Nigeria Content Online

The end of the
Ramadan period is expected to witness a flurry of activities on the
polo scene as gladiators return to the arena after a long break.

The Yola tournament
will kick off the fray and thereafter polo faithful in Abuja will be
treated to the best of the sport as leading players and clubs converge
on the nation’s capital in November for an inaugural tournament to be
held at the newly opened 1212 Polo & Turf Club.

Officials of the
club, which is located between Gwarimpa and Life Camp, off the Kubua
Expressway, are still finalising details of the tournament and will
come out with a date for the tournament very soon.

They disclosed
however that the tournament will feature competition in regular cups
like the Abuja Open Cup, President’s Cup, IBB Cup, Senate President’s
Cup, CBN Governor’s Cup and Patrons’ Cup, among others.

Located at the foot
of the famous Gwarimpa Hill, stretching up the hill and the surrounding
area which nestles at the heart of Abuja’s legendary horse country, the
1212 Polo & Turf Club is a world-class polo and racing club
designed by and for players and jockeys, to showcase the finest the
sports have to offer.

Built and Promoted
by Sani Nuhu and his friends Rufai Jose and Yair Segal, 1212 is a
return to the way the game of polo and horse racing were meant to be
enjoyed, where players and fans of all ages gather in a world-class
venue for the love of the sports and the lifestyle.

Bird’s eye view

The rolling natural terrain of 1212 provides for spectators and players alike, a bird’s eye view of the entire city.

The lush tropical
landscaping and a carefully manicured polo field ring by world class
race tracks, completes the picture of a dream country club and a heaven
for equestrian sports. Watching high-goal polo or international racing
event from the proposed VIP boxes, viewing stands, field side tailgates
and special hospitality tents, all overlooking the Championship Field,
promises to be an unparalleled experience.

Explaining the rather peculiar name of the club, Nuhu said:

“This unique name
is history in its self and (it was) the date the seat of Federal
Government was moved from Lagos to Abuja by the administration of
President Ibrahim Babangida and the present and future generations will
always appreciate the date” he explained during a guided tour of the
facility.

On what members of the Nigerian polo community should expect of the club, Nuhu said:

“To all polo and
racing enthusiasts and newcomers alike, we extend our invitation to be
part of the 1212 history, as we work together in building this world
class facility to nourish our love and affection towards the game, in a
spirit of friendly competition, as well as a facility for networking.

“It is our
aspiration to make 1212 Polo & Turf Club a place where new
generations of Nigerian polo players with strong character and
dedication will be born,” he vowed.

“I am optimistic that 1212 as a pride of Abuja will flourish, as a
centre for developing our sport and the city’s number one leisure hot
spot will thrive. While we still have a long journey ahead of us to
achieving these set goals, I strongly believe that the very presence of
1212 Polo & Turf Club is a notable milestone in the history of
Nigerian polo.”

How time flies. It
is already a year since new mum Kim Clijsters proved her “come back
queen” status by winning the 2009 US open and Roger Federer, bidding
for sixth title in a row at flushing meadows, surrendered his crown to
Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro.

Once again it is
the last grand slam of the year and as usual it promises to be
exciting, more on the men’s side than on the women’s. It is no longer
news that Serena Williams pulled out of the US open claiming injury.
Something tells me she may never play there again after she was treated
badly in her semi-final match against Clijsters last year. If you are
in doubt, ask the organisers of Indian wells where the sisters have not
played in over 7 years because of racial abuse.

Serena, the
greatest player of this generation, will be sorely missed. There’s just
something extra special the Williams sisters bring to every tournament
they enter.

Bad for Serena,
good for Caroline Wozniacki as she gets her first top seed in a grand
slam. A finalist at last year’s US open, she is one of the favourites
to lift the trophy at Queens in a fortnight. Why not? She is a hard
worker and full of confidence after topping the US open series. She
must be motivated by the fact that she goes away with £2.7m if she wins
the title. Wozniacki does have the determination and experience and
according to her “I feel I’ve definitely got more experience and I know
how it feels to be in a Grand Slam final.” As long as she doesn’t get
burned out from all the play before the Open she has a real shot
coupled with the fact that the American Grand Slam tournament will be
without two-time champion Justine Henin. Three other past U.S. Open
winners -Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters have been
injured recently.

By the way what are our expectations of American teenager Melanie Oudin after her great run to the quarter-final last year?

The men’s half

Over to the men’s
draw which proves to be more exciting. Top seeds are the usual
suspects. Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
Further down are the likes of Andy Roddick, Robin Soderling, Nikolay
Davydenko, Tomas Berdych, Fernando Verdasco and Mardy Fish who took
Federer to the wire at last Sundays Cincinnati final. The Fedexpress
won his 63rd career title and tied Bjorn Borg for fifth place in the
Open Era.

