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I have had the privilege of knowing Olubayo Adefemi for only two and a half
years. He initiated the relationship by “friending” me on Facebook. His first
note came on November 20, 2008 (I just retrieved it): “Hello, happy to meet u.
I see you played football too at one time. See u putting smiles on the kids out
there for me. Am doing great over here. To God be the Glory. Stay blessed.
Let’s please stay in touch. Cheerz.”

Hence, the friendship began.

Very humble and always uplifting, Bayo never led a conversation with his
accolades and national or international accomplishments, of which he had so
many to boast of. Instead he humbly and respectfully would punctuate my day
with:

“My big sista – where are you? Longest time, just checkin on u.”

“Been in Bucharest for 3 months. I plan to make 2010 [World Cup team] but as
u know man proposes, while God disposes; I look up to Him.”

“How far with the sports programs for the kids?”

“Kasia, great job you are doing..Just keep the candle light burning. Am
gonna join u. Thanx 4 writing me, thanks for your words – I’m lifted up – Oba
t’oni gbogbo ope!”

Over the course of two and a half years, I learnt not only what a talented
player he was and how much he loved fashion and good-natured jokes, but that
this was a man in his early twenties with a very mature outlook on
relationships, life, and his faith. While a leader on the sports field, he also
had a heart for serving others, and a heart for Christ. He spent much time building
others up, sending them positive messages, and sprinkling humour into their
lives. I call people like Bayo, a “builder of builders.” One of his more recent
notes read, “Dear, keep moving forward. You encourage me and my job is to in
turn build you up by encouraging u. Hope 2 meet u in person soonest, maybe at
my wedding?”

Amazing being

What an amazing human being he was. Having never known him previously, Bayo
had warmed his way into my heart and into my personal support structure. And
from the recollections that have sprung up since his death, clearly he had done
so with so many other individuals. My last note to Bayo read, “Thank you for
the kind thought and birthday note! Both are very appreciated. I’m following
your progress and am proud of you! Don’t stop, God has such big things yet for
you.”

Apparently, the things God had in store for Bayo were so much bigger than
this earth could contain.

Bayo’s death is a tragic loss for all who know him and love him, as well as
those who may have never met him but are impacted by the example he set. At
such an unbelievably young age, this “servant-leader” has left his imprint in
football, and in the lives and hearts of so many around the world. He served
and encouraged others; passionately pursued a personal relationship with God;
and gave his best on the football field each time. This is “playing to win” in
the tournament called life! The way I see it, Bayo won! Albeit very early, he
completed his assignment, and was called home into glory. He recently wrote, “God
is above all things!!!” Bayo was so right about that. We have to trust and not
question, that the same God who gives, is the God who takes away and has the
keys to all things (“Oba ti emi gbogbo enia wa l’owo Re!”). May Olubayo
Adefemi’s exemplary life and legacy continue to bless others for a long time to
come.

Muoto, a former footballer based in the United States, is President of
‘We Play to Win, Inc’

With Joao Havelange having a 24-year stretch as FIFA boss and Joseph Blatter
now in his 13th, it’s no surprise that Mohammed Bin Hammam advocates term
limits being inserted into the world governing body’s statutes.

“Eight years is a long time for anyone to be president and I do not need
longer than this to implement my programme,” the FIFA presidential candidate
told me during an exclusive chat in Banjul, capital of The Gambia.

“About eight, nine months ago, I submitted a proposal to the FIFA executive
committee, in which I suggested that the terms of the president should be
limited to a maximum of eight years, with the rule only taking effect from
2011… Unfortunately, this motion was defeated.”

That vote has not brought an end to a sore subject many in the game’s
fraternity believe must be confronted, in order to ensure a steady flow of
innovation from FIFA’s upper chamber.

But assuming Bin Hammam will make this issue a cardinal point of his
presidency, should he be elected, it could be akin to barking up the wrong
tree.

“If you are asking me whether I will resubmit this proposal to the executive
committee, I am not too sure about that… But I can assure you that I will not
stay for more than two terms if I am successful.” “I took over as Asian
Football Confederation (AFC) president in 2002 and introduced a three-term
limit (a maximum of 12 years in office). So, if I am not successful in my bid
to become FIFA president, I’ll end my career in 2015, when my final term ends.”

Having accused Blatter of being a “sit-tight president”, one would assume
the AFC boss will sound the warning bells of doom for FIFA, should the Swiss
get a much sought after final term in office.

But Bin Hammam is complimentary of his long-term ally turned political
adversary.

“Competition is the way to make the organisation vibrant… If Blatter
continues his work after the elections, should he win, I think it will be good
for FIFA…” “My feelings for him have not changed and I hope we will shake
hands after the contest is over. I do not see him as an enemy and I hope he
feels the same.”

To have a serious chance of winning the contest, the Qatari needs
substantial African support, with CAF, alongside UEFA, being the largest
confederation in the world.

