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Nigerians love and
know their football and are also a proud stock. We are proud of our
population – ‘150 million strong,’ we like to boast – but there seems
to be another breed of Nigerians who do not care about pride – our
footballers.

Firstly, Nigerian
players all over the world will play for any football side as long as
it is outside the shores of their country. We have had players going to
Vietnam to play professionally and unfortunately they died there. The
circumstance of returning the corpse for burial actually showed that
the trip was not worth the sacrifice.

Moving just for the money

In the current
transfer season, many have been left dumb-founded by transfer logic our
players are exhibiting – the phenomenon did not just start now. The
question on the lips of many football enthusiasts is, can our players
not play for the biggest football clubs in the world? The answer may
well be no and it is not because they are necessarily lacking in
quality.

Osaze Odemwingie,
Nigeria’s best player for 2010, formerly of Lokomotiv Moscow has just
transferred his services to West Bromwich Albion (WBA), a team that
just got promoted to the Premiership, and who were hammered by Chelsea,
6-0, in the opening weekend of the Premiership. Odemwingie has had to
take a pay cut to realise this move. But why is he paying this premium
to appear in England for a lowly club?

Odemwingie told the
BBC: “These are the opportunities you hope for when you decide to
become a footballer. This is the next chapter of my career.” Playing
for a third rate club with a dimmer chance of not being relegated than
an ice-cube melting in the open?

No other choice

Odemwingie, must
feel that time is no longer on his side, having turned 29 with no big
club offer on his doorsteps. So what makes an Obafemi Martins leave
Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga to join Rubin Kazan in Russia?

Former Super Eagles
player Garba Lawal said that it is never going to be easy for Nigerian
players to make it to the very big clubs because “we are not good
enough”.

“Even when I was
playing in Europe and Nigeria was on everyone’s lips, it was very hard
to move to those really big clubs. The Real Madrids of this world have
extensive scouting systems and if you are not in the top five of your
position then most likely, you will never get an offer. If we have
players in that top echelon, then sooner or later, they will play for
these top clubs but right now can you point to any Nigerian player that
is in the top five in his position? We can hardly get into the top 10
not to say top five.

“Another minus is
the fact that Nigeria has not performed well in the big competitions
for some time, while other African countries are doing well so the
focus is on this other countries,” Lawal said.

There are also fears that the present bunch of ‘big players’ have done nothing to help the coming generation.

Ajibade Babalade, who also played for the Super Eagles disagrees with Lawal.

“The problem that
we are having now did not start today. When we were up there we did not
do things that would have sustained us there. Simply put, we do not
have quality players coming through and it is everyone’s fault.

Are our players moving for the dollar or in the hope of bettering their careers?

Martins has said he
needed to recreate a very promising career that has gone off the track
and the move to Russia was basically a career move.

“I have to thank
the fans of Wolfsburg, my former colleagues there and wish the club all
the best for the future. I am joining a team of champions and I hope to
bring my best to the club to make them even greater.” Joseph Yobo,
Super Eagles assistant captain to South Africa 2010 is also rumoured to
be moving to Scotland on a one-year loan after being frozen out of the
Everton team.

“A number of clubs
have indicated their interest in having him, and Everton have no
objection. But the firm interest has come from Scotland and discussions
are taking place,” A sports news website reported recently.

Christian Chukwu,
a former captain, and coach of the Eagles wants everyone that has
anything to do with Nigerian football to take the current situation as
a slight that must be remedied.

“We have some of
the best players in the world, we hear it everywhere but we have not
lived up to these expectation except during the 1996 Olympics when we
won football gold. From the top to the bottom, we must start doing the
things we were doing before – getting back to the schools, if we do it
properly, ten years from now, it will be another story.”

Two girls from the
Hope 4 Girls Basketball Foundation programme will tomorrow fly to the
United States of America to begin a scholarship programme.

The move,
facilitated by Hope 4 Girls founder Mobolaji Akiode will allow the
girls, Ijeoma Frank and Nkiru Uju study Computer science and Education
respectively at the Grayson College in Texas.

For Akiode, this is
a sign of better things to come as her dream of giving hope and
empowering young girls through sound education and the game of
basketball is gradually taking shape.

“It’s rewarding to
know that you are positively impacting lives. It makes all the hard
work worth it and it will bring me greater joy to see the girls not
only succeed but also impact the next generation as well,” she said.

