Sports
Bell Rates African Goalkeepers Average
Along with a long professional career in France, Joseph-Antoine Bell was a member of three Cameroon teams that played at the FIFA World Cup, and he is considered among the greatest goalkeepers to come from Africa. Despite the Lions failure to qualify, the outspoken 57-year-old was at the recent CAF Africa Cup of Nations, which was co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, and he had some interesting observations about African goalkeeping in general and at the Nations Cup in particular.
He said that the standard between the sticks on the continent was a mixed bag. “You have had some good and some not-good-enough goalkeepers at the tournament, but this is something that you can see everywhere in the world. It is really a very special position, where coming from the good to the bad can be just one game. It is a hard position,” he said. “I think most of the performances have been average. I don’t remember seeing any excellent goalkeeping, but I have seen good goalkeeping.”
Not surprisingly, Bell believes Côte d’Ivoire’s impressive Boubacar Barry was the best goalkeeper at the tournament as the Elephants became the first side to fail to win the tournament despite not conceding even a single goal. Bell believes that Barry, who played in five of his side’s six matches, is a better netminder because of his attitude and mentality. “He understands that you need to be focused. He saved Ivory Coast a few times because he was serious, and maybe because he was so serious, his team became serious too. This is a very important quality you have to have,” he said.
Bell, who started playing in Europe at a late age, when he was already 31, believes that the best African goalkeeper at the moment is Nigerian Vincent Enyeama. “He had a very good World Cup, but now he is not playing regularly [with Lille], and Nigeria were not at the nations Cup. That will make it difficult,” he said.
“To be the best, you need to play hard and good matches, tough matches to show what you are capable of. To be considered among the best goalkeepers, you need to play consistently well. If you watch him this week, you will see him to be good, and if you see him in two months, he will still be a good goalkeeper. I am not sure if we have somebody like that in Africa.”
Bell, who did not play as a member of Cameroon’s 1982 and 1990 FIFA World Cup squads and had to wait until he was 39 at USA 94 before playing his first game at the finals, says that African goalkeeping at the moment is overall far away from the standards set by world-class players like Iker Casillas or Gianluigi Buffon.
“Goalkeepers like that are real personalities, but that is not what is wanted in Africa,” he explained. “We fight against personalities. We don’t need charismatic people, we don’t need those who can really be leaders. But to be a good goalkeeper, you need to be a real leader. This is the way that I see it: You need to think as a leader, you need to act as a leader and you need to be a leader.”
The former goalkeeper says he thinks that if he had gone to Europe at a younger age, he would have been an even better goalkeeper. “Yes, I would have had enough time to show what I was capable of. But this is the problem: if we don’t upgrade our competitions in Africa, it is going to be hard to compete. And this is why our players are going to Europe at a younger and younger age, and this may not help Africa. The way we put things together is the most important issue.”
Nigeria has launched a nationwide grassroots flag football development initiative in partnership with the National Football League (NFL) and Browns Nigeria as part of efforts to promote youth development and expand participation in the sport across the country.
The programme, tagged “One Ball. One Flag. One Future,” is being spearheaded by the Nigeria American Football Association (NAFA) and will be officially unveiled in Lagos on Wednesday.
According to NAFA, the initiative will involve the distribution of 2,000 footballs and 5,000 flag kits to schools, educational institutions and community organisations nationwide to increase access to flag football and establish a structured pathway for youth development through sports.
NAFA described the rollout as a major milestone in building a sustainable American football ecosystem in Nigeria, where the sport is still at a developmental stage compared to football and basketball.
The association said the programme extends beyond equipment distribution and is aimed at fostering leadership, discipline, teamwork, confidence and resilience among young Nigerians.
Speaking on the initiative, NAFA Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Babajide Akeredolu, said the programme is designed to create opportunities for young people across the country.
“‘One Ball. One Flag. One Future’ is about more than equipment distribution. It is about access. It is about possibility. It is about ensuring that a child in any community across Nigeria can discover a sport that teaches leadership, teamwork, discipline, confidence and resilience,” he said.
Flag football, a non-contact version of American football, has witnessed growing global popularity and is set to make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, a development that has boosted international investment in youth-focused programmes.
NAFA said the initiative would serve as the foundation for long-term development programmes at primary, secondary and tertiary education levels.
The association outlined several participation pathways, including the K-12 Flag Football Development Programme, the Nigeria Secondary School Flag Football League (NSSFFL), and the Nigeria Collegiate Flag Football League (NCFFL).
The programme also features the Gridiron Gems Girls Development Initiative, which aims to increase female participation in the sport, alongside talent identification and athlete development schemes.
According to NAFA, the objective is to create a sustainable ecosystem for athletes, coaches and officials while integrating flag football into Nigeria’s educational and community structures.
The launch event is expected to attract government officials, sports administrators, education stakeholders, youth leaders and development partners.
Organisers said the partnership with the NFL and Browns Nigeria reflects a broader strategy to expand flag football across Africa through grassroots investment, institutional collaboration and structured development programmes.
They added that the initiative is expected to strengthen youth engagement in sports while creating new opportunities for leadership development and community participation nationwide.
When completed, the Warri City Stadium, which is being re-modelled by the Delta State government might “compel” some African countries to use it in prosecuting their CAF and continental matches soon, so says the contractor handling the project, Olanrewaju Adeleke.
The stadium is expected to be completed in September this year.
Speaking with The Guardian, yesterday, Adeleke, who is the Managing Director of Peculiar Consults, stated that
apart from an upgraded FIFA-standard hybrid grass surface and complete underground drainage system, the Warri Stadium is also designed with an advanced nine-lane tartan track (World Athletics standard), an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and a brand new indoor sports hall. There are also a basketball court, volleyball court, tennis court, and two dedicated practice pitches.
Other features in the new Warri stadium include advanced security and surveillance systems covering the interior and surrounding areas.
“Going by the work we have done so far, I am sure the stadium will be ready by September this year,” Adeleke said. “And it will be the new sports destination for many African countries because of the quality of both the playing turf, which is of FIFA standard, and other aspects of the complex. We have some West African countries playing their CAF and continental matches in far away Morocco and South Africa. But all that will change when we complete this Warri City Stadium.”
Adeleke said that the stadium’s playing turf, which used to be waterlogged, has been ‘raised’ to three layers.
“As we speak, it rains on daily basis here in Warri, but you won’t see a single drop of water on the pitch because of the concrete job we did underneath. Presently, the playing turf is on three layers, and it was done to FIFA specification. The dream of Delta State Government is to elevate Warri Stadium to world-class standard and that is what we have done,” he said.
The new stadium complex, which will see the capacity increased from 17,000 to 20,000 spectators, will feature an upgraded, FIFA-standard hybrid grass surface and a complete overhaul of underground drainage systems.
Adeleke said: “As a contractor, we allow our jobs to speak for us. The Warri Stadium is the first we have done in Nigeria. We are also handling the re-grassing of Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, and we have secured the contract to handle two stadia in Bayelsa State. We might also re-grass the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba. By the time we complete these five stadia, Nigeria will be moving close to countries like Morocco and South Africa in terms of stadia with FIFA-standard hybrid grass surface.”
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