs. For me, his words sum up the general attitude in
sports administration – a lot of flowery statements to disguise a lack
of specific strategy.

Comparable to the narrator in Robert Frost’s poem, ‘The Road Not
Taken’, who faced a crucial choice at the fork of a road, the Sports
Ministry also needs to make a choice. The figurative forked road
becomes the future of Nigerian sports. There is a need to evaluate the
choices open to the ministry in the quest to improve sports in Nigeria,
act decisively on this and make a difference.

Super Eagles
skipper Joseph Yobo has finally joined the national team for this
weekend’s 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Madagascar.

The defender, who
was given permission to finalise his season-long loan move from English
Premier League side Everton to Turkish Super League giants Fenerbahce
joined the squad yesterday morning.

Yobo’s arrival
brought to 25 the number of players in camp ahead of the Group B
encounter scheduled for Sunday at the UJ Esuene Stadium, in Calabar.

Early arrivals to
camp include goalkeepers Vincent Enyeama of top Israeli club Hapoel Tel
Aviv, Akpan Bassey of Nigerian Premier League outfit Bayelsa United,
Chidi Odiah of Russia’s CSKA Moscow, Michael Eneramo of Tunisian club
side Esperance, and Osaze Odemwingie who recently left Russia’s
Lokomotiv Moscow for West Bromwich Albion of the English premier League
while Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel and Danny Shittu, who has agreed to a
mutual termination of his contract with Bolton Wanderers, arrived Abuja
on Wednesday.

Injured Eagles

Fulham’s Dickson
Etuhu was also in camp but had to return to his base in England on
Wednesday. The combative midfielder had reported to the national team’s
base in Abuja, but had to be excused from Sunday’s match against the
Indian Ocean island nation as a result of an ankle injury he had picked
up in his club’s hard earned 2-2 draw against Blackpool last Saturday;
a game that saw Etuhu grabbing a late equaliser for the Cottagers.

Club Brugge of
Belgium striker Joseph Akpala had earlier been forced to pull out of
Sunday’s encounter after suffering a niggling knee injury in his club’s
Europa League tie against Russian side Dinamo Minsk.

Off to Calabar

With the arrival of
all the invited players to camp, the team led by caretaker coach
Augustine Eguavoen and his assistant, former Super Eagles defender
Benedict Iroha, flew out of Abuja later in the day for Calabar where in
the evening they had their first feel of the artificial turf for
Sunday’s match.

“We just wanted the players to get a feel of the pitch and try to condition themselves to it,” Iroha told NEXTSports.

“We are going to
train a few more times on it before the match and everyone is doing
their best to ensure we put a big smile on the faces of Nigerians after
the match”

The game against the Madagascans is the first of six matches to be
played by the Super Eagles in Group B where they also have for company
Ethiopia and Guinea who will also meet in Addis Ababa this weekend. The
tournament comes up in January 2012 and will be co-hosted by Equatorial
Guinea and Gabon.

Nigerian defender Danny Shittu is hoping for a fresh start after being released by English Premier League side Bolton Wanderers.

The Nigerian
international’s contract with the Trotters was cancelled on Wednesday
after both parties agreed to a mutual termination of a three-year deal
that commenced back in August 2008 when the then 28-year-old arrived
from Watford on a £2m transfer fee.

Shittu, who turned
30 yesterday, made only 12 appearances during his time at the Reebok
Stadium – all 12 appearances were in his debut season – and was deemed
surplus to requirements by the club’s management.

He however remained
in the plans of Super Eagles handlers and featured at January’s Africa
Cup of Nations in Angola before following it up with an appearance at
the World Cup in South Africa where he got to feature in all of
Nigeria’s matches.

Alternatives

Shittu was one of
the standout players of a Nigerian team that failed to impress in South
Africa and that placed the former Queens Park Rangers ace in the radars
of a host of clubs who are reportedly interested in securing his
services.

One of such clubs
is Scottish side Celtic, who are rumoured to be tracking the former
Watford man as their manager Neil Lennon considers his defensive
options following a poor start to a season that has seen them crash out
of the UEFA Champions League at the qualifying round stage.

Clubs in Turkey,
France and the Middle East are also believed to be interested in Shittu
but the central defender won’t be rushed into making a decision
regarding his future, as he left Bolton in search of regular football.

“I believe quitting Bolton was the right step to take as I didn’t have options to play at Bolton,” Shittu told skysports.com.

“I wish the club all the best in the future and now I have to find myself a new club.

“I am now reviewing my options and there are quite a few sides interested in me from Europe and the Middle East.”

