FIFA Ban : Proverbial drawing board and the future of our football

It is assumed that by the time this article is read, our football logjam would have been resolved to the glory of our youth and the develop­ment of the game in Nigeria.

After four qualifications, Thousands of Nigerians were convinced that the just concluded World Cup was the one most likely to meet our expectations in terms of qualifying to a superior round, even the semi finals.

The conclusion was not hasty. After all, like 1994, we were going in as Af­rican Champions and in terms of prepa­rations it was visibly manifested that the Super Eagles were exposed to lots of friendly matches aimed at preparing them well for the mundial.

As is common with all human aspi­rations, it was not to be as we disap­pointingly crashed out in the second round and expectedly so due to extra­neous factors, some of them attributed to power play outside the field of play.

We were then expected to come back and do a little bit of soul searching, go back to the proverbial drawing board and chart a way forward only to be hit by a hurricane, a déjà vue  scenario, one that we had gone through before. The story by now is familiar, of a court that sat, suspended the leadership of foot­ball in this country, of a minister that obeyed the court orders and appointed an Acting Secretary General and the resultant reaction by FIFA suspending Nigeria as stipulated in the Statutes running football globally.

The impact of the FIFA ban can only be imagined. The throwing away of our U-20 girls from the FIFA World Cup, the removal of the Falcons from the AWC draw in Namibia, a competition that will decide continental representa­tives to the FIFA Women World Cup next year, the walking over of our U-17 team, the Eaglets from the African qual­ifiers this week end and the elimination of Nigerians from taking part in confer­ences and seminars, or even operating as referees or match commissioners…

A lot of people have sympathy with the Minister, who is still green in the office for taking a decision that is not in tandem with football administration in the world, but what about his advisers?

It is instructive to also note that it is only after the board had been suspend­ed that we started hearing claims of fi­nancial impropriety and embezzlement of funds etc…

I will be echoing the sentiments of many in saying that government has the right to hold the Maigari Board account­able for whatever monies it gave to it, but they should also be given an oppor­tunity to defend themselves.  There is no how the Maigari Board can expect not to retire monies advanced to it by government, especially when it goes into millions of naira and dollars as we are made to believe. The refusal of same spelt doom for the Lulu Board.

Already, Maigari and co have said that they have been wrongly labeled, so the onus is on the minister to prove oth­erwise, just as the Maigari board should be given a chance to defend itself, less this is considered as just trumped up charges to paint the proverbial kettle black, since allegations leveled against the Lulu board are still to be verified, four years after.

Perhaps what is key here is that we inadvertently mixed up issues, talking about accountability and the rule of law.

We in Nigeria are very familiar with the way FIFA works because we are twice beaten. FIFA says for you to get an elected board out of office, that board must be subjected to the proce­dures as stipulated in the Statutes. In order words there are provisions for doing so, basically the conveying of a congress, or an extraordinary congress for the purpose. Duly convened with the attendant quorum and procedures. Unfortunately, those aggrieved, those who believe that they have been mal­treated by this board are those in the vanguard of their ouster, earlier than the August date fixed for the Congress.

August we believe is good enough time, at least to give this board the op­portunity to write its reports, assess and evaluate its activities, retire funds and be prepared to defend same before the congress.

One is a bit disappointed that while all this is going on, the egg heads of football in this country feigned igno­rance and wanted to make us believe that FIFA’s bluff could be called. What was eye opening is the adoption of the FIFA stance by CAF when it replaced referees supremo, Mr Linus Mba from commissioning a match in Sierra Leone in tandem with the FIFA position.

This is one decision that hit us all and jolted us back to the reality of the situ­ation.

Before this writer left Brazil, where I covered the mundial for my organi­zation, The Sun newspapers, FIFA had written that it will not enter into any correspondence with any body or group of persons outside the duly elected Maigari led board.

The chairmen of football in this country are powerfully placed to go to congress and reject Maigari on charges of financial impropriety if they are so convinced. What will be difficult in contesting is that the Maigari admin­istration has been unparalleled in the success story of football in this country. Without holding brief for them, it can be said and statistically too, that among others in winning the Nations Cup, the FIFA U-17 World Cup, qualifying Ni­geria for CHAN for the first time in our history, playing to the final of the FIFA Women U-20 World Cup etc and equal­ing our best ever result in the World Cup,(second Round) the board can lay claim to a renewed mandate.

We are fully aware that this may not be a full proof reason for returning the Maigari Board, as one  remembers the 2010 episode, which Maigari himself is very familiar with. In saying so, how­ever, we cannot continue to do the same thing and expect different results. It is high time football stakeholders in this country started taking an interest in the way the game is run here, starting from the states.

With due respect to some chairmen in this country, others are not just pulling their weight. Gone are the days when people answer the name chairmen just for the purpose of foreign trips and at­tending congresses for personal ben­efits.

Football must be developed in this country and no better foundation than from the grassroots, the states.

For now, this can be considered a distraction, one that is drawing atten­tion away from the real issues at hand, that is why all hands must be on deck to avoid the FIFA ban, which will enable us to have the opportunity of forging ahead properly.


THE SUN