Truth is, a diverse
new range of playing styles is emerging in the men’s game. We’ve long
been familiar with Roger Federer’s comprehensive brilliance, but
everything from the diversification of Rafael Nadal to the tactical
nuance of Andy Murray and Gilles Simon and the all-court prowess of Del
Potro, Tsonga and James Blake have brought excitement to ATP. But
Federer is always a force to reckon with especially when it comes to
grand slams. So as always, the 16 Grand Slams title winner is the
hottest favourite going into the US open. Andy Murray has been
brilliant in the US open series. He beat both Federer and Nadal to win
the Toronto masters, though he crashed out in the semi-final of the
Cincinnati masters. Question though is can he “do it” when it really
matters considering he’s come close to winning his maiden Grand Slam
and lost to the great Roger Federer in both finals.

Though Nadal has never made it past the semi-final here, in seeking to complete the career Grand Slam,

he will be the
top-seeded man when the U.S. Open starts today. Despite Nadal’s not too
impressive run to the US open, he will still be a force in any
tournament.

Unfortunately Del
Potro becomes the third U.S. Open men’s champion in the 42-year Open
era that will not defend his title. He pulled out because of tendinitis
in the wrist.

Alongside Del
Potro, two other men withdrew late Friday, No. 10-ranked Jo-Wilfred
Tsonga of France and three-time U.S. Open quarterfinalist Tommy Haas.

And by the way, one other man that excites me and should not be written off is David Nalbadian.

After been
side-lined for over a year, he recently gave us another example of how
talented he is. Will he emulate his compatriot and have another
Argentine shine for a second straight year? Only time will tell.

While we look
forward to watching good tennis, we also look forward to the fashion
statements to be made as we are now used to seeing in the game of
tennis. After all the Williams sisters, Sharapova, Federer and Nadal
have shown us that you don’t have to be a “plain-Jane” to win titles.

Rugby women World
Cup is currently going on in England and Nigeria is not represented in
the tournament. The female team which came second on their first
international tournament could not feature in the tournament because of
the ban that was placed on the National Rugby Football Federation. The
women Rugby World Cup which began on the 20th of this month has only
one African country represented.

South Africa, the
only African country at the World cup, has shown some dominance in the
game in Africa and their presence was registered for the first time in
2006, fifteen years after the inception of the tournament. However,
they are not the only African nation that have been actively involved
in developing the game of Rugby amongst women.

Efforts have been
made to develop the female version of Rugby in Nigeria. In the
forefront of this mission was Ntiense Williams who put together the
first women team under the auspices of Young Lions RFC in 2000. His
efforts paid off when other teams began to float female teams and by
2006, Women Rugby was first played at the National Sports Festival in
Ogun State, tagged Gateway Games.

Last year, a female
team from Nigeria was sponsored to their first international tournament
by the Friends of Rugby, one of the organizations whose aim is to
promote the development of Rugby football in Nigeria.

The first Nigerian
Female 7’s Rugby Team that went to the 1st North-West African Women 7’s
Rugby Tournament in Ghana early in 2009 came back home with a silver
medal. This feat was achieved despite the fact some of the Nigerian
women met each other a day before the tournament began.

Lost Opportunity

Asked why Nigeria
is not at the world cup in England, Williams, who is the Secretary of
the Lagos Rugby Union League organized by Friends of Rugby attributed
it to a subsisting ban on the Nigeria team by the games governing body,
the International Rugby Board (IRB).

“We lost out of the qualifiers due to the ban on the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation by IRB (International Rugby Board)”.

The ban was clamped
on Nigeria last year after plans to concession rugby by the National
Sports Commission (NSC) led to conflict between Racing Rugby Football
Club, which eventually won the bid to head the Nigerian Rugby Football
Federation (NRFF) and friends of Rugby, which claimed the process was
rigged in favour of Racing.

Folu Majekodunmi,
NRFF’s spokesman, however said he was not aware of the participation of
any Nigerian women’s rugby team in any international competition last
year.

“I don’t want to give you information I am not sure of. We are still trying to raise a team”, he said.

However, Scholar
Opara, the captain of the team that played in the tournament confirmed
that they were in Ghana and finished second. She regrets that Nigeria
is not represented at the ongoing World Cup. Asked if they would have
made it to the event had Nigeria not been under ban she said:

“Why not? What
could have stopped us from going on to do our best? Our coaches are
trying for us and doing their best to keep us fit.

I just hope that
the ban placed on Nigeria by the international Rugby Board would be
lifted so that we can go on to do what we know how to do best”.

Despite the ban,
however, the ladies are keeping themselves battle ready for any time
when they would get the opportunity to play.

Hoping to do more with support

After they first
featured at the Gateway Games, the women have also featured in local
competitions with the state teams of Edo and Delta showing dominance in
the game. The last two National Sport Festivals – Gateway Games 2006
and Kada Games 2009- have seen them hauling home the maximum gold
medals that could be obtained in Rugby.

