Hopefully come Wednesday
February 14th, the CHAN Eagles will be hosted by the government to officially
appreciate their effort at the just concluded 5th edition of the Championship
of African Nations (CHAN) in Morocco.
The Salisu Yusuf tutored
side ably assisted by former Rangers coach and now Elkanemi Warriors of Borno
sweat merchant, Imama Amakakpabo, went to morocco, saw but did they conquer?
Yes and No. Yes in the
sense that they fought their way to the final for the first time, thus posting
a better record from our initial first round and third place outings respectively.
That no doubt is a commendable
outing even though a school of thought believes that on that rainy final of
February 4th in Casablanca, the team had every opportunity to turn the
table if they had gone the extra mile.
Another school of
thought dismissed excuses bothered on rain, cold, general weather condition and
the effect of having to play at all the four venues of Tangier, Agadir,
Marakech and Casablanca compared to their final opponents who had the pleasure
of playing all their matches in Casablanca.
To proponents of this
school of thought, any team that qualifies for a championship like CHAN,
Nations Cup, World cup, CAF
Champions League, CAF
Confederation Cup etc should be prepared to play at various venues with its
attendant challenges after all that is what competition is all about.
So it is either you play
to win or lose since every competition is challenged by the same scenario.
Let’s simply say congratulates
the Eagles and then focus on making amends for the future.
However the relevance or
otherwise of the Supporters club and the cold war between it and the Nigeria
Football Federation (NFF) came to the fore just before the final. The
supporters could not make it to Morocco and were bitter about it, though they
were on hand to welcome the team on return after the final. The question is, would the presence of the Supporters
club have made a difference?
Could they have served
as a ginger for a last minute turn around?
The questions were
prompted by outburst by President General of the club, Rafiu Ladipo who accused
the present Amaju Pinnick led board of the NFF of having a disdain for the
supporters club and doing everything within its powers to strangle it.
According to him the
board has total disdain for the club and is plotting and praying to see the
club bite the dust. The NFF he further alledged scuttled the club's plan to be
in morocco by painting the black, thus making it difficult for its members to
get passage to the championship. Speaking on Raypower just before the final, an
angry Ladipo said the NFF said they cannot guarantee anybody. Hear him “We
don't need their guarantee. They should
leave us alone. Supporters club has been
there for 62 years. We have worked with
all past Presidents of NFF chairmen of NFA, this present board of NFF is not
happy that we are united and is bent on destroying the club," he
submitted.
The Super Eagles have
qualified for the World Cup in Russia and the Glass House taken by its words is
doing everything to ensure that the usual squabbles over payment of bonuses and
allowances which sometimes takes the shine off our participation and even
affects performance indirectly are reduced in Russia if not eliminated.
Will the cold war between
the supporters club and the NFF end before heading to Russia or will it like a
virus to be allowed to grow into an unwanted distraction?
Prior to this
NFF/Supporters club brouhaha, the supporters club itself has reportedly been in
crisis with Rev Samuel Ikpea and Vincent Okumagba both laying claims to being
in charge. While the Okumagba faction supported
by younger ones want a change and departure from the 20 dominance by Rafiu
Ladipo, the Ikpea faction want the status quo to remain. Perhaps this explains
why the NFF is keeping the club at arms length in the hope that its crisis does
not affect the Super Eagles and perhaps by extension the country's image
abroad, just perhaps.
All attempts made to get
the Glass House reaction to this fresh allegation by the Supporters club proved
abortive as calls and test message sent to the spokesman of the football ruling
house went unanswered.
The no response posture
of the football house could be well be interpreted that it does not wish to
join issues with the supporters club.
Be that as it may, the
manner in which the Super Eagles qualified for the World Cup in Russia has been
likened to sweet melody by some Nigerians and they are hoping that the melody
would continue.
Whether Eagles fly in
Russia or not is not the issue for now, they just want to enjoy the melody
while it lasts and so any distraction from any quarter will be unacceptable.
What this means is that the players who are the main actors of the Mundial, the
NFF who administer the game in the country and the supporters club who pride
themselves as being able to produce ginger to boost the fighting spirit when
the going gets tough must all be at
peace with themselves for the good of all.
The Nation’s image has
always been a source of worry, interestingly sports has often been used to
launder it especially when our athletes do well in international competitions.
Such intermittent goodwill should not be dented by any department or group
which explains why any squabble no matter how little it is considered to be,
must be addressed before heading to Russia.
Nigerians deserve to be
spared unpleasant distractions during the World cup.
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