The headline carried by Complete Sports
newspaper yesterday was very appealing.
Cash rain for Malawi to beat Eagles.
The story said the Malawi Flames welfare
package will be improved by “hundred
percent “ before their all important 2014
World Cup qualifier against Nigeria in
September.
The story quoted Suzgo Nyirenda the
General Secretary of the Football
Association of Malawi ( FAM ) as saying
further that a proposal has been sent to
the National Sports Council to up the
winning bonus from K 30,000 to
K100,000 while the daily camp allowance
will be moved from $50 dollars a day to
$75 dollars a day.
Tahiti’s goalkeeper Xavier Samin dives for
the ball as Nigeria’s forward Anthony Ujah
heads to the goal, during their FIFA
Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 Group B
football match, at the Mineirao Stadium in
Belo Horizonte on June 17, 2013. Photo:
AFP.
From investigation, Malawi Kwasha 330,
equals one dollar, so by simple
arithmetic, efforts are on to pay the
Malawians $300 dollars (Yes three
hundred dollars) as winning bonus for
them to beat the Super Eagles! Don’t
laugh. I wonder whether the Eagles are
reading this.
Let us move from there to Zambia, host
of the ongoing Council of South African
Football Associations (COSAFA) Senior
Challenge competition. As you are
reading this, I am not sure Coach Keshi
has left for Zambia, but that is where he
should be.
COSAFA embraces Zambia, South Africa,
Angola, Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho etc. In
Zambia, Coach Keshi with or any of his
assistants will not only have the
opportunity of watching Malawi at close
quarters but will also benefit a sneak
preview of South Africa and Zambia, two
countries we are likely to face in the
decisive round of the World Cup if they
make it out of their groups.
Before we get back to Football, let us
punctuate the stories with that of a young
man called Divine Ejowokoghene
Oduduru. “ Africa’s fastest youth” I
repeat that one of the best things to
happen to our sports was the African
Junior Athletics Championship hosted by
AFN in Delta State and won by Nigeria,
dusting all the Kenyans, Ethiopians and
South Africans of the of world track and
field. I gave the Federation Kudos for it
and prayed others to emulate same.
After that championship, I got to read a
lot of rave reviews about the champions
of that event. A particular coach could
have taken a full page advert in a
newspaper to gloat over his discovery of
Oduduru, who he swore was Usain Bolt
personified.
Off we went to the IAAF World Youth
Championship in Donetsk and stories
filtered out that did no credit to my great
expectations of a medals haul. What of
the “great” Oduduru ? That he failed to
even qualify for the 100m final but was
ready to make amends in the 200m by
blowing the opposition to smithereens.
Sunday afternoon, I had the privilege of
watching Oduduru in the 200m final.
What a disappointment, coming in
6th with a time of 21.37 seconds in the
race won by Jamaica’s Michael Ohara in
20.63 seconds. In the words of my wife, “
Why is he so thick and stiff?” Was Warri a
fluke? How come other Africa countries
we dusted were winning medals with
ease? (Including Nigerian born Ketira Orji
of the US who leapt 6.39 in the Long
Jump girls). In the Boys medley relay final
we blundered to 7th position.
Felt so bad on Sunday listening to the
Kenyan and Ethiopian anthems again and
again, watching their athletes mounting
the victory rostrum so often (In the
3000m steeplechase girls, it was all
African affair) Kenya placed second on the
overall medals tables with eleven medals
including four gold. Ethiopia had eight
medals, South Africa two, while Egypt and
Morocco also appeared on the medals
table. No Nigeria.
Pray, do we need a probe to find out what
happened in Warri and Donetsk?
Talking about probes, after reading
Adokiye, Odegbami, Christian Okpara,
Pius Ayinor……..I have nothing to add
concerning the scandalous 145-0 scoreline
that has made us the laughing stock of
world football. I have also called on the
NFF to probe the strange ouster of
Rangers from the CAF Confederation Cup.
Tomorrow, a panel will sit to probe
allegations of sell out in the National
League, while a panel set up by the NSC
to look at the Bonus issue and the Super
Eagles embarrassing posture in Namibia is
to conclude its sitting by next week.
The NFF reacted swiftly by stepping into
the scandalous Nationwide row, but
Christian Okpara of the Guardian says “
…..But followers of Nigerian football
believe the NFF action could be the
prelude to sweeping the matter under
the carpet. Their argument is hinged on
the Federation’s treatment of previous
cases of match fixing including the Lobi
Stars versus Sunshine Stars case of last
season “ Weighty, very weighty. The NFF
must therefore act with dispatch. The
current case is without mincing words a
national disgrace and we must get to the
bottom of it and fast too. NFF is the sole
football controlling body in the land. They
are to conduct the preliminary
investigation and decide to transfer same
to either the police or the EFCC as the
case may be. Any thing to the contrary
will be viewed differently. Ask FIFA.
0 100000:
Post a Comment