Route to greatness

Akiode who also
trod the same path en-route to becoming one of Nigeria’s best female
basketball players featuring at both the Olympics Games and World
Championships for the country, believes the girls are on a journey to
greatness.

“For me the key is
free education and an opportunity to expand their minds, change their
future and be anything they want to be. Basically, I think they can
gain everything,” she said.

For the girls who
interestingly were part of the Nigerian Junior women U-18 basketball
team, the Junior Tigress which recently secured a berth to the World
Championships scheduled to hold in Chile next year, it is a dream come
true.

“I have always
wanted to play basketball and study in America, I am very much excited
with this opportunity, and I hope to make the best use of this,” an
elated Uchendu said.

Both girls thanked Akiode, who they call Mo, and expressed confidence that their success will open doors for the other girls.

“It’s a once in a life time opportunity and we will not disappoint Mo for this chance and believe she has in us,” Ugoka said.

Multiple benefits

Coach of the Junior
Tigress team Adewumi Aderemi said the exposure the scholarship will
have a positive impact on the national team.

“I am very happy
with that, it’s a step in the right direction. I only hope they don’t
get carried away. Once they are focused out there, it would improve
their game and the country even stands to gain from that,” he said.

College basketball
is usually the prelude to a future career in the WNBA but Akiode,
herself a former college and WNBA star, hopes that more girls from her
foundation will be given opportunity to pursue not only a career in
basketball but also in academics.

“A career in
basketball is always a good way to have a positive impact in the
society but they cannot play basketball forever,” she said.

“By going to
college and earning a degree there’s that guarantee of a life after
basketball, and that is what I want for these girls.”

According to
Akiode, it was not just a stroll in park to secure both the scholarship
opportunity and the travelling documents for the girls.

“Visa and
documentation process is always difficult. But if you are legitimate
and the girls’ papers are legitimate then you just have to follow due
process and hope for the best.”

Sustaining Hope 4 Girls

The Hope 4 Girls basketball programme is in its second year with Ogun State and Lagos hosting the editions so far staged.

Fifty five girls
from within and outside Nigeria participated in the second edition of
the programme held in Lagos State. The edition, held some weeks back,
had been rounded off with an all-star match.

Unlike the first
edition made up solely of Nigerian girls, this year’s edition had seven
girls from neighbouring West African countries in attendance which to
Akiode is a testimony to the success of the programmes thus far.

Though happy with
the progress made thus far, Akiode appeals to more individuals,
corporate bodies and even the government for support.

“We are always looking to support girls and their education, but we
can’t do it alone its financially tasking and these girls without our
financial support would not be able to even pay for the flight. So we
need people to join and support us and help us help impact the lives of
many more to come.”

It is strange that the only big news
Nigerians are celebrating in a quite uneventful summer transfer is
Osaze Odemwingie’s switch to Premier League’s newly promoted side, West
Bromwich Albion.

No one is however
more excited than the Super Eagles striker himself who had even
revealed the completion of the deal before an agreement was reached and
an official statement released from either his former club, Lokomotiv
Moscow or his new outfit.

“Most likely I will
join on Tuesday. I’ve already signed a contract. The parties have been
left to negotiate among themselves and then my dream of playing in the
English Premier League will come true,” he revealed on Monday.

“I returned from
England on Sunday morning after signing a personal contract with the
club. It’s now left for both clubs to negotiate then I will achieve my
dream of playing in England.”

His new manager,
Roberto Di Matteo finally admitted on Wednesday that a deal was in
place to sign him. At the time of this report, the Baggies as the
English side is called were yet to confirm the transfer on their
website.

West Brom who
previously had Nwankwo Kanu and another ex-Eagles defender Ifeanyi
Udeze on their payroll have never survived more than a season in the
top flight before being demoted, and so it will be a very challenging
prospect for the Nigeria international after agreeing a three year deal
to fulfil his career dream of playing in the Premiership.

Popular player

Odemwingie has
undoubtedly enjoyed positive coverage by the Nigeria media and support
from football followers across the country particularly because of his
energetic and committed displays for the national team. But that will
not be enough to make his stay in England a success if not accompanied
by a respectable scoring record at the end of the 2010/2011 campaign.

