In the aftermath, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)
officials have come under severe criticism, not so much for the result (a
camping exercise in France suggests they did quite enough to ensure a
favourable result) but for their inability to provide the official
Confederation of African Football (CAF) match balls for the game. The game went
ahead as scheduled, but with balls on which ‘RSA’ were quite visible. This led
to much amusement from the South African match commentary team, as they tried
to understand precisely why this farcical situation had played out.
When an explanation eventually came forth, it was every bit
as inane as we have come to expect from our football authorities through the
years. Improbably, the balls had been stuck at the ports since January,
requiring a relatively meagre sum (150,000 Naira) to clear. The NFF’s
inability/reluctance to raise this ‘ransom’ led to borrowing from South Africa.
As a metaphor for the entire game, it was very apt. The real surprise though is
that, to this point, there has been no official explanation offered; no one has
lost his job in the face of this staggering shame. It was downright poor, and
the fact that no one has been held to account is even more so.
One NFF respondent referred to it as a “national disgrace”,
while some of the more experienced journalists in the country have not
hesitated to bare their minds on this unfortunate incident. “Calling it a
scandal is just trying to water it down, it’s a monumental disaster that a big
footballing nation like Nigeria could not present the official match ball for
an international game,” said Kunle Solaja, editor of online platform
SportsVillageSquare.
“What happens if South Africa had not travelled here with
their official balls? It shows that we don’t even travel for away games with
our match balls. The person in charge of this issue should be sacked because he
has put the country under the spotlight of a global embarrassment.”
Mind you, this incident is not the only ball controversy in
Nigerian football lately. Rivers United, representing Nigeria on the continent
at the CAF Confederation Cup, were subject to similar ignominy when they
admitted they had been training with old balls following their loss to Tunisian
side Club, Africain. They similarly had to accept to use the balls brought by
FUS Rabat when the Moroccan side came visiting in the competition. Their
allotment of 100 balls is included in the total shipment of 250, which NFF has
been too poor to clear all this time.
Top football journalist Afolabi Gambari says those
responsible should have been sacked already or taken the honourable route by
resigning. “Like any right-thinking Nigerian should react, I think it’s
calamitous that our administrators have taken ineptitude to a new level,”
Gambari said. “I can only say that to be honourable the NFF guys should account
for their misdemeanour by resigning their positions because it is a national
embarrassment.”
The likelihood of such happening is quite slim though. This
is Nigeria, after all: we have had to endure our fair share of shoddiness when
it comes to providing equipment for the national team. So, it is unlikely
anything will be done. As a matter of fact, as of this moment, the NFF are yet
to even acknowledge officially that such a situation exists, in a classic case
of burying its head in the sand.
The NFF President Amaju Pinnick has done well for himself,
all things considered, but the state of his own home FA is a greater indicator
of his leadership ability than being on the CAF Executive Committee and
presiding over the Nations Cup committee.
As anyone will tell you, when it comes to hosting sporting
events, it is the little things that count. Having the right balls, for
example. It is absurd that the NFF reportedly spent around 30 million naira to
host a game, and yet were unable to put up 150,000 naira to get their own balls
through the ports. In a saner clime, heads would most certainly roll for this
sort of embarrassment. But then again, this is Nigeria: making a virtue out of
sweeping things underneath the carpet.
0 comments:
Post a Comment