International Football
HOW AND WHY MUSA, IGHALO AND IWOBI LOST OUT IN AFRICAN FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR CONTEST
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The CAF Awards 2018 is over. Nigeria’s only mark at the colourful ceremony in Dakar Senegal was the winning of the national women’s team of the year award. In the other more elevating awards, Nigeria and Nigerians were confined to the status of anonymity.
The most prestigious of the awards is that of the Africa Footballer of the Year which was expectedly won by the rave of the moment, Mohamed Salah of Egypt and Liverpool.
In the first shortlist of 34 players, there were three Nigerians – Ahmed Musa, Odion Ighalo and Alex Iwobi.
First to be eliminated was Musa who could not make it to the next stage on December 14, 2018 when the list was pruned to 10. At that stage, it was the 18-man Technical and Development Committee of CAF that decided.
Among them is Nigeria’s Ahmed Yusuf who did not vote. His not voting could not be because there were Nigerian candidates as other members of the committee also have their nationals short listed.
The only vote that Ahmed Musa got was from Alshelmani Abdulhakimamg of Libya. He gave Musa full mark of five. That was the only mark that Musa got.
While Musa had five points, Egypt’s Mohamed Salah had 54. Sadio Mane was a distant second with 31 while Aubameyang was third with 18.
Nigeria’s Odion Igalo had no vote at all from the members of the Technical and Development Committee.
He was not alone in that category. Eight other players also scored blank.
Iwobi got into the second stage of the poll having obtained nine points to rank fifth among the initial 34. His votes were from Hazem Imam of Egypt who gave him three points while the duo of Malouche Belhassan of Tunisia and Fran Smith of South Africa each awarded him two points.
Iwobi got a point each from the duo of Uganda’s Watson Suubi Edgar and Korichi Taoufique of Algeria.
In the next stage involving the top 10 among the original 34, the coaches as well as the Technical Directors and captains of national teams voted.
Both Gernot Rohr and Mikel Obi each gave Alex Iwobi maximum five points. That helped in giving Iwobi a total of 68 points. But that was far below the 351 obtained by Mohamed Salah and 293 of Sadio Mane.
The last stage involved votes from the designated media men, legends and coaches of CAF inter clubs competitions.
Among the chosen 16 media men, only two voted for Iwobi. They are Ayotunde Adelakun, a member of Gernot Rohr’s backroom staff and Mondher Chaouachi, the head of press and communication of Esperance of Tunisia.
While Adelakun expectedly gave Iwobi his maximum point of five, Chaouachi ranked the Nigerian second and gave him four points to put his total at nine.
At that stage, Salah was already coasting home with 70 points, also profiting from Chaouachi’s five and Adelakun’s three.
Among the 10 legends that voted, there were three Nigerians – Daniel Amokachi, Mercy Akide and Perpetua Nkwocha. Daniel Amokachi did not vote for Alex Iwobi. His votes were for Mohamed Salah –five; Aubameyang – four and Sadio Mane – three.
Mercy Akide voted Iwobi as third, given him three marks while offering Salah the maximum five and Mane had four.
Perpetua Nkwocha voted similarly. She gave Iwobi three points, Salah had five, and Mane got four from her.
Iwobi got 12 points from the legends as against 50 by Salah and 31 of Mane. Apart from the six points that Iwobi got from Akide and Nkwocha, the other half came from three points from Ghana’s Black Queens’ captain, Adjoa Bayor, two points from Mark Fish of South Africa and a point from Patrick Mboma of Cameroon.
The last sets of voters were coaches of the quarter-finalists of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup in 2018. They were 16 in all. The coach of Enyimba did not vote for Alex Iwobi. Rather, his votes were for: Salah (five points), Mane (four points), Aubamayang (three points), Mehdi Benatia (Morocco & Juventus (two points) and Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City) had a point.
Overall, Iwobi had 100 points when all points scored were summed up. That put him fifth behind Salah (567), Mane (440), Riyad Mahrez (193) and Mehdi Benatia (105).
International Football
Players’ union, FIFPRO, wants 20-minute halftimes, more cooling breaks amid extreme heat
Global players’ union FIFPRO is exploring whether extending halftime to 20 minutes and introducing more frequent cooling breaks could better protect players from extreme heat.
Nine of the 16 host cities for the 2026 World Cup face conditions considered “extreme risk” for heat-related illness.
Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Monterrey and Philadelphia are expected to face dangerous levels of heat and humidity, posing player safety concerns and fuelling calls for mandatory cooling aids or schedule changes.
FIFPRO’s heat risk assessments are based on wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a measure combining temperature, humidity, solar radiation and wind speed to estimate how environmental conditions affect the body’s ability to cool itself.
Under FIFPRO guidelines, a WBGT reading above 28 degrees Celsius indicates conditions in which matches should be postponed or rescheduled to protect players’ health.
By comparison, world soccer governing body FIFA’s own guidelines set the extreme risk threshold higher, at 32 degrees Celsius WBGT – but even by that standard, six of the nine cities are still projected to exceed safe limits.
Major League Soccer in the U.S. has a threshold of 29 degrees Celsius WBGT.