Opara says Friends
of Rugby have been in forefront, organizing competition and sponsoring
the teams on tours outside the country.

“Our coaches have
been doing okay and this man, Kelechi Mbagwu has been trying his best.
What Rugby needs right now is more supporters. The people there cannot
do it alone; therefore we need more sponsorship”. Mbagwu is the
chairman of Cowrie RFC and also chairman of Friends of Rugby. It was
through his efforts that Opara and her team mates went on that tour in
Ghana.

Only one result
will be good enough for Heartland FC of Owerri today as they try to
resurrect their fading CAF Champions League title aspirations; and that
is victory against visiting Egyptian Club, Ismaily at the Dan Anyiam
Stadium in Owerri.

The Naze
Millionaires, as last year’s losing finalist are fondly called by their
supporters are currently languishing at the bottom of Group B with just
one point and a goal from three matches.

ThankGod Ike who is
the Heartland’s captain says his teammates hope to break their scoring
drought in the league and record their first win of the group stage
against their Egyptian opponent as they go head-on in today’s crucial
tie.

“Everything is
possible in football. It’s unfortunate that we are at the bottom of our
group but all we need is just the three points on Sunday and from there
we can find our way out of the group” he said.

Ike, who was a member of the home-based Super Eagles team that won the WAFU tournament some months back continued:

“We’ve had hard
luck in front of goal and we hope to start scoring against Ismaily on
Sunday. Everybody is serious about winning the game; the club’s
management has told us of the importance of the game and we are
confident of a win” he said.

Interestingly, the
Egyptian team earned their first victory (1-0) in the group stage of
the competition against Heartland in Ismaila a fortnight ago, but Ike
believes his team will make amends in today’s reverse fixture to
brighten their chances of advancing from Group B while also expressing
confidence in the team’s technical bench led by Samson Siasia.

“Our coaches have
been doing a great job and the spirit in camp is very high. Samson
Siasia and Emeka Ezeugo are known names in African football having made
their mark as players. They have given us the needed encouragement and
determination to turn things around,” the Nigerian international said.

Tough task

Meanwhile, the
team’s Head Coach Samson Siasia, says he is focused on the day’s
assignment and not distracted by the Super Eagles job lurking around
the corner.

“The job for me now
is to see Heartland progress in this competition. They were at the
finals last year and it won’t be good to see them do less under me this
time around” the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games silver winning coach said.

Siasia who has
continually found it difficult coaching at club level with previous
stints at local sides JUTH FC and Ocean Boys turning out uneventful
hopes, said he can help Heartland out this time around.

“It’s a tough call
but nothing is impossible. There have been issues but I’m happy the
management has done a lot in terms of paying salaries up-to-date. I
appreciate what the government is doing.

“On the part of the
players, we are trying to give them the confidence to play for
themselves and the country. The Orange CAF Champions League is a big
competition and it will expose the players for other bigger clubs to
see.

“I am happy with
the present situation in camp and I believe we can earn the three
points on Sunday with the mood in camp,” he told cafonline.com.

Goals concern

According to
Siasia, his major concern for the team has been the inability to score
goals despite creating lot of chances – a situation he hopes will
change today.

“We can get things
going once we can start scoring. We still have three games and the
outcome of our match on Sunday will be crucial in our chances of
progressing to the next stage.

“Really, we want to
score goals. If you look at the statistics of our games, we had more
chances and better possession than our opponents had, but we failed to
score.

“This time we don’t
want to just keep possession but score as many goals as possible to
give us a chance of qualifying. We didn’t take our chances before now
but I believe Sunday will be the beginning of a new dawn for us,” he
said.

In Bello Musa
Kofarmata, who scored the opener in the 1-1 draw with Al Ahly in
Owerri; winger John Owoeri and midfielder Ikechukwu Ibenegbu; Siasia
has a potent strike force he believes can help wrestle out the maximum
three points at stake today.

Group standings

The standings in
Group B sees Algeria’s JS Kabylie sit in pole position with the maximum
nine points while Six-time champions Al Ahly are second with four.

Ismaily are third
with three points while Heartland, are currently at the bottom of Group
B with just one point from three matches, only managing to score just
one goal and conceding three.

After today’s match
Heartland will travel to Cairo in the second week of September to play
Al-Ahly before they wrap up their group campaign at home to group
leaders JS Kabylie a week later.

Madness may mean a
terrible state of psychiatric disorder, lacking common sense and not
reasoning logically, or an excessive interest in something almost to
the exclusion of everything else. Is it what we are discussing today?
Or are we trying to play around the title of one of Kongi’s best
sellers – “Madmen and Specialist”? The answer interestingly is no!