The Eagles forward
has always believed he is made for the Premier League because of his
powerful and pacy style of play and he must be ready to shoulder a lot
of responsibility in a team that is likely to play him alone upfront
for most of the season. He is however no stranger to the role after
playing in that position during his spell at Lille Metropolle in the
French Ligue 1.

After half a
century of caps playing for the national team, Di Matteo is expecting
Odemwingie to help the minnows set a modest record of avoiding
relegation for the first time. He will be expected to be huge part of
the Baggies campaign at the Hawthorns this season baring injuries, and
it will be exciting to see how quickly he can adapt to the highly
physical English League in a team that is seen as one of the yoyo clubs
in the elite division.

Scorecard

Odemwingie’s goal
scoring record is a contrast to his high work-rate; he surely needs the
later to succeed in England but he will need to prove he is a lethal
finisher in order to avoid the infamous tag of Premiership flop. He has
always claimed playing on the wings is the reason for his poor return
of nine goals for the national team, where his best moments dates back
six years ago at the 2004 African Nations Cup where he netted three
goals en-route the Super Eagles’ bronze medal finish in Tunisia. He has
constantly featured for the national team since then, including playing
a part at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

He managed only
nine goals in 44 league appearances as a striker for Belgian side La
Louviere and his tally of 23 strikes in 75 league appearances for Lille
remains the best in his professional career. During Odemwingie’s
three-season spell with the French side, he featured for them in the
2006/2007 UEFA Champions League and struck just twice in 610 minutes;
featured in eight games.

Outspoken

Despite being a
regular in the national team, Odemwingie has constantly criticised the
coaching appointments of the Eagles including Lars Lagerback who took
the country to the Mundial. He also suggested Samson Siasia was not old
enough to handle the senior team after claiming “he would need some age
on his side” following the U-23 Eagles’ silver medal performance at the
Olympic football tournament in Beijing in 2008.

After being
selected by Siasia as an over-age player permitted to take part in that
tournament, he reportedly fell out with Siasia for not playing from the
start in the team’s group games before being included in the starting
eleven in the quarter final game against Cote D’Ivoire.

He however
justified his selection by scoring one of the goals in the team’s 2-0
victory. Interestingly he may have to work with the same Siasia, who is
been touted as the next Eagles coach.

Born in Tashkent city of Uzbekistan, in
the former Soviet Union, Odemwingie is not likely to enjoy a luxury of
talents at West Brom yet he needs to perform to enhance his chances of
staying in the Premier League for long.

Preparations are reaching a feverish pace for elections into the coveted office of the Nigerian Football Federation with the states and zones of Nigeria presenting candidates pursuant to the laws that govern our football.

But then, a sport is recreation and is voluntary. It is therefore incongruous for governments to legislate on sport(s) as you play and recreate when, with whom and how you want to. Persons involved in recreation voluntarily organise their recreation whether in the form of games and sports or any other activity upon their leisure and pleasure. Governments and their law making bodies, the legislature have no business proposing, debating and passing laws on how to play or when to play.

In the same way that the constitutions of nations enshrine provisions on freedom of association, we associate with whom we want to, recreate with whom we want to and play with whom we choose. These rules that govern associations freely entered into by their participants or members essentially gave rise to organised sports like association football also known as Soccer.

Outside of the above argument on the intrinsic nature of recreation, sport(s) and games which renders governmental legislation on sports awkward, from the purely legal and constitutional standpoint, our largely borrowed federal constitution contains in its schedule, two legislative lists, an Exclusive List with matters enumerated therein reserved for the National Assembly, and a Concurrent List which contains matters that both the National and State Houses of Assembly may concurrently legislate upon. Sport(s) is not included in either list and is therefore a residual matter, which can only be legislated upon by a state’s house of assembly.

The effect of the foregoing, is that all federal legislations as they impact on sport(s) including the act which creates the National Sports Commission (if there is any) and Decree 101 under which our football in the form of the Nigerian Football Association Act and its illegitimate successor, the Nigerian Football Federation are hinged, are all constitutionally void. The NFF is a bastard (for want of a more appropriate term) because its statutes were “manufactured” by a body without legitimacy. An association created by an unconstitutional legislation that changed its statutes without due process and transmuted into a federation courtesy of “government” represented by Lulu, Ojo-Oba and their godfather, Amos Adamu.