But personalities within the continent question the genuineness of Bin
Hammam’s relationship with Africa. The AFC president has been accused of using
his Gulf wealth to interfere in CAF’s political matters, especially during
elections into its executive committee and polls for the continent’s FIFA exco
representatives.

Many say his alleged support for Algeria’s Mohammed Raouraoua, was vital to
the latter’s successful bid for a seat on the FIFA executive committee last
February.

Accusations of skulduggery, predictably, attract a denial from the AFC boss.

“Some people may see it that way but I have never influenced anything
internally in Africa,” he claims.

“My relationship with the continent’s federations and administrators is a
close one. I have passed the stage of mere friendship with Africa.”

But the 2022 World Cup in Qatar – the smallest country ever to be awarded
the hosting rights – is all about business.

With Qatari temperatures reaching up to 55 degrees Celsius (131 degrees
Fahrenheit) in the summer months, when the tournament will take place, the
unsolved mystery of how the tournament will thrive remains – but not for Bin
Hammam.

“The months of June and July are a peak tourist season in Qatar. There are
people on the streets and it’s not as difficult a place as is suggested.”
Should he fail to ascend the FIFA presidency, Bin Hammam claims he’s content to
ride into the political sunset.

“In 2015, my life in football will end and I’ll go back to my family. I have
11 children and 15 grandchildren, so I have a lot of work at home to do!”

But victory in the May 31/June 1 poll will certainly turn things on its
head. That, certainly, is not on Joseph Blatter’s wish list.

In a previous column titled ‘Amos Adamu’s macabre dance’, the erroneous
impression was given that the former FIFA executive committee member had lost
his right to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Although FIFA told me that “The findings of the decision of the FIFA Appeal
Committee… were notified to Mr Adamu on 4 February 2011,” which would have
barred him from an appeal, this was incorrect.

The full judgment, needed before a CAS appeal can be filed, was not
delivered to Mr Adamu until April 12, which means he has until 3 May to appeal.
FIFA has given “apologies if there has been any confusion”.

The death on Monday of Super Eagles defender, Olubayo Adefemi, leaves me
numb.

When the news broke, I wished there had been a mistake somewhere. But I knew
I was only hoping against hope because the agency which flashed the news is an
internationally-respected organisation not given to frivolities.

Until he died, I did not have a relationship with him beyond our
interactions on a professional level. I had occasion to interact with him on
Facebook now and again. Unlike most of his colleagues in the Super Eagles, I
found him to be quite down-to-earth.

His humility was striking in the way he showed respect to both his seniors
and juniors. One of my colleagues has told of how Olubayo, upon seeing him in
Ghana during the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, prostrated before him in respect.
This colleague to whom he did this was not even 40 years old at the time.

Kasia Muotu, a former footballer now based in the United States where she
uses her non-governmental organisation, We Play to Win, to educate and empower
youngsters in America and Nigeria, said of Bayo upon learning of his death:
“May his soul rest in peace… The guy had a very solid run. What most got me
was his heart for others and his love for God. What a tragic loss to us, but a
wonderful gain in Heaven.” Later, when I asked her if she could do a little
tribute to the late football star, she said, “I’d be honoured to share my
thoughts on Bayo. Although our friendship was only over the last two years, his
impact and what he impressed on me was deep and resonated to the core. I can
say that of very few folks. I will get you something by Thursday, for sure.
It’s my pleasure to invest time into ensuring the success and longevity of
others with a heart for service and a heart for God. This applies to Bayo.” He
was that kind of person.

It is instructive to note that everyone who has commented on his death has
harped on this particular quality that he possessed in good measure. Yomi Kuku,
founder of Search and Groom, the organisation which, among other things,
prepares the team that represents Nigeria at the Homeless World Cup, related to
me the role Adefemi had been playing as an ambassador of the Homeless World
Cup. “Olubayo was special. He was a different kind of human being. Till he
died, I did not meet him but we spoke several times on the phone. As our
ambassador, he was willing to go to the ends of the earth to help us. He came
up with a lot of strategies to help us attract sponsorship for our team. On one
occasion he said to me, “Yomi, I know I am not as popular as Kanu or Okocha but
I will use all the connections I have to ensure that this thing works.” That
was the kind of person he was. We have really lost a special human being.”

A breath of fresh air

Apart from his humility, Adefemi was a patriot. He may not have had the
sublime skills of Austin Okocha or the velvety touch of Nwankwo Kanu, but he
more than made up for this in passion and commitment.

He loved his country and was prepared to do anything within his power to
play for it on any and every occasion. He often agonised when national team
handlers did not look in his direction but was always willing to work hard to
improve his game. This led him to change clubs a number of times in the last
two years. But he was undeterred; anything to make him get into the national
team was okay as long as it was legal. We are all going to miss him. His death
leaves us all diminished and it is going to take a while for us to come to
terms with it. At a time Nigerian footballers playing for the national team
acted like the entire country owed them just because they starred for the
national team, Adefemi represented a breath of fresh air.

