THE African game is on display with interesting results, drama, nail-biting misses in front of goalkeepers, intelligent goals like the one scored by Nigeria’s striker Odion Ighalo against Burundi and a lot of exciting moments. We have seen very tight matches. We have seen teams with little pedigree in the competition defend as if their lives depend on a particular game. Some of the highly defensive sides have learned the hard lesson that you don’t win any sport with a defensive mentality.
Namibians wept after the last-minute own goal they conceded against the aggressive Moroccans who watched in awe as their goal-bound moves struck their opponents bodies, the cross bar, the upright of the goalpost, without sailing into the net. Mother luck was not with the Moroccans but they persisted until the Namibians’ own goal. The other interesting game of note was the end-to-end onslaughts from the Guineans and one of the debutants, Madagascar resulting in a deserving 2-2 draw, much to the relief of Nigerians, players, officials and supporters of the Super Eagles.
The stadia hosting the matches of the 32nd Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt can compete with anyone in the world. But the fans have shown seeming apathy to matches not involving the hosts, although pundits have argued that when the chips are down at the Round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, crowd pulling nations, such as Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia. These countries have their nationals who throng venues when they have games as seen in their groups.
However, there are sad occurrences before the competition, which raised posers about some of the players, especially those who ply their trade in Europe. Many argued that if these players had grievances with their federations, they should have declined the request to play for their countries. Holding the country to ransom through football federation chiefs smacks of blackmail. The players get what they want from the government and not the administrators. In other words, the fault isn’t the administrators’ but the government’s.
Piecemeal settlement, such as what the Cameroonian players got before heading to Egypt, isn’t the solution. The players would have sought audience with the President to set a template that would resolve the crisis.
Indeed, the players’ complaints predate this present FECAFOOT; it is a systemic problem which shouldn’t have been blamed on those who didn’t create it. The players who refused to board the aircraft should learn from their colleagues, such as Matip of Liverpool who retired from playing for the Indomitable Lions before the Russia 2018 World Cup.
When players behave this way, the shame is on the country, making the Matip formula the best for dissenting ones. As defending champions, the Indomitable Lions ought to have hit Egypt with pomp and ceremony. The issues in the players’ ultimatum are not different from those which forced Matip out. It follows, therefore that those who went with such anomaly to the Russia 2018 World Cup ought to have emulated the Liverpool defender, rather than making the country the laughing stock.
The difference between the Lions and the Super Eagles is that the former’s demands are familiar. Pundits are hoping that it doesn’t reoccur. The Eagles ought to have believed the federation’s chiefs, having told Nigerians that they trusted them based on previous competitions. Most times when Nigerian teams protest, such shameful acts are orchestrated by people with destructive interests, those who think that the federation is cheating them.
The players should be told that without Nigeria, nobody would have known them. When some of them have visa issues and work permit difficulties, they use Nigeria’s matches and letters from the NFF to enhance their chances of getting such vital documents. One good turn deserves another.
What our players don’t consider when they protest is the relationship they have with key NFF chiefs, who bend over backwards to assist them in off-field matters. In fact, the current players have repeatedly commended this federation for improving on their welfare. They are unanimous in stating the differences in the team since the new dispensation.
Pundits wonder how the federation’s first mistake could dovetail into a crisis, given what the players said in the past. They didn’t need to boycott a pre-match press conference. They should have known that their absence from that mandatory exercise would elicit questions from the media. Nigerians appear to be burdened by the barracks mentality, occasioned by the long jackboot era in our polity.
The nominated player ought to have gone for the press conference, leaving the other 22 players to deliberate on their next line of action. This writer isn’t amused when the team’s chief coach and top officials give the impression that they were helpless in the situation. It puts a lie to their purported ability to instill discipline in the team. It smacks of insensitivity if the players always need the Presidency to rush cash to them at competition venues, before rejecting the administrators’ pleas for patience.
The popular thinking is that the Presidency should consider this incident when choosing the next Sports minister, who should not be cantankerous like the immediate past holder of the seat. Followers of the sport would recall the recent brickbats between the beret man (even when he was out of office) and the federation on this matter. He predicted this protest on grounds that the NFF didn’t include the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in the ministry’s budget. Which of the budgets; 2018 or 2019? What did he do to correct the anomaly, since the buck stops on his table?
Having not qualified for two consecutive AFCONs, the federation should have kept its gunpowder dry for this edition. Of course, the NFF would have hinged its source of entering AFCON in the emergency budget, having qualified. But the beret man should have urged the federation to provide for it and then defend it.
Sports can’t thrive in Nigeria with fiscal budgets. We need to adopt the system used by others. We will save ourselves this needless shame if we adopt the format where the cash for every competition we want to attend is provided four or two years before the next edition.
In 1989, Clemens Westerhof checkmated the players’ mutiny by dropping some big boys for the game against Cameroon in Yaoundé. Nigeria lost 1-0, but new players were discovered, although one of them, Alloy Agu, was stretchered off the pitch. Nigeria prosecuted the Algiers 90 Africa Cup of Nations with rookies from the domestic league. Eagles lost the opening game 5-1 to Algeria, but qualified for the final game against the same country, losing 1-0. Westerhof began the revolution that changed the face of our game, using the carrot and stick method to instil discipline, edging out unruly players.
In 1998, a players’ revolt caused Nigeria the quarter-finals clash against Brazil as our players insisted that they be paid $15,000 upfront, which they got before the game against Denmark. The Danes whacked Nigeria 4-1 in the Round of 16 game at the France’98 World Cup.
In 2013, our players refused to board the chartered jet provided by FIFA for countries participating in the Confederations Cup held in Brazil. Our players stayed back in Windhoek, Namibia, with the coaches and accompanying officials standing aloof. Nigeria didn’t do well in the tournament, winning only one game.
At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, our players refused to train before the Round of 16 game against France, until they were paid all their outstanding allowances. The Nation and Sportinglife broke the story. I recall how the Editor kept asking if I was sure of the report. It sounded quite preposterous. He used the story, relying on my pedigree on the job.
The government responded by sending $3.8 million cash to Brazil to avert the international disgrace, a day before the game. Rather than keep the cash, which was in their possession, till after the game. The players, coaches and officials chose to share the $3.8 million all through the night. The exercise ended about 8am match day. Of course, France beat Nigeria 2-0.
What was the hurry in sharing the money? Did the players know that France would beat Nigeria? Wouldn’t they have collected more cash if they beat the French and qualify for the quarter-finals, for the first time in the country’s annals in the competition? Were the players playing the World Cup for cash or to put Nigeria at the top echelon of world soccer, like it happened in 1994 in our debut appearance at the Mundial in the US?
These protests have caught up with a junior team and the women football, making us the laughing stock. Those who blame the federation should appreciate the difficulty in funding 16 national teams, beginning with the U-15 teams, male and female, ditto U-17, U-20, U-23, CHAN Eagles, Super Falcons and Super Eagles. Perhaps, the NFF and the government should review the number of competitions which we participate in. But the problem is that these stages are interwoven.
Beginning with the U-15 cadre till the Super Eagles for boys and Super Falcons for the girls, it is a developmental scheme.