“Hopefully I can announce where my future lies shortly after I return from international duty.”

Shittu began his career as a trainee at English club Charlton
Athletic, moved in 2002 to QPR on a permanent deal financed by
supporters after he impressed during a loan spell, and went on to make
over 160 appearances for the R’s before moving to Watford for £1.6m in
the summer of 2006.

The ongoing
“Friends of Rugby” competition organised 2010 Lagos Rugby Union League
continues tomorrow at the sports pitch of the National Institute of
Sports within the National Stadium in Lagos from 12noon to 6pm.

With defending
champions, Cowrie emerging winners with two matches to go – they have
an unassailable lead of 46 points – the battle for second place is
going to be a fight to finish between Addax Rugby Club and Lagos Rugby
Club.

“The battle for the
2nd slot is heating up as the first position has already been
determined in the last match results. The third placed Lagos RFC will
tackle Addax RFC, which is in second position in the third game of the
day, which starts by 4pm.

“This star match is
expected to determine who truly claims the second position on the 2010
Rugby League table,” said Ntiense Williams.

In the first match
of the day, which comes up by 12 noon Cowrie RFC face Eco II RFC, while
Young Lions RFC will battle a highly motivated Police Machine Rugby
team in the second match of the day fixed for 2pm. Police Machine won
their first match of the 2010 Rugby League two weeks ago against Eco II
RFC.

The win lifted them
to 5th position with 9 points, while Young Lions RFC dropped to 6th
position with just 5 points in their kitty. All of these teams will be
hoping to take advantage of the last two matches to better their
chances on the league table.

Ladipo outstanding

Azeez Ladipo of Cowrie RFC has been the most prominent hitman
scoring a total of 65 points. Thus making him the highest point scorer
in the league. He has also scored four tries. Yahaya Samson of Police
Machine RFC is second highest point scorer with 41 points and has
scored four tries. Sulaiman Oyebola of Addax RFC is third with 38
points and he is the highest try scorer. A total 52 players have scored
in the league.

After the debacle
of South Africa and the various player bans, new France manager Laurent
Blanc has invited his old friend Zinedine Zidane and Fabien Barthez to
their Clairfontaine camp to inspire the new team.

“I think both he
and the players will really enjoy it. Everyone knows what he achieved
during his career but not everyone knows the man himself. He is an
interesting character and the players will be able to get up close to
him,” Blanc said.

The manager is hoping that his one-time team-mate will be able to participate in the team´s training session.

“The training
session is likely to be a mainly technical one. Technically, Zidane is
still a really great player. He showed that in Nantes recently. What he
does is exceptional. He has an incredible relationship with the ball
and that is something that he will never lose.”

Time to move on

Guillaume Hoarau,
the 26-year-old giant striker from PSG, will be out to win his second
cap and finally cement his place in the new French national team.

Hoarau has been
plagued by injuries but returned to the fold in the summer, earning his
first cap in France’s 2-0 friendly defeat in Norway.

Hoarau said he and France have to start anew.

“Now, I need to get a move on. There’s a coach here watching my performances very closely. It’s now or never,” he said.

The striker is likely to be paired with new Marseille striker Loic Remy; in a partnership which has showed promising signs.

“I know Loic. His
game completes mine. The coach knows us back to front and he plays us
in our best positions. So, necessarily, that helps matters. Everything
will depend on what we do on the field, on the spark that we inject
into the team’s game. We had a big training session on Tuesday and
already the understanding is emerging, even though most of the side
haven’t played together before.”

Catching up with Spain

After finally
climbing the pinnacle of world football, Vicente Del Bosque and his
all-conquering Spanish are set to defend the European title they won in
Vienna two years ago, starting with a visit to Liechtenstein’s
Rheinpark Stadion.

Spain’s aim is to
become the first team to retain the European Cup; West Germany were the
closest to achieving the feat in 1976 when, after European and world
triumphs, they lost out to Czechoslovakia in their quest to win a third
successive tournament. Carles Puyol is out of the tie with a dead leg
but La Furia Roja will be very confident of getting a good result
against the minnows.

Germany also start
their campaign without erstwhile captain, Michael Ballack. After
finishing second and third in the last European Cup and World Cup
respectively, Joachim Loew and his young squad will attempt to go get
their hands on a major trophy in Poland and Ukraine in 2012.

Guus Hiddink also
returns to international action with Turkey in Kazakhstan while Russia
will begin life under another Dutchman, Dick Advocaat, when they travel
to Andorra.