Expectedly, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has joined millions of
Nigerians in condoling with his family. That is fitting and proper. Beyond
this, it should be willing to offer the late player’s family any assistance
with logistics it may need during preparations for his burial. May his soul
rest in peace.

‘A part of me is gone’

By Tinuke Adefemi

His fiancé is in shock. We have called her but she has not been able to say
anything. He told me he was coming home to make plans for his wedding to her.
But look at what has befallen us. Most times he would already be in Lagos
before calling to say ‘mum cook rice for me’ but that won’t happen again. How
can I remain alive while my son is dead? He should be the one burying me, not
me burying him.

I miss him a lot. He is part of me and a part of me is gone. He is my life,
my everything.

We are still confused about what arrangement we want to make. We are
contemplating burying him in his site in Igede area. He was planning to come
home and complete his house, but some people are saying we should bury him in a
public cemetery. We are just so confused.

Tinuke is mother of Olubayo

‘He was planning a low-key wedding’

By Bukola Adeife

I learnt about his death on Monday from friends who were calling to ask me
when last I heard from Bayo. It was on Sunday that he actually called me to buy
clothes for him for the Easter festivities. But on Monday, while watching TV I
saw them talking about Bayo.

It’s true that he wants to come and prepare for his marriage, but he didn’t
want something elaborate; he wanted a low-key wedding.

The name of the lady he wants to marry is Folashade. She is a Nigerian and
lives in Iyana-Ipaja. But I don’t even know how she is taking the news because
I have not spoken to her.

He speaks with us frequently on phone. He called my husband on phone and
told him not to tell anybody he was coming home. He wanted to give us a
surprise but this is the surprise he has given us, can you imagine that? He
wanted to plan his wedding within one week.

Adeife is an elder sibling of the late Olubayo

‘There was no dull moment with him’

By Bunmi Adefemi

He was the one who called me and sent me on an errand to Abeokuta but by the
time I got to Abeokuta on Monday morning, I heard the news. This is a day I
will never forget, but I will cherish his memory. He was very funny, lively and
there was never a dull moment with him around. I will miss him so much.

Bunmi, a 400 Level student University of Ibadan is Olubayo’s younger
sister.

‘Bayo was humble and jovial’

By Sam Sodje

“The club he was playing for before he died was my former club. It was one
of his teammates who is a friend of mine who called me barely minutes after the
accident to inform me that Bayo had been involved in an accident and was in a
coma. I left everything I was doing and said a prayer to God to spare the soul
of the young man. The road from Kavalla to the airport is a bit far, and from
what I heard weather conditions were very poor and this resulted in the
accident.

“I continued to monitor the situation, calling club officials and other
team-mates until sadly, the news came that he had passed away. It is very sad,
Bayo was my personal person. He joined Skoda Xanthi just as I left the club.
But we saw in Lagos and he asked me about the club and I wished him farewell, I
didn’t know he was going forever.

“Whenever we were together in the national team, Bayo was very humble and
jovial. When we got into the pitch however, training or match, he became very
business minded. He was a promising youngster who will be sorely missed by
Nigerians for his industry on the pitch. We will also miss him as team mates.
Dickson Etuhu called me and he was in great shock. May his gentle soul rest in
perfect peace.”

Sodje, a member of the Super Eagles, once played for Adefemi’s Xanthi
Skoda

‘He was like a brother to me’

By Christopher Katongo

“It was a good day and all the players were laughing and joking when the
manager came in and broke the news. Everyone is in shock.

“Even as I’m speaking, I’m thinking it is a joke but it is true. I can’t
believe this. He was a good person, he liked to joke and liked to laugh. It is
the reason why he got along with everyone and was well liked. He was like a
brother to me because we shared the same room during team camping. It is a big
loss to me and the entire Xanthi team.”

Katongo, Adefemi’s Xanthi teammate is a Zambian international

‘Olubayo liked helping people’

By Yomi Kuku

For me he was a tremendous young man, full of life, and this morning (April
18), we were at training when we heard about his death.

Just last week, we were talking and he brought up a number of possibilities;
He was so full of ideas and he told me he was going to be in Nigeria for about
three to four days and he would like to see the team (Homeless World Cup team)
and speak to the players to encourage them. He was planning to do something for
them even if they were selected or not and we had already informed the players
this morning but he had already died while we were doing that.

We were so close and the thing is that we have never met. We have always
missed meeting each other but when we talked last Thursday, we were hoping to
see each other finally.

For me I followed his career and he is a very humble guy, down to earth,
very intelligent, looking at his CV he was a complete gentleman. One day, I
just sent him a message via Facebook and he responded and I became his friend
and then we started talking for about a month we were always communicating and
he was asking me a lot of questions. He was very frank about what our project
was about.

Olubayo was very particular about helping people especially the widows and I
don’t think a lot of people knew that he had social programmes that he handled
in Israel. He was working with migrants from places like Djibouti and he placed
a premium on education. We met him like eight months ago.

