Sports
Sports: Still A Long Way To Greatness
That outing began Nigeria’s domination of that championship as it has won an unprecedented five titles, the last being the 2015 edition in Chile that threw up Victor Osimhen, Kelechi Nwakali, Samuel Chukwueze and others, to the world.
The national senior team, Super Eagles also arrived at the world scene within the period when they qualified for their first senior FIFA World Cup in USA in 1994. Then under coach Clemens Westerhof, the Super Eagles in their debut appearance wowed the world with their flamboyance and scintillating attacking performance to emerge the third best entertaining team at the championship and made the top five ranking in world football afterwards.
The best so far, at the highest level for now, came two years later in the same United States of America precisely, in the city of Atlanta where some of the best gifted Nigerian players, led by Nwankwo Kanu, Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, Daniel Amokachi, Emmanuel Amuneke, Taribo West, Uche Okechukwu, Sunday Oliseh and others, against all odds marched on Argentina and Brazil to the gold medal of the football event of the Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games.
Regrettably, despite the height and heroics of the 1980s and 1990s, Nigeria, just like in almost all spheres of our national life failed to build on achievements recorded. The country through uncanny misplacement of priorities and poor vision allowed the leadership position attained in some sports, particularly, athletics, boxing, weightlifting and even football to slip away.
Until recently, the country had been playing more than second fiddle in track and field events, amateur boxing, wrestling and weightlifting, which used to inspire hope at continental and world competitions. The sports and a few others slumped to the back seat.
Even football, the king of them all, which has enjoyed more attention than any other event in the country lost steam. After languishing in midtable in the FIFA world ranking some years, Nigeria only began resurging in the latest ranking, climbing up to the 29th position in the world and third in Africa behind Senegal and Tunisia. Of big concern, however, are the domestic football leagues and women’s football. Despite the toga of ‘professional’ attached to the Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL, practices associated with the league, especially, in organization and conduct smack of amateurish approach. This has seen the league fail to make progress and attract the level of sponsorship expected of it. In effect, the league has remained less than attractive to potential investors and fans.
Perhaps, that is why no club, apart from Enyimba FC of Aba, which broke the jinx with a back-to-back victory in 2003 and 2004, has been able to win the elite continental club football honours, the CAF champions League title, for the country.
Also, conditions in the women’s game, especially, the absence of sponsors and prize money have proved less than ideal for its development. This has apparently led to the plummeting of Nigeria’s dominance in women’s football in Africa.
Many countries in the continent have not only closed the gap but are effectively threatening to overtake Nigeria. The ignominy of having been to all the Women’s World Cup since its maiden edition in China in 1991, yet, the Falcons have not been able to make the quarter final stage remains a huge cloak of embarrassment on the country.
It is however, not all gloom for the sector. Stakeholder believe that sports in the country has been a mixed bag of success and failure, though stunted in growth.
For fanny Amun, the coach that took the U-17 to gold in Japan in 1993, one time Head of NFF’s Technical department and currently, a grassroots development technocrat, Nigeria has not done too badly.
“We’ve done well so far,” he said. “There’s always a starting point, the mid point and the final point and ‘we’ve not gotten to the mid point, it’s still a learning process and we’re not bad”.
Amun believes that the future is bright and that there is hope for the sports sector in Nigeria.
Perhaps, Amun’s optimism stems from recent encouraging signals emanating from different fields of sports. The country seems to be rising to the challenge in some sports where it had hitherto failed to impress. In basketball, apart from dominating the African scene in recent time, Nigeria’s D’Tigers and D’Tigress have been able to rub shoulder with the world’s best countries in the game.
In addition, the excellent job being done in wrestling by the team led by Wrestling Federations President, Hon Daniel Igali, which has produced internationally acclaimed stars in Odunayo Adekuoroye, Blessing Obrodudu and others, are developments that have raised the ante for the Country.
The emergence of Nigerian athletes in the Track and Field, especially, the short distances, like Blessing Okagbare, Divine Oduduru, Tobi Amusan, Ese Brume and Raymond Ekerwa may be indication that the country, thought, without claiming much of the credit for their emergence, is on the right track to rediscover its process in athletics.
It is also delightful to note that the Super Eagles, now populated with products from youth teams and tournaments are now flying in the right direction. They have begun to assert themselves, compete effectively and qualify more consistently for tournaments.
Also, Nigerian footballers, who almost went extinct in top European clubs are now bouncing back to reckoning.
But for former NFF board member, and Head of Technical department, chairman, Rivers State FA and Special Assistant to Rivers State Governor on Real Madrid Football Academy, Barr. Christopher Green, it has not been rosy for sports in the country as we seem to have missed the mark.
According to him, “We missed the foundation set by our founding fathers and the gains of our past achievements.
“Over the recent past, we’ve not been doing very well, its not been rosy”, he said. “It’s like one step forward and many more backward, things have not even improved now, you can say that things are not going on very well the way we would have wanted it”.
He described football as the King of sports in Nigeria and many other countries. “If you don’t get it right in football, it’s taken that something is wrong with the sector, if football doesn’t do well, then all other sports too wouldn’t have done well,” he said.
‘In terms of achievement, it’s not been rosy with football since after 2013 and 2014. But I think we’ve been trying to get out of the woods at the moment,” he said.
Green said that Nigeria missed it when the country deviated from the National Sports Commission, NSC, Model set in 1963 and embraced the Sports Ministry model.”The NSC model, where experienced technocrats are in charge is the model that we were set up to operate and that was the foundation of the founding fathers and not ministry type, where you have politicians or political heads manning very specialized areas, you can hardly get the best.
A lot of politicking, favoritism, personal / sectoral interests have not really helped us to grow. Again, putting round pegs in square holes is our major problem.