I have no
intention, in anyway, to be rude or offensive. I preach and teach
respect, not only for human beings, but also for institutions,
especially those I believe are ordained by the greatest sportsman
Himself, the Lord God Almighty. Take it or ignore it, whether we like
it or not FIFA has been put in place globally to administer football
and there is nothing anybody can do about that now. This is one
organisation you can only hate to love or love to hate, especially in
Nigeria. Don’t even think of beating them. The only thing you can
successfully do is join them and do their bidding.

What ails FIFA?

But I ask once
again, is FIFA M.A.D.? Or let me simplify the question a little bit
more. Is FIFA M.A.D. in Nigerian football? Have you now got the gist?
No? Okay, I will explain. M.A.D. is an acronym for “Making a
Difference”. Aah, so now you get it and I can hear some of the readers
saying stuff like – “Paul, you must be mad”. No, I reject that by fire
and by force, but I agree, if you say I am M.A.D.

Let me quickly
confess however, that this title is borrowed from Tony Marinho, a
thorough bred Nigerian, M.A.D. from his base in Ibadan.

The answer to the
question ‘Is FIFA M.A.D.?’ as far as I am concerned is no. Does FIFA
for instance not realise the fact that constitutionally, the National
Sports Commission (NSC) and the so-called Nigeria Football Federation
(NFF) are illegitimate and therefore have no right to administer
sports, especially football in Nigeria? Would anyone in FIFA claim not
to be aware of the fact that about 98% of the football teams (not
football clubs) in Nigeria are funded by government with tax payers’
hard-earned monies? I am absolutely sure that no one in FIFA can claim
not to know that “the tune is dictated by the one who pays the piper”
and it can’t be different here in Nigeria. Would FIFA claim not to be
aware of this fact – 20 years after the founding of the Nigerian
Football League, we are yet to have a football Club in Nigeria,
according to the guidelines of the so-called statutes that were meant
to establish the football clubs? Does FIFA not know that the natural
administrative pyramid that should be in place, from the local
government areas (LGAs) to the state and eventually to the National
level – that pyramid, that should provide the Associations, from the
LGAs, where genuine grassroots developmental football programmes for”
catch-them-young” initiatives – do not exist in Nigeria?

The two-faced nature of FIFA

Well, if it is true
that FIFA is ignorant of some or all of the issues raised above, then,
someone should please do us one big favour, by informing Primo Corvado,
FIFA’s representative sent in to monitor the forth-coming NFF
selection, now rescheduled for Thursday August 26, 2010, that the ‘FAIR
PLAY’ gospel preached by FIFA is still strange to us here in Nigeria.
Please let Corvado know that here in Nigeria, medical doctors,
carpenters, engineers, architects and even farmers (and I refer to them
in he most derogatory manner, for the purpose of this write-up) aspire
to become President of our football ruling bodies. Let him know for
instance that there are no football associations in most our LGA’s and
where they exist, the associations are administered by officials of the
ministry of agriculture.

Please tell
Corvado, that the selection exercise he has come to monitor is shrouded
in deceit, uncertainties and controversies. If Corvado himself believes
in decency, it behoves him as a gentle man to publicly respond to the
protests sent to FIFA by Segun Odegbami and other NFF Presidential
aspirants.

It will also be
appreciated if FIFA can declare – publicly, how much has been invested
on football development in Nigeria. Truth is that nature abhors any
form of vacuum and there is so much information vacuum as regards this
sensitive issue of funding of football. I am one of the several
subscribers to the monthly FIFA magazine and we read of millions of
dollars invested on football development especially at the grassroots
level by FIFA in developing countries. Has Nigeria benefited from this?

Permit me to end
this piece on a rather serious note. Can FIFA dare to make a difference
by calling on the federal government and state governments to stop
funding football in Nigeria?

Let FIFA call the bluff of the NSC and Bio in order to stop all the
“shakara” going on now. And finally, maybe Bukola Olapade, a.k.a.
“Ozoganga” was right when he submitted that the next NFF President
should be a mad man or woman. I would have voted for you my friend, but
unfortunately Mr Corvado of FIFA will not allow me. So, I say
congratulations in advance to whoever is chosen on Thursday. But be
prepared to be M.A.D.

The elections into
the board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have come and gone
with Aminu Maigari emerging as the 38th boss of the body.

It was a landslide
victory for the former director of finance of the federation who until
his victory at Thursday’s polls had been the acting president of the
football house following the impeachment of Sani Lulu. Maigari grabbed
31 out of the 44 votes from delegates present at the International
Conference Centre in Abuja, well ahead of other aspirants, with his
closest rival former NFF Secretary General, Sani Toro, securing just
five votes.

Nine other
individuals were elected into the board and they will be joined by the
current chairman of the Nigeria Premier League, Davidson Owumi, who
will act as the federation’s 2nd vice president.