“Cooling breaks at the 30th minute and 75th minutes are quite traditional, but from a physiological point of view it does not make sense,” said Vincent Gouttebarge, FIFPRO’s Medical Director.
“Even if you ingest more than 200 millilitres of fluid, you already cannot take it all. So I would definitely like to see some project where we look at the efficacy of perhaps more frequent but shorter cooling breaks – every 15 minutes, rather than only one during each half.”
LONGER HALFTIMES
Gouttebarge also questioned whether the traditional 15-minute halftime interval is sufficient when matches are played in extreme heat.
“You can imagine that halftime of 15 minutes might not be enough in order to decrease the core temperature,” he said.
“It could be a halftime of 20 minutes which would be significant. That has been shown in the laboratory and FIFPRO, together with the national union in Portugal in August, we are going to test this kind of mitigation strategy.”
The urgency of stronger heat protocols became clear at this month’s Club World Cup where two matches — Benfica-Bayern Munich in Charlotte and Chelsea-Esperance in Philadelphia exceeded the WBGT threshold FIFPRO considers unsafe.
“According to our position, those games should have been postponed later that day or rescheduled,” Gouttebarge said.
FIFPRO officials acknowledged that FIFA has responded constructively during the tournament by lowering thresholds for mandatory cooling breaks and improving pitch-side hydration, but stressed that proactive planning is critical.
“FIFA have been quite responsive once the tournament was under way,” said Alex Phillips, FIFPRO General Secretary.
“They have actually modified how they’ve been dealing with heat during the matches based on FIFPRO’s input, which is credit to the work of the team. Obviously, it would have been better if that happened in advance, but it’s better that they have adapted.”
FIFPRO warned that the risks highlighted at the Club World Cup are a preview of what players could face at the expanded 2026 World Cup.
“This is not just affecting the Club World Cup, but also future tournaments either in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world,” said Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO Director of Policy & Strategic Relations.
“We need a better balance between commercial interests and the health and safety of players,” he added, referring to earlier kick-off times to accommodate European television audiences.
-Reuters
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Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Ince has been charged with drink-driving, police said on Monday.
Ince, who earned 53 caps for England and won two Premier League titles during his six years at United, has been released on bail and will appear in court on July 18.
“The incident involved a black Range Rover which had collided with the central reservation barrier. Officers attended the scene and arrested a 57-year-old man,” the Cheshire police said in a statement.
“Paul Ince, of Quarry Road, Neston, has since been charged with drink-driving.”
Reuters has contacted Ince’s representative for comment.
After retiring as a player, Ince led Milton Keynes Dons to a League Two title in 2007-08. He most recently managed Reading during 2022-23.
-Reuters
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International Football
From garbage collector to Starman of Ancelotti’s Brazil team: the story of Ribeiro
“I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me.!” Alex Ribeiro
Alexsandro Victor de Souza Ribeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 1999) was, until a few days ago, a semi-unknown to the general public in Brazil.
However, Carlo Ancelotti, impressed by his strong performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League, insisted on calling up the Lille centre-back… and giving him his debut.
Not only that. He started alongside Marquinhos against Ecuador (0-0) and Paraguay (1-0) and helped the Seleçao keep two consecutive clean sheets for the first time in the qualifying rounds.
Alex, as he likes to be called, impressed with his 1.92 meters (6′ 1″) frame and confidence. According to ‘R10Score’, he was the Brazilian player who completed the most actions with the ball (186) and the second with the most cuts (11).
He completed 154 of the 166 passes he made (92% accuracy) and won 12 of the 16 duels he was involved in: 5 of 7 at ground level and 7 of 9 in the air. “A gentleman defender,” boasted the official Ligue 1 Portuguese account.
His path to the elite wasn’t easy. “I don’t think you know this, but this is my first game as a professional in Brazil. Strange, isn’t it? There’s nothing better. To debut in Brazil like this, with a win and qualification,” he boasted after defeating Paraguay.
These first few days with Ancelotti have been unique; I’ll remember them for the rest of my life. I’ve responded well not only to myself, but also to the coach and the Brazilian people. I was able to demonstrate my ability to those who had doubts. Few people give me the opportunity that the manager has given me,” he insists
The Lille centre-back took his first steps in Flamengo’s youth system, where he even met Vinicius.
“When we played against Real Madrid, Vini came up to me and hugged me. He said, ‘I’m glad to see you here, brother.’ That inspired and motivated me even more,” he told ‘Globo Esporte’.
‘Fla’ cut him off. He had to make a living as a street vendor. He also collected trash, especially cans. “I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me, so I went to Europe to play in Portugal’s Third Division.”
Praiense (2018-20), Amora (2020-21), and Chaves (2021-22)—the latter already in the Second Division—were his springboard to Lille. The Bulldogs signed him in 2022-23 for €2 million. He has become a more than worthy successor to his compatriot Gabriel Magalhaes.
“Little by little, my name is spreading. My football is reaching everywhere. This includes Brazil,” he said before making his debut with the Seleçao. Now that he’s made it, he has another challenge: “I want to continue it.”
-Marca
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