We will find a way to get across to his family and we will be instituting
some special programmes in his name and can assure you that we will have a
picture of him on the sleeve of our jersey and we will be making a giant poster
for him.

Kuku is the CEO of Search and Groom, the organisation in charge of
preparing Nigeria’s squad to the Homeless World Cup of which Adefemi was an
ambassador.

The trip to Dubai for the first leg
of the Red Bull X-Fighters International Freestyle Motocross, which ended last
weekend, was laced with excitement.

We had taken off aboard Emirates
Airlines two hours behind schedule on Wednesday, April 13. The flight
originally scheduled to leave Lagos by 2.30pm eventually took off after 4pm. In
the company of The Guardian Newspaper’s Lekan Okusan and Vivian Ihaza, National
Brand Manager (Nigeria) of Red Bull, I looked forward to having an exciting
time in Dubai.

A football fan, I naturally have not
had much time for motocross or any other form of motorbike competition. That
was to change after I had seen the X-Fighters in action during the competition.

We arrived Dubai around 3am local
time (12 midnight Nigerian time, there being a three-hour difference) but had
to circle the airspace for a while due to slightly unstable weather conditions.
The view from above was breathtaking. The city at night with its network of
lights snaking through the city looked like a Byzantine maze.

Getting set

The Pullman Hotel where we were
accommodated was situated within Mall of the Emirates, a huge shopping centre
where practically everything is sold. The hotel itself was a beehive in the
days between our arrival and departure because in addition to the hundreds of
tourists who had come to behold the wonders and pleasures of one of the world’s
fastest growing cities, there were scores of journalists that Red Bull,
sponsors of the event, had flown in from different parts of the world.

The journalists, most of whom unlike
me, had ample knowledge of motocross having followed it extensively in the
past, chattered endlessly about the coming clash between defending champion,
Nate Adams, nicknamed ‘The Destroyer’ for the often crazy manner he decimates
the field in a competition, and the rest of the riders.

On Thursday afternoon (April 14), we
head off for the Jumeirah Beach Residence, venue of the competition. The event
is scheduled to commence late in the evening with the qualifying rounds. We are
herded into the Media Centre where we meet, Tes Sewell, the irrepressible
Sporting Director of the Red Bull X-Fighters series, who assures us we are
going to be in for the time of our lives once competition gets underway.

Sewell informs us we will get to
meet four of the top riders after we had undertaken a tour of the venue where
the action would take place. First, we had to visit the riders shed where they
relax and from where they launch out for competition. The riders are not there
yet but we get to see their machines with Sewell taking time to explain to all
the makeup of each bike.

From the shed, we move to the arena
where organisers have taken care to design a course that would suit the bikers
who have their adrenaline levels rising higher with each practice since their
arrival in Dubai.

Set against the magnificent
high-rise buildings and the adjoining Hilton Hotel, it was one spectacle that
titillated the eyes at night. Sewell explains that it took the whole of seven
days to get the dirt fully installed on the beach.

After the tour of the venue, we
encounter the four leading riders – American Nate Adams, winner of the last two
editions, Dany Torres from Spain who won the last leg of the 2011 edition in
Rome, Robbie Maddison and Levi Sherwood.

Re-ordering priorities

All four riders anticipate a tough
contest but none is willing to disclose his game plan. Of the four, Australian
Robbie Maddison, aptly nicknamed ‘Maddo’, for the mind-boggling risks he often
undertakes, is bubbling with excitement. His wife has just been delivered of a
baby boy. Would that influence him to scale down on his risks? He was
diplomatic in his response.

“Being a father is nice and comes
with certain responsibilities. It makes you want to re-order your priorities.
Now, that I’m a father, I guess I’ll have to work harder knowing there are new
responsibilities, Maddison said.

Torres, winner in Rome, the last leg
of the 2010 tour looked anything but the ferocious lion he would become on the
tracks once competition got underway. The diminutive rider from Spain who
promised to light up Dubai could barely be heard and he spoke in halting
English about how he fancied his chances in the event.

Torres show

On the day of the show proper
(Friday, April 15) we make our way to the beach from the Hotel and by 6pm when
we get to the beach, there is a huge crowd already milling outside, some buying
tickets, other ‘killing’ time before the competition commenced.

By the time we get into the venue
about ten minutes after our arrival, we are struck by the transformation of the
venue, which in daytime had looked like coarse and ordinary. With the lights
rigged and demarcations set, the arena looked thoroughly breathtaking. Viewed
from above, the staging area looked like one huge X.

The five judges and the head judge
who were to adjudicate at the event were already seated. The task as we would
find out was going to be a tough one. There were to issue results based on five
criteria: Variety, Challenge & Execution, Style, Use of the Course and
Spectator Reaction.

By the time the show commenced by
8pm, the arena had filled to brim with spectators with as many standing on the
beach as were sitting in the terraces. One of the guests present at the event
was Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai who
also acts as chairman of Dubai Sports Council.