Court injunctions

But it wasn’t
smooth sailing for Maigari as the process was dogged by controversy.
Originally scheduled for Saturday, August 21, it was shifted to last
Thursday by the Congress of the federation at the request of the
Minister of Sports, Ibrahim Bio, who requested that he be given time to
apprise President Goodluck Jonathan on developments surrounding the
elections.

Before the decision
was taken, a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos had issued an order
restraining the NFF from going ahead with the elections at the
originally scheduled date of August 21 pending the hearing and
determination of a motion filed by the registered trustees of the
National Association of Nigerian Footballers (NANF) led by Harrison
Jalla.

NANF had filed the
suit against the NFF, alleging that the process of the election had
been perfected without recourse to its members and the court decided
that it would be improper to allow the elections to take place when
there was a pending motion before it seeking to restrain its conduct,
and subsequently ordered all the parties involved with the electoral
process to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the
motion filed by the players’ union.

The order from the High Court sitting in Lagos was not the only one issued on the election as two others,

including one from a court sitting in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, also called on the NFF to postpone the polls.

Ex-players united

On Tuesday, August
24, two days before the NFF elections, a group of placard carrying
ex-footballers led by former national team captains Segun Odegbami and
Austin Okocha, who were aspiring to get into the NFF, as president and
board member respectively, stormed Abuja clamouring for the
postponement of the elections.

Numbering close to
30, the group, which also had in their midst other prominent ex-players
like former African Player of the Year Victor Ikpeba and 1980 Nations
Cup hero Felix Owolabi, faulted the entire electoral process. They
complained of a situation whereby state football association members
who were elected in 2006 and whose tenures had expired formed part of
the delegates at the election when they had not renewed their mandate.

Rounding off their
protest, they urged the National Sports Commission (NSC) and other
relevant authorities to prevent the elections from taking place.

Protesting to FIFA

Before last
Tuesday’s protest, Odegbami had in June notified football’s world
governing body, FIFA of certain amendments made within the existing
statutes of the NFF.

Before the August
2006 elections, which ushered in Lulu as the NFF president, local
government football councils, state associations and Zonal elections
were all held and winners given four-year mandates. These individuals
then voted and elected members into the Executive Committee of which
Lulu was head.

Odegbami, in his
letter to FIFA, reasoned that it was only logical that elections at the
zones must first be held – following the expiration of their tenures –
in order to constitute a new electorate to conduct new elections into
the next Executive Committee, stressing that “to hold elections without
holding constituency elections means that the delegates that elected
the out-going board would be the same delegates that would elect the
next board”, a process he described as “totally absurd, undemocratic
and unacceptable.” This process of bypassing this step by the NFF began
in August 2009 when it sent a draft of its amended statutes to FIFA
seeking, in line with laid down rules, its comments and approval, which
the world body responded to in November of that year with amendments of
its own to some areas in order for the document to be in line with the
organisation’s requirements.

Part of FIFA’s
letter to the NFF, stated that: “We hope that the previous explanations
are of assistance and allow you to review the NFF Statutes accordingly.
Please give maximum priority to the revision, the approval and
subsequent ratification of the NFF Statutes.

Amendment of the statutes

In December 2009
the NFF convened a meeting of the General Assembly to inform its
members of the suggested amendments by FIFA. However, for the amended
statutes to become operational it would require sending the statutes to
FIFA all over again for confirmation that the amendments have been done
correctly for final approval before being presented again to the
General Assembly for final ratification.

A presentation of
the amended statutes to members of the General Assembly was however not
done before it came into law but not before two major amendments – the
reduction of voting delegates from 101 to 44, and the directive to each
State Football Association to have its elective congress in November or
December succeeding the elective congress of the Federation within the
senior FIFA World Cup year.

The latter
interpolation meant that after electing the Executive Committee of the
NFF, the 37 State FA bosses will thereafter go back to their respective
constituencies to seek a new four-year mandate into their own boards.

Odegbami then went
on to plead with FIFA to advise the NFF to stop the “electoral process
until all the anomalies in the conflicting statutes and processes are
resolved”.

Denials

FIFA however
appeared to have turned a deaf ear on the issue even though it sent
officials to observe the electoral process, which eventually took place
despite a court order calling for the postponement of the polls,
receipt of which was denied by the NFF, as well as the chairman of the
electoral committee Abdulrahman Mustapha.

“I never got an
order telling us not to hold an election,” said Mustapha, shortly after
the polls. “I respect the rule of law and if I got anything like that I
would have stopped the entire process.” Jalla who went to the election
venue to personally serve the court order to the electoral committee’s
boss but he was prevented from doing so by security officials stationed
outside the venue even though he had gone to the venue with a team of
15 policemen and two court bailiffs.