As we proceed to restructure our football, following our less than satisfactory performance in South Africa, the Technical Committee set up for the purpose by President Jonathan must recognise this unique opportunity to do things right. The Committee must understand that the problem is not football but all of our sports and that the cause of the problem is essentially that of a cabal in government that insists on intermeddling with sport(s) for their own personal gain, using the agency of “government” as a vehicle.

Indeed the only reason why “government” insists that they must organise and fund our sports is due to the system of government we have allowed to blossom in Nigeria. Without mincing words, we operate a Kleptocracy, which as defined by Wikipedia is:

“A term applied to a government that takes advantage of governmental corruption to extend the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class (collectively kleptocrats), via the embezzlement of state funds at the expense of the wider population, sometimes without even the pretense of honest services………………… The term is a pejorative for governments perceived to have a particular severe and systemic problem with the selfish misappropriation of public funds by those in power”.

An argument is made by this ever-widening circle of persons headed by civil servants, career politicians and their fiendish lackeys to the effect that government is the sole sponsor of sports in Nigeria and therefore should call all the shots through the National Sports Commission (NSC) or Ministry of Sports at both the federal and state levels. The effect is that the NSC, the sports associations and even the National Olympic Committee (NOC) have become money sharing agencies.
Virtually every football club in the Nigerian Premier League is owned by a state government with a state commissioner for sports or civil servant director of sports as chairman. Budgetary allocations are made on an annual basis for running football clubs as a means of siphoning large sums of money, most of which is earmarked for sign-on fees for footballers, who never receive the monies.

Entrepreneurship, passion and love for the game are sacrificed. Spurious legislations are passed defining and delimiting membership of associations to civil servants and other government workers including the Police, Army, Customs and even Civil-Defence and Yellow-Fever. A man like Cosmas Maduka who built Coscharis and who loves and can finance table-tennis can only be a member of the table-tennis association by default as a nominee of government: Segun Odegbami who possibly has invested more in football than anyone else besides the late Nathaniel Idowu and M.K.O Abiola may not even be able to qualify for membership of the NFF because of this diabolical system spurned by greed and avarice. An unreal situation where a serving minister wants to be chairman of the NOC and is involved in a do-or-die battle with a civil servant is created. Meanwhile, the rest of us are excluded by the near impossible cultic rules they have devised for themselves for membership of the NOC and the other sports associations. The result: Nigeria, its sports and youth suffer.

Truth be told, sports is self-financing. Football definitely does not need government. It is an industry the world over fueled by gate-takings, television rights, merchandising, endorsements, branding and intellectual property. To obtain the television rights of the English Premier League in Nigeria only, the asking price is $40,000,000 (=N=6,000,000,000) per annum paid by Nigerians from Nigeria through DSTV to the English Premier League Ltd (a private business not government).
FIFA owns the game and is going to distribute a lot of money to its member associations from time to time. Our local laws and institutions are sufficient to provide a platform for voluntary associations organised under Articles of Association to run all sports. Molade Okoya-Thomas has organised his annual Asoju-Oba table-tennis competition for decades. Every kobo he spends is tax deductible under our tax laws. In effect, he loses absolutely nothing.
Corporate bodies, individuals, voluntary bodies and religious bodies will fall over themselves to organise competitions ranging from football, to cycling, to boxing all designed to develop the youth through sports (not sports development) if only there is accountability.
But then, with “government”, nobody accounts. It’s all fair game. You can steal all you like. What did it cost to host the Under-17 Tourney last year? The answer is blowing in the wind.

For international competitions, the world over, the local NOC’S are funded by the International Olympic Committee to prepare athletes and any short fall can be funded through organised private effort. In the U.S.A it was through Team U.S.A and in Nigeria following the international model, through Team Nigeria, which is a duly incorporated NGO, but which “government” has refused to let loose to fend for itself.
Funding for school sports should be the responsibility of the ministries of education in the federal and state levels through the School Sports Federation, NUGA and others. Instead of following this model, we hear spurious things championed by Patrick Ekeji about Public Private Participation (P.P.P), which he uses to confuse greenhorn sports ministers, and involves outsourcing the sports associations to corporate bodies – a booby-trapped scheme designed to fail. Pray, how do you give out what does not belong to you?