Unlike shows of this nature in
Nigeria, often characterised by long speeches by government officials, there was
not one word from Al Maktoum, who just sat in the VIP stand savouring the
action as it unfolded.

The qualifying rounds had taken
place the previous night and of the twelve riders who came into Dubai for the
event, six had automatically qualified for the final rounds with two more to
join in the final qualifiers before the final round began. Andrew Villa, the
6-foot-2 rider from Norway had led the pack at the end of it with 436 points
and was followed in second and third place by Levi Sherwood and Nate Adams.

Torres, who many had expected to
qualify easily, had finished in seventh place meaning he had to battle it out
with five other riders to grab one of the two available slots.

He wasted no time in doing so. From
the moment he stepped out against his opponent in the contest to qualify for
the final round, he was simply breathtaking, executing aerial moves with his
bike that had spectators sitting on the edge of their seats. He was very
business-like and it was not surprising when he easily qualified as lead with
American Adam Jones joining him in the final.

From that point on, he was simply
unstoppable edging defending champion, Adams and Villa in the semifinal and
final to emerge winner of the Dubai leg. Villa finished second with Adams
finishing third. The victorious Torres said it felt good winning:

“It’s a nice feeling winning here.
It was tough for me yesterday during the qualifying rounds but thankfully, I
did a lot better today. I look forward to sustaining the tempo in Brazil,” he
said.

Statistics show that the organisations that claim to encourage grassroots
sports are currently on the increase in the country. But though they are
private or in public hands, or the various sports federations, their target is
supposedly to recognise young talent at a very young age. Some are doing a good
job but so many others are not and are very exploitative of these young
talents.

Some months ago, Paul Hamilton, a former Nigerian international, who is also
the proprietor of the Weekend Soccer Academy in Lagos, expressed dismay at the
rate at which football academies are springing up around the country. The
former coach of the Super Falcons further went to say that if left unchecked,
the proliferation could lead to a decline in the value of the products produced
by academies. Though he was speaking specifically of football academies, his prediction
may also apply to other sports, which have academies and other grassroots
sports organisations.

Rationale for academies

A lot of the people who form academies do so for diverse reasons. For Iain
Nelson, who founded one of the most successful football academies in the
country, the Pepsi Football Academy, the motive was purely economical. “I am a
marketing man and I needed something to pull in the new generation away from
Coke to enjoy Pepsi. I found football a medium and that was what we used.” The
Jos version of that academy saw the emergence of Mikel Obi for the U-17 team of
2003.

Nelson however said the venture brought in added benefits, “With Pepsi
however, there is the additional opportunity to go on to win scholarships
abroad and play football while they study, something that may have never
happened if they were somewhere else. One thing about football academies
generally is that it is a place where talents are discovered.”

For a federation like the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation, the iTRY Rugby
Programme was established to help build a structure that would stand beyond the
now. As Akin Akintola, chief operating officer of the federation stated in an
interview conducted months ago, “For you to build a structure you have to lay a
foundation and that is what we are to doing. The iTRY cluster programme is an
outreach which seeks to basically encourage youngsters in schools to get
involved in the game.”

For Youth Sport Initiative (YSI), an organisation that aims to help raise
leaders through sports, “We are helping to fill a vacuum in the primary and
secondary schools where is seems that physical education is now becoming
extinct,” says Chinasa Ukandu, its president.

NSC’s criteria

These organisations have been able to meet the criteria of the National
Sport Council (NSC) for encouraging sports in the grassroots.

According to Peter Nelson, a spokesman for the NSC, person(s) with interest
in grassroots sports must be affiliated to a state sports council. “Also if
they are registered companies, the Corporate Affairs Commission must seek
clearance from us before they can be registered to do the work they do,” he
says.

This however is not the case with a lot of the groups organizing grassroots
based academies. For Samson Famose, proprietor of Akinola Football Academy, who
started his academy because of his love for children, he said he did not even
know there was a regulation like that. “Every time I see the boys loitering
around the area doing nothing, I use that to bring them together and I don’t
think of it as a big deal. I just try to help them avoid wasting their time
away.”

“We do not mind”

For Goddy Michael, an International Tennis Federation level 2 coach, his
work serves as an opportunity to pass on his skills to the next generation.
“After I got my certificate, I decided to use it by training some students.
Their principals did not ask me about my affiliation with a state sports
council, they just wanted to have evidence that I really knew what I claimed I
knew.” It seems this is the norm for most of the schools. One of the schools,
which YSI organizes physical education (PE) programmes for is Sanya Senior
Grammar School. Cecilia Okeowo speaks glowingly of the work they do.

“The YSI has been very consistent with what they do. They have worked with us
for the past three years and we are happy to always have them. They have been
helping us take care of our PE programme.” She however, said they had no cause
to ask them if they had a form of certification from the NSC.