“We had served the
NFF, the sports minister (Ibrahim Bio) and the NPL, but I personally
and the bailiffs had wanted to serve Mustapha in person,” Jalla told
NEXTSports on Thursday.

“But when we got to
the venue it almost degenerated into a scuffle between us and the
security team at the venue.” Back to the courtrooms He will however be
heading back to court on Monday when hearing of the case resumes.

Also considering a petition is Odegbami who pulled out of the race in line with the court injunction ordering its suspension.

“When the court
injunction came I decided not to be lawless, so I stayed away from the
venue in line with the decision of the court that the elections should
not be held,” he said.

Odegbami then
added: “My contributions to Nigerian football will continue in my own
way. I wish I was at the head of the federation but I’m not, so in
whatever way one can, one will continue to support them but I’ll pursue
my petition before FIFA to the very end.” How successful such a path
will be, only time will tell, but the immediate reality is that the
country’s football will be run mostly by ‘freshmen’ as only two members
of the previous Executive Committee were returned – Maigari and Chris
Green, the Rivers State FA boss who defeated Okocha to pick the ticket
from the South-south zone.

Green wasn’t the
only state FA boss to be elected as four others also made it into the
board while not a single former Nigeria international was considered
good enough to earn a place in the board including former national team
skipper and coach Christian Chukwu and Mutiu Adepoju.

“This is ridiculous and unbelievable,” said an enraged Bright Omokaro, a former national team player.

“I just cannot imagine what is happening to our football. Those who know nothing about football are now managing the game.

“We were all happy
when we saw some ex-internationals coming out to contest this election
but look at what they have done again. There is no way our football can
move forward with this set of people we have on board managing the
game,” he added.

Enyimba’s chairman Felix Anyasi and football analyst Deji Tinubu
however earned a place in the board and Nigerians will be hoping their
presence in the board will in some way translate into some measure of
success and development for Nigerian football at all levels, from the
grassroots to the numerous league and cup competitions, right down to
the various national teams.

The deed has finally been done.

The men who are bigger than the rest of us; those above the law of the land, had their way on Thursday.

Aminu Maigari, the
acting vice chairman of the Nigeria Football Federation who during the
debate by presidential candidates in Abuja two weeks ago confessed he
did not know the number of football clubs in Nigeria’s different
leagues, has been confirmed in the saddle.

Now Maigari and his team, including the invisible puppeteer with links to world football governing body,

FIFA, bestride the
darkening Nigerian football firmament like Colossus and we ‘petty’ men
walk under his huge legs, and peep about to find our dearly beloved
game of football destroyed.

Indeed, these are
ominous time with vultures are circling over Nigerian football. The
election of last Thursday will prove whether we still have laws in this
country and whether those laws are subordinate to those of FIFA.

It is a matter for
serious concern that the head of the electoral committee, which
conducted the election, is a lawyer and that he wilfully ignored at
least three subsisting court orders demanding a stay of action.

Anyway, the outcome
of the election has not surprised anyone particularly those of us who
had seen the writing on the wall since Sani Lulu first began ‘working’
on the federation’s statutes two years ago.

I had predicted
here that there was no way a good was going to come out of the process
given the shenanigans of Maigari and his team and the obvious
preference of FIFA for the maintenance of the status quo.

Two days before the
elections I sent an email to Pekka Odriozola, FIFA’s acting Head of
Media. I put the following questions to him

1. Does FIFA acknowledge receipt of the two letters from Odegbami?

2. What is FIFA’s
official position on the election? Is it in support of it holding
despite the issues raised in the Odegbami letter or is it in favour of
the state FA chairmen standing election first before participating in
the national election?

3. If FIFA is in support of the election, on what basis is it in support of it?

4. Does FIFA
believe that justice would have been done if as Odegbami has pointed
out, men who were elected for four-year tenure stay for eight years in
office?

5. Should the
Nigerian government decide to intervene given the tension being
generated by the election in the football community in Nigeria by
ordering through the National Sports Commission that state FA chairmen
first renew their mandate, what step is FIFA likely to take?

He was evasive in his reply.

Rather than address the issues raised he merely stated that:

“One of FIFA’s
duties is to ensure the independence of the Member Associations from
external interference and to ensure that the football family in each
country can have the best possible conditions to develop the game. That
is the reason why we directly monitor the situation in each FIFA member
association that they comply with their statutes.

“As such FIFA will
also be present as an observer on Thursday when the election in Nigeria
will take place to monitor the process and to verify that it is
conducted in accordance with the NFF statutes.

Men without ideas

This reply finally
confirmed my long held view, which I have stated here on several
occasions that the world football body was not interested in the
development of football in this country but is more interested in
maintaining Sepp Blatter’s cronies and their men Friday in power.

Whichever way we
look at it, football is doomed in this country. I have assessed the men
elected into the board and without trying to diminish them in any way;
none of them has the needed knowledge to take the game to the next
level. For the most part, they are the same men who refused to yield to
commonsense and test their popularity by conducting elections into the
state football associations.