In serious countries, no laws are passed by parliament to organise football or basketball or boxing or swimming or judo or sudoku or langa-langa (that one-legged sport discovered in Northern Nigeria some years back) or judo or taekwando. New Games and sports evolve and governments don’t legislate on them nor impose members on associations.
Membership of sports associations is voluntary and even the Police or Army which are creations of statute and therefore legal persons can choose to belong to these associations in the same way as you or I or P.Z Industries may. Membership as contained in the Articles of Association of each sports association may provide for criteria for membership, whether corporate or private and any legal person, natural or artificial should be free to join upon meeting these criteria. In short, you may come and you may go.

The English Football Association is a duly incorporated body organised under articles of agreement among its members. The English Premier League is a registered business. In the U.S, the National Basketball Association (N.B.A) is organised along the same lines. Even in South Africa, The South African Football Association (S.A.F.A) is an amalgamation of three regional football associations that came together after apartheid to organise South African football.

For amateur sports, in the U.S.A., all amateur sports are chartered to their National Olympic Committees, which are members of the International Olympic Committee. They receive subventions from their world bodies and are left to raise monies from their members and pursue their activities in a business manner through competitions, gate takings, television, merchandising, sponsorships and charities. Like in Nigeria, appropriate legislation is in place to render all donations to sports and other charitable giving, tax deductible.

Should there be no government supervision of any sort? Definitely not! Sports, is too important to Nigeria to be left completely unsupervised by government. After all, it is only in sports that we have a chance of defeating the U.S.A in any lawful activity. This supervision must however not be unconstitutional and must not provide an opportunity for theft. It therefore is recommended that a National Council for Fitness and Sports be established that will be headed by the president or his vice and that heads of relevant ministries including education, health and possibly infrastructure be members.

The starting point for our sports and our football is to withdraw all government subsidies. If this is done, the kleptocrats will run for cover and leave the genuinely interested to utilise their energies and resources to start afresh. From thence, proper restructuring will commence.

Agu Imo Esq. is a Director of Sports and Entertainment Law Association Ltd/Gte and served on the Presidential Advisory Commission on the National Sports Commission in 2007/08.

Samson Siasia will
have to wait for a much longer time before he gets to actualise his
dream of handling the Super Eagles after the Nigeria Football
Federation, late on Thursday, at the end of its emergency meeting,
ordered the interim coach of the Super Eagles Augustine Eguavoen to
continue for the time being.

The NFF said the
decision to stick to Eguavoen was hinged on the short time between now
and the national team’s upcoming African Cup of Nations qualifying
match against Madagascar billed for September 5 in Abuja.

Eguavoen, who
assisted former coach Lars Lagerback at the World Cup in South Africa,
and who had also previously been in charge of the Super Eagles for two
years between 2005 and 2007, was in charge earlier in the month when
the Super Eagles played South Korea in an international friendly in
Seoul. Nigeria lost 2-1.

The former Super
Eagles defender immediately set about the task of qualifying the
national team for the next African Cup of Nations scheduled for 2012 in
Gabon and Equatorial Guinea by naming a 26-man squad made up of a
mixture of domestic and foreign based players for the encounter against
the Indian Ocean island nation.

Besides the short
time left between now and the game against the Madagascans, another
reason given by the NFF for its decision was the fact that the tenure
of the current NFF board will expire in a couple of weeks and it will
be unwise for them to name a coach whose appointment might be annulled
by the incoming board, especially if the incoming board have a
different person in mind for the job.

NFF Elections

With elections
likely to be held at the various state Football Association before they
are held at the national level, no one knows for sure when the new
board will be constituted.

Given the fact that
Siasia had been in the frame for the job since it became clear that
Lagerback would not be returning to Nigeria, it is surprising that
contract talks between him and the NFF dragged on for long eventually
leading to the present cul-de-sac.

One reason
attributed to this was the salary demanded by the former Super Eagles
striker. Siasia reportedly asked for a monthly salary of $100,000 in
addition to a $1 million sign on fee, which the NFF refused.

Berti Vogts, who
led the Super Eagles to the 2008 African Cup of Nations in Ghana earned
$30,000 monthly while Lagerback grabbed a princely $330,000 but his
salary was bankrolled by the Presidential Task Force while Vogts’ was
taken care of by telecoms service providers Globacom.

Funds

Without a sponsor
as was the case with Vogts and Lagerback, it will be difficult for the
NFF to pay Siasia as much as he is reportedly demanding but both
parties may eventually settle for a sum in the region of $50,000.