He however, believes that the country has great potential in sports and can live up to its billing with the right people incharge and with the right policies in place.
“Lets hope that good policies will come, good decisions will be made, so that we can try to achieve more. But for you to have a sound policy, you should not only have a tried tested and proven technocrat, he should be put incharge in order to get it right” said Green.
As the country celebrated its anniversary yesterday and stocks are taken, it is apparent that sports has not lived up to its billing in spite of available potentials.
Therefore, a lot of introspection and redirection have to be done, in fact, the sports egg heads in the country need to go back to the drawing board.
In the words of the President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, SWAN, Honour Sirawoo “Sports has the potential and economic capacity to change the landscape of Nigeria, economically and otherwise. However, there must be a clearly thought out policy, deliberate effort to invest in and tap the values of sports and ensure effective synergy between the three elements and tripod of excellence in sports, which are the administrators, participators and promoters”.
Cont’d from October 1, 2020
Sports
I Joined Saudi League To Win Titles – Senegal Keeper
Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has said that criticism that he and other players chased money by moving to Saudi Arabia is wide of the mark.
The 33-year-old left Chelsea for Al-Ahli in a £16m ($21.4m) deal in 2023, and in May the Africa Cup of Nations winner helped his Saudi club win the Asian Champions League, making him one of the few players to win both that competition and its European equivalent.
But, like many others, Mendy has been criticised for playing for money rather than prestige in the lucrative Saudi Pro League.
When asked about such criticism, Mendy told a Tidesports source, “Al-Ahli’s project came along and they made me feel I had a big role to play.
“Two years later, we won the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. So yes, that validates my choice. And I hope the coming years will validate it even more.”
He added: “Some people will quickly jump to conclusions and say the only reason is money. From the start, I always said that when I left Chelsea, I knew I was joining another team where I could win everything , which was no longer the case at Chelsea.”
The Blues have since won the Conference League, Europe’s third-tier club competition, under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
But it comes after the regime’s trophyless first two years, a period which has frustrated some supporters after the success enjoyed under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship in the previous 19 years.
Mendy has also been celebrating what he describes as a historical win with Senegal against England at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, but days earlier he had been in Dakar delivering a different kind of win.
He is the sponsor of Yakaar, a school in Keur Massar, which seeks to improve funding and access to digital learning tools for local children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Famously, as Mendy grew up in France, he was unemployed, aged 22, while struggling to find a club, with members of his family still living on the outskirts of Dakar.
That is why Yakaar, a word meaning “hope”, was chosen, a word Mendy has carried with him in his career.
“Hope is what kept me going. When I was without a club, it was the hope of getting that first professional contract.
“Then the hope of playing for the national team. The hope of making my family proud by doing the job I had always dreamed of.
“Indeed, hope is the best word to describe my career.”
Mendy was also asked whether the responsibility of being an African goalkeeper had weighed heavily on him.
“Of course. When I was in England, there weren’t many African goalkeepers in top clubs,” he admitted.
“Whether nationally or internationally, I had that responsibility. It’s the same for other African goalkeepers like Andre Onana [Manchester United] or Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal).”
Sports
Spanish Football Fires Entire Refereeing Committee
The entire refereeing committee has been fired by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), with structural reforms soon set to follow.
According to sources, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has dismissed the entire refereeing committee in response to mounting pressure from clubs demanding structural reform. A major shake-up aimed at modernising Spanish refereeing from top to bottom has now been set in motion.
Head of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo and Head of VAR, Carlos Clos Gomez, have been removed from their positions. They are joined by several senior officials, including Antonio Rubinos Perez and three vice presidents, who are also stepping down. A new leadership model will be introduced, led by a CEO and a sporting director, aiming to overhaul how refereeing is managed covering assessments, promotions, and daily operations. While the leadership changes are sweeping, the current pool of referees in La Liga and the second tier will remain, ensuring continuity on the field during the transition.
Sports
Ronaldo Renews Stay With Saudi Pro League
Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a new two-year contract with Al-Nassr that means he will stay with the Saudi Pro League club until beyond his 42nd birthday.
The Portugal captain, 40, joined the Riyadh-based team in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United in acrimonious circumstances, having criticised the club and said he had no respect for manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr deal had been due to expire at the end of June and there was speculation he could leave, but that has now been quashed.
In a post on X, Ronaldo wrote: “A new chapter begins. Same passion, same dream. Let’s make history together.”
Although Al-Nassr have not added to their nine domestic titles during Ronaldo’s time at the club, they have benefited from a flood of goals from the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronaldo scored 35 times in 41 matches across all competitions last term and was the league’s top scorer for a second consecutive season.
He has managed 99 goals in appearances overall for Al-Nassr and is well on his way to reaching 1,000 senior goals in his career, with a current tally of 938 for club and country.
Having helped Portugal win the Uefa Nations League a little over two weeks ago, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, Sporting and Juventus forward will almost certainly now be targeting a sixth World Cup appearance next summer.
Only a month ago, Ronaldo posted on social media to say “the chapter is over”.
That came after the Saudi Pro League wrapped up with Al-Nassr finishing third and trophyless once again.
The comment fuelled rumours that Ronaldo was ready to leave the league where he reportedly became the best-paid player in football history with an annual salary of £177m when he joined.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino raised the prospect of Ronaldo joining a team involved in the Club World Cup after Al-Nassr failed to qualify for the extended tournament which is being held in the United States.
Ronaldo said he had received offers from participating teams but had turned them down.
The decision to stay until at least 2027, which is certain to be highly lucrative, appears to rule out any future prospect of Ronaldo returning to play at the highest level in Europe.