“We just asked them of things like evidence that say they are really who
they say they are.”

For Eyitayo Rashid, a player with Mellidon Football Club, he does not know
if his club is recognized by the NSC. “We do not know that they are even doing
any type of registration but the club is trying for us and we appreciate the
work of our coaches and I think that is the most important thing.” On the other
hand, another player, Olumide Yakubu expects that since the NSC wants them to
be registered with it, NSC should make some form of provision for them. Yakubu
asked, “What is the essence of the registration, if the club cannot get
assistance from the commission?

“I don’t know if the club is registered with the NSC but those who are
registered what have they benefitted?”

Bringing the grassroots alive

Recently in a bid to revive sports in the grassroots, a committee led by
Segun Odegbami, was raised by the NSC, to see that competitions are encouraged
at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. One of the basic duties of the
committee is also to evolve a structure and organisation for the continuity of
competitions at the grassroots.

For organisations that do not have certification from the NSC, they run the
risk of not getting any form of support from the NSC.

“Those programmes are also not recognized by us, thus, none of our
accredited referees and umpires would be involved in their events because we
believe they (organisations) are trying to cut corners for their selfish
gains.” Asked why such stringent measures are put in place to checkmate these organisations,
Peter Nelson explains:

“We put the structure in place to curb the excesses of people who parade
themselves as organisers of grassroots sports of programmes, so that they do
not exploit the general public.”

Ossy Nwokeabia, coordinator of Grassroots Soccer Developers Association of
Nigeria (GRASSADON), an organization that organises local tournaments says that
football academies are the bedrock of sports in the grassroots.

“Though I do not have a club personally, there is need for the NSC to give
room for these organisations to thrive. The grassroots is the first place where
the athlete would test his mettle. From there, they can further their career by
moving on to bigger and better clubs. Besides when scouts come looking for
young players, that is the first place they look to.” He went ahead to say that
the group wanted work hand-in-hand with the NSC, if given the chance.

“GRASSADON has written to the National Sports Commission intimating them on
the developmental plans of the body and since then nothing has come out of it.
We are the people on ground, which run grassroots football on a daily basis; we
know the problem associated with grassroots football development and it is our
belief that we can contribute our own meaningful quota to the development of
football at the grassroots.” He added that for sustainable development in
sports, there is the need to advance the course of the athlete at the
grassroots citing that the grassroots serves as the foundation for development.

Ukandu agrees with this assertion, “Though we are not an organisation that
actually develops athletes for professional sport, I can tell you that sport
helps the intellect, in that it sharpens your perception and thinking.” She
also suggests that the measures put up by the NSC should be softened a bit.

“Before we were able to register our company, it was a battle. I cannot say
I blame the NSC because one can’t be too careful but still it is too hard
because they look at one with suspicion. The important thing, however, should be;
are the people who are supposed to get the benefit really getting it?” Asked if
some of the children involved in grassroots initiatives are really enjoying
themselves. Precious Patrick, a student of Federal Science Technology College,
Yaba, one of the schools in the iTRY Rugby Programme, says, “I am really
enjoying learning to play a new sport and it is very encouraging because I used
to think rugby was a rough sport but now I know it is not so. Another
beneficiary is Chukwu Chukwuemeka:

“I have learnt that team work is what brings about success and I discovered
that I enjoy rugby.”

Barcelona’s attacking philosophy will remain the same for the Champions
League semifinal first leg against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu next week, coach
Pep Guardiola said on Friday.

The Catalans suffered a 1-0 extra-time defeat by their arch-rivals in the King’s
Cup final on Wednesday, days after being held to a 1-1 draw by 10 men in the
league at the Bernabeu.

Jose Mourinho’s side deployed a physical counter-attacking approach which
unsettled Barca in both games, and Guardiola was asked if he was considering
changes to his system for the third and fourth clashes between the sides over
the next two weeks.

“It’s as if our style has become an excuse for us having lost the cup
final,” Guardiola told a news conference.

“Whether you win or lose, the style is always the same.

Playing attacking football is the only way I understand, it’s our club’s
philosophy and I’m not going to change it.

“We are going to attack and to try and score goals at the Bernabeu.”

Softly-spoken

The softly-spoken 40-year-old, who won a treble with Barca in his first
season at the helm in 2008-09, became riled when it was suggested that only
winning La Liga for the third year in a row might be considered a failure.

“It would be a disaster, a failure, it would be necessary to change the
president, the coach and all the players. The cycle would be at an end,” he
said ironically.

“We are up against a recent past where we had a lot of success. I would be
happy if we only won La Liga but if the fans are sad, what can I do?” Barca
hold an eight-point lead over second-placed Real in the league with six matches
left, starting with the visit of relegation-threatened Osasuna on Saturday.

Guardiola had no time for talk of players suffering damaged morale.

“The players need to react because it is their job to,” he said.

“If they are angry or sad they should run more, that way they’ll get over it
quicker. Those feeling sorry for themselves can go and sit in the stands.