“We’ll not pay
Siasia a salary that we’ll turn around later to default on. If I may
recall, the salary we paid Berti Vogts was offset by Globacom. That of
the immediate past coach of the Eagles, Lars Lagerback was paid by the
Presidential Task Force because of the World Cup. Shuaibu Amodu, whom
the FA paid by itself, did not earn what Siasia is demanding for right
now. I think we should go for what we can afford to offer in order for
anybody not to regret it later in the future,” Emmanuel Ikpeme, the
assistant secretary of the NFF, said.

Regardless of what
both parties eventually settle for, Siasia insists that he will only
settle for a sum that will enable him to facilitate the hiring of his
coaching assistants, most likely two expatriates, who will assist him
in his task of rebuilding the Super Eagles.

Negotiable demand

Although Siasia,
who in his previous stints with the national U-20 and U-23 sides had
always hired foreign assistants, initially refused to disclose exactly
how much he felt would be enough remuneration for handling the Super
Eagles, he later admitted to demanding N12 million from the federation.

“Of course I am not saying they must pay the 12 million naira; we
can negotiate and come to an agreement but I won’t take peanuts,”
Siasia had said.

With two days to
the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) elections initially scheduled for
yesterday, it looked like the men in the executive committee of the
football body were bigger than the rest of the country.

Against the
dictates of sound judgment, fair play and due process, they were bent
on going ahead with the elections, which had been programmed by deposed
president, Sani Lulu, to produce a particular outcome.

Entreaties from
their cronies that they back down; subtle threats from the sports
ministry, which could not openly bare its fangs after being stared down
by FIFA during President Goodluck Jonathan’s ban on the national teams;
ruling by two courts ordering stay of action on the polls; and protest
from some candidates in the elections that there were booby traps in
the process, appeared to have failed to elicit a change of heart from
Maigari and his team.

Indeed, on Thursday
in Abuja, Abdukareem Mustapha, chairman of the electoral committee,
echoing the voices of his masters in the executive committee told a
reporter that there was no going back on the elections.

“There is no
stopping the elections. It is only the congress that can decide to
change the date. As long as such instruction has not been given, there
is no reason to postpone the exercise,” he said.

Yet that same
Thursday, Maigari and his team capitulated to commonsense. After a
nocturnal parley in Abuja, the committee finally saw the futility in
stubbornly insisting on going ahead with an election everyone knew had
been rigged in advance by Lulu’s mindless tinkering with the statutes.

The congress of the
body was scheduled to meet yesterday to decide on the next line of
action. That meeting had not taken place at the time this piece was
written.

For me as a
journalist and football fan, I have been hugely disappointed by
developments in the last two weeks regarding the election. I have been
upset by the chicanery of the NFF officials who have damned public
opinion when it did not mesh with their inordinate ambition of
remaining in office to continue throttling Nigerian football.

I have been
saddened by the attitude of some of my colleagues who refused to do
what was right by putting pressure on the self-seeking cabal making us
the laughing stock of the international community by their knavery.

Most importantly,
my anger has been intense towards world football governing body, FIFA,
whose silence on this very important matter suggests complicity in the
ruining of Nigerian football by a few individuals.

For a body, which
preaches fair play, its silence has been baffling. That FIFA could
remain silent on such a serious issue after two very lucid and straight
forward letters sent to it by Segun Odegbami, one of the contestants
for the NFF presidency on the distortion of NFF statutes by Lulu, just
goes to prove like some of us have insisted in the past that Sepp
Blatter and his team in Zurich do not care much for the development of
Nigerian football.

Is it not
surprising that while FIFA failed to react to Odegbami’s letter and
others sent to it by concerned members of the football family, it did
not waste time in ordering the NFF to sort out issues arising from the
election of Davidson Owumi as chairman of the Nigeria Premier League.
FIFA’s action can be likened to that of a man who with his family
trapped in a midnight inferno in their apartment, will first move to
remove electronic gadgets in the living room.

Stopping State FA chairmen

Events of the last
few weeks have shown in the starkest way possible that there is serious
crisis in Nigerian football. This should be clear to even a casual
observer of events that have unfolded since the World Cup ended in
South Africa last month.