We are also not
aware that any of them is an accomplished manager of men and resources
who can bring their administrative acumen to bear on issues surrounding
the running of football.

For those who made
jest of Segun Odegbami and other former Nigerian internationals
insisting that having played the game was no criterion for wanting to
administer the game, what have they got to say about some of these men
one of whom has been chairman of a club in the Nigerian Premier league,
which won the CAF Champions League back to back and failed to leverage
on that success to the extent that during the last Super Four
tournament in Ijebu Ode, players of the club nearly boycotted a match
in protest over unpaid allowances.

Five members of the
Super Eagles team last week made the cut with their respective club
sides to feature in the 2010/2011 group phase of the UEFA Champions
League competition. They are goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama (Hapoel
Tel-Aviv) defenders; Elderson Echiejile (SC Braga) and Taiye Taiwo
(Marseille), Obafemi Martins(Rubin Kazan) and Mikel Obi (Chelsea).

This is somewhat an
improvement as only two Super Eagles – Mikel Obi of Chelsea and Taye
Taiwo of Marseille, players made it to this stage of the tournament
last time out.

For this lucky
five, enacting the feat so far achieved by only two Nigerians – Kanu
Nwankwo and Finidi George – which is a Champions League crown, will be
the ultimate goal.

Of the lot, Chelsea
midfielder, Mikel Obi is the closest to joining the league of African
players that have lifted the coveted trophy as his team lost narrowly
in finals of the 2008/09 season and only got knocked out in the quarter
finals last season. His team nevertheless remains one of the strongest
favourites in this year’s race.

While the likes of
Mikel, Taiwo and Martins have featured previously at this stage of the
competition, it is a debut appearance for the duo of Enyeama and
Echeijle who only recently moved from the French League to Portugal to
join Sporting Braga.

For Enyeama making
it thus far is a dream come true; “it is a ‘fulfilled dream’ to have
the chance to play in the UEFA Champions’ League group phase” he said.

The number one shot
stopper for the country not only proved to a safe pair of hands but
went further to score a goal in his team’s 4-3 over Red Bull Salzburg
of Austria to boost his team’s qualification quest.

“It has always been
my dream to play in the UEFA Champions League and this was an
opportunity I did not want to miss,” Enyeama told UEFA.com after his
team’s qualification.

“I have played in
every competition and this was the only one left. It is good to get a
chance to play against the best players in the world.” he added.

Indeed, the history
of the UEFA Champions League is incomplete without the mention of
Nigeria as the competition’s first goal in its present format was
scored by Nigeria’s Daniel Amokachi while he was with Belgian outfit FC
Brugge.

Expectedly, that
moment is one of the most cherished in the illustrious career of the
ex-international who was also a former assistant coach in the country’s
national team.

Real are in the group of death

Thursday’s draws
has set the stage to determine which team takes over the reign of
European football from Inter Milan which emerged champions after forty
eight years of fruitless efforts.

Inter, under their
new boss Rafa Benitez, will face Werder Bremen and Champions League
debutants Tottenham Hotspur and Twente Enschede of the Netherlands in
Group A,

Spurs are one of three London sides in the competition and familiar foes to Benitez from his time with Liverpool.

Group G has to be
the most difficult group to call with Real Madrid under Jose Mourinho,
the 9-time winners, 7-time champions AC Milan, Ajax who are also former
champions, and French outfit, Auxerre. But as Marseille and Bordeaux
showed in the last competition, French clubs seem to understand the
European terrain a little bit better.

Barcelona, European
champions in 2009, will face Panathinaikos, FC Copenhagen and Rubin
Kazan of Russia in Group D, looking to avenge the shock home defeat to
the Russians who beat them 2-1 at the Nou Camp in the group stage last
season.

Manchester United,
winners in 2008 face Valencia, Rangers and Bursaspor of Turkey with the
Rangers match especially poignant for United boss Alex Ferguson, who
once played for Rangers and still has close links with his home city of
Glasgow.

United are among
the quartet of English clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs who
all have extra incentive to lift the European Cup this season with the
final at Wembley in May.

Arsenal’s chief
executive Ivan Gazidis was already eying a place there after his club
were drawn against Braga, Shakhtar Donetsk and Partizan Belgrade.

Steel and experience

“We have a real
incentive to win it this year with the final at Wembley. We have added
steel and experience to the side and we are one year older and more
experienced and are going for it,” Gazidis told reporters.

Chelsea, who are
familiar visitors to Wembley having won the last two FA Cups there,
return to Moscow where they lost the 2008 final to Manchester United,
with a match against Spartak.

Chelsea will also
face Zilina of Slovakia and Olympique Marseille, with their talismanic
striker Didier Drogba no doubt relishing the battle against his old
club.