“In sport, you lose more than you win. I’m not a psychologist, I’m a bloke
who played football and who qualified as a coach. Nothing more.”

Barca visit Madrid next Wednesday in the Champions League and play the
semifinal return leg at the Nou Camp on May 3.

One of the world’s most recognisable football faces and Nigeria’s most
decorated footballer, Nwankwo Kanu, is delight to watch on the football field.

Few players have his sublime skills and breathtaking moves. To watch him
play is to experience the thrill and excitement that only football can offer.

Expectedly, his genius on the pitch, which never ceases to amaze even his
opponents, has earned him millions of fans around the world. At 6ft 5 inches
tall, he is a big man but even larger still is his heart, which despite going
under the surgeon’s knife in 1997, has continued to beat for humanity.

Unlike many sportsmen who are content to enjoy the rewards of their career
alone with their families, Kanu has chosen the path of service for suffering
humanity. Eleven years ago, he set up the Kanu Heart Foundation, which has
raised funds to carry out heart surgeries on children from indigent homes as
well as young adults.

So far the foundation has carried out over 400 heart surgeries with a
success rate of over 98 percent. At the moment the foundation is in the process
of raising $35 million to establish a cardiac specialist hospital in Nigeria.

Immortalising genius

Alongside this project is another, which aims to capture on film the story
of Kanu: his successes, tribulations and generosity. The film, titled ‘Lion
Heart: The Kanu Story’, will bring to Kanu’s global fans an account of his rise
to fame with particular emphasis on his humble beginnings in the eastern part
of Nigeria.

Since news first broke of a film in the works about the former Super Eagles
captain, Nigerians have been wondering whether it is the real deal or one of
those opportunistic and hurriedly put-together pieces where some smart
individuals put together clips of the subject’s career.

“This is the real thing,” Kanu tells this reporter during an interview at a
hotel he owns, on Victoria Island in Lagos.

“I am fully involved and everyone involved in the project is a professional
to the core. A lot of thought and planning has gone into it and I would not be
associated with it if I didn’t think it was a worthwhile project,” he added.

He says the film has come at the right time given the identity crisis facing
some Nigerian youths. “There are a lot of our young people today who need direction.
The film can help them focus their lives in a way that would make them become
successful in future. I mean, look at it this way, while the movie will
chronicle my life, it will do so by portraying my beginnings including the
years of hardship, which a lot of people do not know about.”Today people see
Kanu, the successful football player, former national team captain and two-time
African Footballer of the Year but not many of them know the difficult road I
travelled to get there. Not many know the sacrifices I made along the way. By
the time they see the movie and come to understand that I wasn’t born with a
silver spoon in my mouth, they’ll be inspired to work hard and not just wait
for someone to drop something on their laps.”

Correcting negative impressions

Kanu says he is quite hopeful the film will have a positive impact on
Nigerian youth and others around the world who adore him. “The young ones
listen to me and I know that they will take away a lot of positive virtues
after seeing the film, I am quite sure of that.”

The film is a huge project even though neither Kanu nor the consultants on
the project are willing to disclose just how much is being expended on it. It
will be shot on many locations corresponding to the many places Kanu’s football
career has taken him. A lot of his former football club teammates in Nigeria
and Europe will also feature in the film.

The former Nigerian captain, whose career has seen him play at some of the
world’s biggest clubs–Ajax FC of Amsterdam, Inter Milan of Italy and Arsenal
FC in England–is happy to do the film for another reason.

“The film will help clear some misconceptions; it will assist in erasing
some negative beliefs about me. Because I have been around for a long time some
people have naturally come to the conclusion that I am very old; only a few
know how early I started. By the time the watch the film and follow my story
from birth through secondary school and the point I joined my first club
including seeing interviews with my contemporaries, they’ll realise how wrong
they’ve been,” Kanu says.

For the moment, he is happy to be involved in something that may help shape
lives as proceeds from the film will be channelled to the heart foundation to
help save young lives.

Nigeria’s
chances of qualifying for this year’s FIFA Under 20 World Cup in
Colombia now hangs in the balance after suffering a 1-0 loss to
Cameroun on Thursday at the ongoing African Youth Championship (AYC) in
South Africa.

And with Ghana and
Gambia only managing to play out a 1-1 draw in the day’s other Group B
encounter, the result means the Flying Eagles need to avoid defeat in
their next match against the Gambians while hoping the Camerounians do
likewise against the Ghanaians in order to progress to the semifinals,
and with it, a spot at the U-20 World Cup.

Cameroun, who had
earlier beaten the Gambians by a lone goal in their opening match of
the tournament, secured Thursday’s win over the Nigerians courtesy of a
goal on the stroke of halftime by Franck Ohandza.

The Thailand-based
striker, picked up the ball on the edge of the area with his back to
the Nigerian goal, turned his marker before curling the ball with his
right foot into the far corner of Danjuma Paul’s goal.