The first sign that
things were worsening came with the NFF congress of July 9 where
delegates were expected to take a hard look at the statutes
cannibalised by Lulu and do the sensible thing by correcting them.
Instead, they blandly endorsed the document without even as much as
perusing it.

My initial response
was shock and disappointment but after having had time to reflect on
the whole issue, I have since found out that it could not have been any
other way. And the reason is simply that the men who hold sway as
chairmen of the state football associations are too much a part of the
rot to be concerned about change. The State FA Chairmen lack the moral
capital to spearhead a revolution in Nigeria football.

Asking them to do so will be like asking a grave digger to shovel sand from the spot upon which he is standing.

This revelation has
naturally led me to conclude that unless these men are removed from the
picture there is no way a truly independent candidate can emerge to
lead the NFF. The challenge before Odegbami, Lumumba Adeh and the other
contestants therefore, is to devise means of ensuring that if elections
into the state FAs eventually hold that these men are eased out of
power.

I will wager here that if these FA chairmen stand for elections and win then the status quo will be maintained.

Imagine Lionel Messi playing football
with his eyes closed or Jay-Jay Okocha making his wonderful moves while
blindfolded; that excitement is what obtains in Blind Football; a game
which is gradually getting its roots in Nigeria.

Though the country is yet make it to
the zenith of the game whose World Cup finals comes up later today in
Hereford, England, the brain behind the game in the Nigeria – Yinka
Gbadamosi – is optimistic that the country’s team, the Light Eagles
will make it to the 2012 edition.

“We are making progress every day (and)
by 2012, we should be able to make our first appearance at the World
Cup even though we might not be able to make much impact,” he said.

Gbadamosi, who lost his sight as a
young boy says his dream and passion is to see blind use their other
senses to make a living, with sports being one of the platforms to
achieve that aim.

“Losing one’s sight is not supposed to
be the end to the world. You can still do a lot with the other senses
God has given you. I use to be a goalkeeper before losing my sight but
it did not end there even after going blind,” he said.

The Blind game

Whereas mainstream
football around the world is played amidst a colourful and noisy
backdrop, the silence in the blind version of the game is somewhat
striking.

Etiquette dictates
that spectators remain quiet unless the ball goes out of play because
players need to be able to hear each other and more crucially, the
ball. The ball contains ball bearings, which means its motion makes a
gentle rattling noise that helps players to locate it.

Expectedly, the style of play is different too.

Passes cover a
shorter distance and as players try not to let the ball stray more than
a few inches from their feet, making nimble footwork and a command of
the ball vital.

Mesmeric footwork,
accurate passing and the ever-present rattling of the ball gives the
game a hypnotic quality that makes it easy to forget that the players
can’t see what they’re kicking.

There are
occasional reminders – perhaps a misplaced pass allows the ball to roll
away, or the action stops and the spectator’s gaze lifts from the
players’ feet to the unfamiliar sight of footballers wearing eye
patches.

Development in Nigeria

According to
Gbadamosi there just two teams here in Nigeria for now, they are AF
Rovers, which is run by the wife of Lagos State governor Abimbola
Fasola and Ituah Babes which is owned by Ituah Ighodalo, a Pastor.

“We hope to have
more teams come on board very soon as more people are beginning to
appreciate what we are doing,” Gbadamosi said.

Blind football was
first exhibited in Nigeria on May 2, 2008 and a little over two years
later, the game is gradually getting some attention.

Gbadamosi however
said that it has not been too rosy getting along as his organisation
has been plagued with financial challenges and some administrative
bottle necks.

“We are currently
affiliated with the Lagos State Football Association; they actually
registered us for free but we have not been able to secure registration
with the Corporate Affairs Commission and the National Sports
Commission,” he said.

While believing
that these hurdles will soon be crossed, Gbadomsi also called for
support from well meaning Nigerians, corporate bodies and more
importantly the government.

Of the Ten teams scheduled to participate in this year’s Blind World Cup, Cameroun is the only country from Africa.

Chelsea manager,
Carlo Ancelotti, will remember vividly events of September 26, 2009 at
the JJB Stadium. Chelsea were cruising in the Premiership with six
straight victories but were brought crashing with a 3-1 defeat by
Wigan. Petr Cech was also sent off in that fixture. Chelsea got their
revenge in the best possible way – an 8-0 hammering to win the
Premiership and set a record for goals scored in a season – 103.

