Sports
Expert Counsels Football Authorities On Crowd Control
A security consultant, Damian Ajah, has urged football authorities in the country to ensure adequate security at all domestic league match venues to prevent crowd problems.
Ajah spoke with newsmen on the need for security at match venues against the backdrop of the crowd trouble in Egypt recently which left 73 people dead.
The fans were killed during a clash between rival fans of Al-Masry and Al-Ahly football clubs at Port Said, while 1,000 were reportedly injured. Al-Masry had upset its bitter rivals 3-1 in the match.
Ajah, who is based in Abakaliki, said that efforts should be made to avert such problems as Nigeria was experiencing internal security challenges as Egypt.
“Egypt has been in political turmoil since the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak just as Nigeria has the menace of Boko Haram.
“The Egyptian authorities failed to realise that the protests across the country could spill over to football venues, a situation linked to the Port Said incident,” he said.
Ajah called for an increase in the number of security personnel and other apparatus at match venues, especially in identified flash points to check incidents of crowd troubles.
“Football authorities should not leave security issues at match venues to the home teams alone but ensure that resources are committed to make security personal dedicated to their duties.
“Crowd unrests at match venues now will be disastrous due to the high level of passion attached to the game and which contributed to the large casualty figures in Egypt,” he said.
He advocated for a mechanism where clubs would be mandated to enlighten their supporters on the need to maintain law and order at stadiums.
“They should be educated on ways of channelling their grievances through appropriate quarters and not taking the law into their hands.
“Spectators found to constitute security threats at match venues should be identified and banned from stadiums to serve a deterrent to others,” he said.
Ajah called on Nigerian referees to be fair while discharging their duties and avoid making biased decisions that would incur the wrath of fans.
According to him, 90 per cent of crowd troubles at stadiums are caused by poor officiating.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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