It was the first
goal of the tournament for the 19-year-old who five minutes earlier
thought he had given the Cubs the lead only for the goal to be rightly
chalked off for offside.

Dominance

The Camerounians
deservedly led at the halftime break as they were more incisive than
the side managed by John Obuh, who fielded virtually the same side that
ran out 2-1 winners over Ghana last Monday, with the exception of Ahmed
Musa, who had since returned to Holland after being recalled by his
club, VVV Venlo.

Almeria of Spain’s
Stanley Okoro, however took Musa’s place in Nigeria’s starting 11 but
his lacklustre display epitomized the overall performance of the
Nigerian team on the rain-soaked pitch of the Dobsonville Stadium.

It thereby came as
no surprise when the midfielder was taken off on the hour mark and
replaced with Almeria teammate, Ramon Azeez. But the change did little
to alter the flow of the game as the Camerounians always seemed the
more likelier to grab the game’s next goal.

The Nigerian
goalie, Paul was however on hand to deny the Cubs. Even when the
Nasarawa United ‘keeper was beaten, the crossbar was on hand to save
his blushes as was the case in the 64th minute when Ghilsain Mvom bent
a free kick over the Nigerian wall.

With a quarter of
an hour to the end of the game, Paul came to Nigeria’s rescue once
again as he stopped a goal-bound shot from Ohandza, taken from well
inside the Nigerian area.

Thursday’s victory
further confirmed Cameroun’s dominance over Nigeria at the AYC and
stretched their victory over Nigeria to eight wins, compared to
Nigeria’s solitary victory which arrived as far back as 1985.

The five matches that have been played by both sides since Nigeria’s
5-1 win in 1985, including yesterday’s game in Soweto, have all ended
in victories for the Camerounians.

There is nothing
good about poverty. It is evil and it is a curse. But we must not see
poverty from a myopic perspective, which in itself, would amount to a
type of poverty. Poverty is not just the state of not having enough
money to take care of basic needs, such as housing, clothing, food, or
the inability to own a car – be it firsthand, second, third, fourth or
fifth.

There could also be
spiritual poverty, intellectual poverty, scientific poverty, artistic
poverty and what I call philosophical poverty.

I have been in
England for the past 12 days, during which I have visited Telford,
Coventry, Birmingham and now settled down in London for a couple of
days, before moving on to Leeds, Worchester and Manchester. I have seen
enough of grassroots sports developmental projects and facilities and
heard so much about the shenanigan referred to as grassroots sports
development in my country, Nigeria. Beloved Nigerians, we are about
three decades behind – and that is being very modest.

I have seen pre- and
post-match analyses by sports writers and retired or
ex-international/club footballers that made me feel very sorry for our
so-called analysts, who pride themselves as veterans or ex-this,
ex-that. Poor guys. I make bold to say that the sad situation in this
massively blessed nation can be likened to the proverbial state of ‘a
one-eyed man is king in the land of the blind’. Q.E.D.

The truth is that
sports in all its ramification has gone scientific and everything about
sports has become so dynamic that sports men and women in countries
where sports is religiously administered as serious business, have also
gone scientific and forward-looking. Hence, they realise the fact that
it is necessary for them to be constantly equipped with up-to-date
information. This, I am afraid, is not the situation in this great
nation. Why?

One of the reasons
as far as I am concerned has to do with poverty, as experienced and
exhibited by the majority of Nigerian sports writers. People who have
been mandated – albeit, inadvertently ‑ by sports-loving Nigerians, to
inform, educate, entertain, empower and enlighten millions of passionate
Nigerian sports lovers. People, who are expected to lead the fight
against corruption and other forms of demonic activities of enemies of
Nigerian sports are, unfortunately, not aware of the power, influence
and authority they possess individually and collectively. This is why I
agree absolutely with Tayo Balogun that the Sports Writers Association
of Nigeria (SWAN) is nothing better than a goon squad, composed of
nincompoops. Let me, however, state with all due respect and sense of
responsibility that there are still a few credible, bold, committed,
responsible and proactive ones who are God-fearing and will not soil
their names and reputation, no matter the circumstance.

But like in
politics, majority, it is said, wins the vote. Here lies the danger with
sports journalism in Nigeria today. Most of our so-called sports
writers are so impoverished that they lack the ability to gain the
respect of Nigerian athletes, coaches, managers and other sports
administrators, from the local government area councils to the National
Sports Commission (NSC), which remains an illegal body. Sports writers
avoid talking about the implications of such an illegality, or to the
National Olympics Committee. Apart from the state of financial poverty
majority of them find themselves in, they also lack the required
knowledge, skills and, in most cases, the experience that would bestow
on them the respect accorded noble vocations like sports journalism.

So, wither the
power, influence and authority of sports journalists in Nigeria? How
come sports journalists are not reckoned with when it comes to
decision-making in Nigeria?

There is need for urgent intervention, I should think. This is part of saving sports in Nigeria.