But all that pales
into insignificant history as the second match of the 2009/2010 season
for the Blues looms. Chelsea look for an encore to the 8-0 drubbing.
Wigan already have the ignominy of been beaten on the opening day by
newly-promoted Blackpool, who surprised everyone with a refreshing 4-0
away victory. Ancelotti, wary of Wigan’s Jekyll and Hyde character, is
demanding total concentration from his stars. “They didn’t start well
(against Wigan) last year but we have to learn to play against teams
with strong motivation,” he said. “Our aim is to show continuity away
from home. Although we did very well last season, away we had some
problems. We need to change the direction of this. Last season we won
the first six games – that was key to winning the title. We want the
same this season; and we have started very well. Now we need to look to
the next game.” New signing, Ramires, is expected to start his first
game for Chelsea; and Mikel Obi may have to make way for the Brazilian
in the first eleven.

Wigan Athletic
manager Roberto Martinez was left deflated with the first day heavy
defeat but he expects his team to be ready for Chelsea on Saturday.
“It’s not about the opposition, it is about ourselves,” he said. “We
have to focus on the level of performance and make sure we learn from
what happened today because it was clearly unacceptable the way we
approached the game. We have to bounce back; we’ll be ready for
Saturday.” He is however not sure of Charles N’Zogbia who was left out
of last weekend’s shock season-opening loss to Blackpool and it has
been claimed the 24-year-old, who has been linked with Birmingham and
Sunderland.

Nasri blow

Arsenal will be
without injured Frenchman, Samir Nasri, for the visit of Ian Holloway’s
motley crew who have already announced the Tangerine’s return with the
4-0 away win at Wigan. Blackpool are playing a second consecutive match
away because their ground is not yet ready for opponents. Nasri’s
injury is not the only blow that Arsenal have to deal with, as new
signing – Laurent Koscielny’s late red card means he will miss the
Blackpool match. Johan Djourou is recovering from injury and could make
the team. The other option is the hugely inexperienced Havard
Nordtveit, while Alex Song is the only other viable option. Song,
however, is short on fitness. If he is fit enough to play, he may have
to play in midfield.

Frenchman, Sebastien Squillaci, who is under Arsenal’s radar, will
not be in place at least for the visit of Blackpool. There are also
doubts over the fitness of Cesc Fabregas. He failed to make the squad
against Liverpool because of a stomach bug and lack of match fitness;
and a late fitness test will be done on the World Cup winner on
Saturday morning. Denilson is also on the treatment table, but Andrei
Arshavin is expected to have a greater influence on proceedings at the
Emirates Stadium as he was virtually non-existent at Anfield. Emmanuel
Frimpong, who could have filled the midfield void, has also been ruled
out for nine months after he tore his cruciate ligaments in a Reserve
match in Dublin. However Arsene Wenger has been known to pull rabbits
out of hats. Injuries are not a new thing to Wenger but they normally
occur in the middle to the end of the season, this term, he has to
start with it.

No club will be admitted for the upcoming season without registering a feeder team, the Nigeria Premier League has stated.

This decision,
which was reaffirmed in a statement signed by the Acting Executive
Secretary of the NPL, Tunji Babalola, pointed out that the compulsory
registration of a feeder team with ages ranging from 15 to 17 years
will be one of the pre-requisite requirements for registration by all
the clubs in the league. The move is geared towards promoting football
from the grassroots, and giving youngsters a platform to express their
talent.

Other requirements
by the NPL also include an authenticated management structure of the
club in line with article 1.9 of the rules and regulations; a written
guarantee from the club owner to respect officials/players contract,
welfare; provision of adequate medical facilities; and the provision of
TV friendly venue for matches, in addition to functional and well
ventilated dressing rooms for match officials and players. All the
clubs will also be required to guarantee adequate security during
matches. Babalola stated that sequel to the acceptance and adoption of
the chairman’s policy address by the Congress on 7th August, 2010 in
Ijebu-Ode, as a working document for the league, the aforementioned
requirements will be mandatory for the 2010/2011 registration exercise.

He said all requirements for registration shall be strictly enforced
during the exercise; and compromises and or excuses shall not be
accommodated. The Nigeria Premier League is scheduled to resume on
September 25 with Kaduna United and Kano Pillars playing the opening
game. Enyimba International are the defending champions of the league.