Bayern Munich, who lost May’s final to Inter, will face AS Roma, Basel and CFR Cluj.

Real Madrid and
Milan’s rivalry goes back to the first season of European competition
in 1955-56 when Real beat Milan in the semi-finals and in all they have
played each other 13 times with Milan winning six times and Real five.

Ajax have also enjoyed memorable final showdowns with Milan, with the Italians triumphing in 1969 and the Dutch in 1995.

While Real, Milan
and Ajax will be looking to revive old glories, Inter will be seeking
to become the first club to retain the European Cup in the Champions
League era.

“It’s a tasty
group,” said Inter’s Ambassador Luis Figo. “Werder Bremen are very
physical, Spurs have a lot of pace but our aim is to play in the final
at Wembley.” The group phase begins on September 14/15 and concludes on
December 7/8. The final is at Wembley on May 28.

Telecommunications
company, Globacom Limited, will on Friday, August 27 sign a deal to
extend its sponsorship agreement with the Confederation of Africa
football (CAF) for the annual African Football Awards.

The official signing ceremony for the extension of the partnership will be held at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

The decision to
renew the deal was announced in December, 2009, after both parties
expressed satisfaction with the partnership which has seen the awards,
known as the Glo-CAF Awards, listed in world football’s annual events
calendar.

Success story

The maiden edition
of the Glo-CAF Awards which was held in Abuja was attended by the then
President of Barcelona FC of Spain, Juan La Porta who accompanied
Samuel Eto’O to the ceremony. While the FIFA President, Sepp Blatter
and UEFA President, Mitchel Platini, were among world football
dignitaries that graced the 2008 edition in Lagos, Nigeria.

Omodele
Sarafa-Yusuf, Head, Globacom’s Sponsored Assets Unit, said the company
has invested over $10m in rights fees and to organise the award
ceremony in the past five years.

“Globacom has added
glamour to this event and our feedback from our guests is that it is an
experience they long to enjoy many times”, she said.

“When in 2005, the
Confederation of African Football accepted our bid to sponsor the
annual African Footballer of the Year Awards, Globacom made a promise
to raise the quality of the awards organisation. We promised to touch
lives in Africa, especially that of the African youths who find
expression for their talents through football.

“Five years after, we look back with pride and sense of
accomplishment that the CAF Awards has become a premium event in world
football calendar.”

The Nigeria
Football Federation is determined to hold its elections today, despite
orders from a High Court in Lagos that the polls be postponed.

The elections had
earlier been scheduled to take place last Saturday but it was
rescheduled for today by the congress of the NFF. Tuesday’s court
decision which arose from a complaint filed by a former footballer,
Harrison Jalla, on behalf of the National Association of Nigerian
Footballers (NANF), a body that was not accorded recognition by the NFF
which favoured the Association of Professional Footballers of Nigeria
(APFON). The injunction was the latest twist in the ongoing confusion
in Nigerian football.

Tuesday also saw a
group of placard carrying former footballers led by former Nigeria
captain Segun Odegbami, who is aspiring to become the next president of
the NFF. the group stormed Abuja clamouring for the postponement of the
board elections.

But despite these
developments, as well as the court order calling for the postponement
of the polls, the NFF insists the elections will take place as
scheduled.

“I have read
somewhere in the papers about a court order but as far as I know there
has not been any change regarding the elections,” media officer of the
NFF, Robinson Okosun told NEXTSports before adding: “They will go on as
scheduled.”

Singing FIFA’s tune

The NFF’s decision
is in sync with that of football’s world governing body FIFA, and its
African affiliate CAF, which has all along insisted that elections must
go on as scheduled. But former Nigeria international Taju Disu, was
among a group of former internationals at a press conference in Abuja
who yesterday lent their voice to the clamour for fresh postponement of
the elections, saying the NFF was walking on dangerous grounds.

“It is obvious to
all of us that these elections should not take place if we want to get
things right in our football,” said Disu. “We have been getting it all
wrong for a long time and now is the time for us to do the right thing.

“What some
individuals are trying to perpetrate is a scheme that will usher in the
same set of individuals who have been ruining our football and they are
trying to use the threat of a FIFA ban to shut us all up.

“But we know the
entire process is flawed and if it goes on it will only result into
more confusion,” added Disu who then called for all the
ex-internationals vying for positions into the NFF board to pull out of
Thursday’s polls.

That call appears
to have been accepted by Odegbami who informed NEXTSports that he won’t
be contesting in the polls if it goes ahead as planned.

“I won’t contest if
it goes ahead,” he told NEXTSports on the line from Abuja. “The entire
process is flawed and I will not be a part of it if it goes ahead.”
Another former international, Mutiu Adepoju, who is also vying for a
position in the NFF board however declined to comment.