Italy also have a
new manager, Cesare Prandelli, and he will want an improvement on his
debut 2-1 defeat by Cote d’Ivoire as they face a tricky trip to Estonia.

Extra officials

Europe’s leading coaches are in favour of two extra linesmen behind the goals and prefer it to the use of goal-line technology.

The new refereeing
system which will be in use during the qualifiers will feature one
extra linesman behind each goal, was first tried in the Europa League
last season and has now been extended to Euro 2012 qualifiers.

UEFA supports the
experiment which is being carried out in other competitions worldwide
over the next two years before FIFA decides whether to implement it on
a permanent basis.

UEFA’s technical director Andy Roxburgh said leading European coaches are ‘very positive about this experiment’.

“They’re very much
aware of the problems of going down the technology route and, like
[Michel] Platini; they would like to keep it human if possible, so this
experiment with the additional referees allows us to do that.

“The additional refs sometimes do not always look very active but
they are very active because they are in constant touch with the
referee,” added Roxburgh.

Pakistan test
captain Salman Butt and his two opening bowlers Mohammad Amir and
Mohammad Asif have withdrawn from the tour of Britain while
investigations into alleged corruption continue.

Pakistan High
Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan told reporters in London the trio had
asked the Pakistan Cricket Board to withdraw them from a seven-match
one-day series against England because of the “mental torture” they had
undergone.

“They said they are extremely disturbed at what has happened,” Hasan said. “They mentioned that they are entirely innocent.”

Hasan said he believed in the players’ innocence and added Pakistan could take legal action to defend them.

British police
confiscated the three players’ mobile phones following allegations of
corruption in a British newspaper. They were accused of taking bribes
to fix incidents in the fourth test against England which finished at
Lord’s last Sunday.

Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed told reporters on Thursday the three players would be replaced.

“We will ask for three replacements,” Saeed told reporters before a one-day warmup match against English county Somerset.

“The T20 squad for
two games will remain as it is here this morning, this means 13 people.
For the one-day internationals subsequently we will be asking for
replacements to make up the squad of 16 again.”

Pakistan play two Twenty20 matches against England in Cardiff starting on Sunday followed by five 50 overs games.

“The boys will
focus on the cricket and we are here to play good cricket,” Pakistan
one-day captain Shahid Afridi told Sky television.

England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke said the board welcomed the decision to withdraw Butt,

Amir and Asif.

“As chairman of the
ICC’s (International Cricket Council) Pakistan task team I look forward
to working with Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, the chairman of
the Pakistan Cricket Board and everyone involved in taking forward
cricket in Pakistan,” Clarke said in a statement read to reporters.

Clarke has called for an ICC team to visit Pakistan, which has not
hosted international cricket since militant gunmen attacked the Sri
Lanka team bus in March last year.

The Nigeria Premier
League (NPL) continue its search of a title sponsor for the country’s
top flight division with less than three weeks to the start of the new
season.

The Premier League
has been without a title sponsor since Globacom pulled out as sponsor
midway into last season. The telecoms service providers had been
sponsors of the top flight division for four years before the
contractual breakdown.

Owumi commended

It has been
speculated that the NPL is into talks with another telecoms company
with the aim of bringing them in as the Premier League’s new title
sponsor and the league’s board has expressed appreciation to the
chairman Davidson Owumi and the secretariat for their efforts to get a
sponsor for the Premier League.

This was part of
the communiqué issued at the end of the NPL’s fifth board sitting which
came up at the NPL’s Abuja secretariat on Thursday where the board also
mandated Owumi to continue discussions with all prospective sponsors
and partners.

In addition, the
NPL board, following the submission of the financial reports from the
last Super Four tournament, also commended Owumi for “bringing the
principles of financial prudence into the management of funds” during
the tournament in Ijebu-Ode, where the body’s congress also took place.

Ahead of the new
season, which starts on September 25, the NPL directed the management
of six Premier League clubs – Shooting Stars, Sunshine Stars, Gombe
United, Zamfara United, Niger Tornadoes and Lobi Stars – to forward
details of their respective home grounds to its secretariat on or
before September 10.

The NPL has agreed
to collaborate with five television stations, including the NTA and
Supersport, in carrying out stadium inspections.

Nwani heads media

Another decision
reached at the end of Thursday’s sitting was the appointment of
experienced sports journalist Emeka Nwani as the new head of its Media
department. Arthur Kwame who is now in the Technical department will
also oversee the Competitions department.

The board of the NPL equally directed its secretariat to immediately
disburse outstanding entitlements of players of Port Harcourt-based
club, Sharks and advised the players to report at the NPL secretariat
with identifications.