AFCON
RED ALERT! SUPER EAGLES, FALCONS WILL NOT BE CAUGHT UNAWARE OF FOOTBALL NEW RULES, SAYS NFF
With the recent changes in football rules which are to take effect on June 1, a busy month for both the Super Eagles and Super Falcons, the NFF will acquaint the Nigerian national teams of the development.
It will be recalled that International Football
Association Board (IFAB) at its 133rd Annual General Meeting held on March 2nd,
2019 in Aberdeen, Scotland, made five major changes to the rules of
football.
Those changes are expected to come into force from June 1st this year. The Super Eagles will feature in the now expanded Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt while their women counterparts, the Super Falcons will be engaged at the Women’s World Cup in June in France.
Some are minor others are a lot more dramatic. First, there will be no rebounds from penalties, meaning play will stop for a restart if a penalty is saved or hits the post. There will no longer be opportunity of a follow up to score from such rebounds.
That was the way Nigeria got a goal in a March 14, 1984 semi final match against Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations. Stephen Keshi’s penalty kick was parried by the Egyptian goalkeeper, Ekramy El-Shahat before Keshi lashed on the rebound to score.
That will no longer be acceptable. On the topic of defining handball, a decision was taken by The IFAB to provide a more precise and detailed definition for what constitutes handball, in particular with regard to the occasions when a non-deliberate/accidental handball will be penalised.
For example a goal scored directly from the hand/arm (even if accidental) and a player scoring or creating a goal-scoring opportunity after having gained possession/control of the ball from their hand/arm (even if accidental) will no longer be allowed.
Also according to the change in rules, a substituted player can leave the field anywhere to guide against time wasting by the advantaged team.
Additional approved Law changes included: measures to deal with attacking players causing problems in the defensive ‘wall’, changing the dropped ball procedure, giving a dropped ball in certain situations when the ball hits the referee and the goalkeeper only being required to have one foot on the line at a penalty kick.
Finally, coaches will receive cards instead of reprimands. Now, they can be able to be given yellow and red cards just like players.
According to Nigerian newspaper, ThisDay, the NFF will proactively move to educate Nigerian players on the changes in football rules.
“We are ready to adapt to the changes that will come into force in the next few months.
“Nigerian football has suffered from negligence in the past but in this digital age, we are more abreast to adaptation that goes with whatever change in our dynamic sport.
“In the days to come, the Technical Department and its Committee will soon meet on how best to educate all the teams and not only the Super Eagles, the same message will go down to clubs participating in the continental competition and also in the domestic football,” Head of Communication NFF, Ademola Olajire revealed told ThisDay.
In the past, changes in football rules affected Nigerian teams. For instance, when FIFA adopted the head-to-head rule as tie-breaker in the qualifying series for the 2006 World Cup, Nigerian officials were oblivious, more so after Enugu Rangers had fallen victims of the same rule a year earlier in the CAF Confederation Cup semi final clash with Ghana’s Asante Kotoko
Also, the then Green Eagles were victims of the ‘ball-in-flight’ rule when it was introduced in June 1987.
Indomitable Lions of Cameroon were the beneficiary of the rule as the goal they scored was considered legal in the group stage match against Nigeria in the Nations Cup tournament held in Morocco in 1988.
The goal by Roger Milla cancelled Samuel Okwaraji’s brilliant early lead for Nigeria. The match ended 1-1 a piece.
Most local pundits and Nigerian bench felt the team was robbed, that the centre referee judgment was wrong to have allowed that goal.
The Nigerian coaches insisted that it should have been ruled an offside. However, the new rule was later interpreted to the team to avoid such mistakes in their subsequent
Ghana Black Stars lost 2-0 to Sudan Tuesday afternoon in matchday 4 of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series putting their prospects in great doubt.
The former three-time African champions are now third in Group F having accrued just two points from four matches. Sudan, with seven points, are second.
Angola, who still have a match to play later in the day with bottom-placed Niger, are on top with nine points.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
With CAF referring the case of the botched Libya-Nigeria match to its
Disciplinary Board, a nine-man panel has the task of deciding which party was at fault.
Possible decision could be forfeiture of the match by the offending party or rescheduling of the fixture. The latter seems unlikely considering the already congested international calendar.
Even if that were to be the decision, the match would likely be taken to a neutral ground.
On the other hand, the board may also take it that it was Nigeria that refused to play the match after having hosted the first leg.
In that case, Article 62 of the competition’s regulations will be enforced. It reads: “Any team that withdraws or refuses to play the return match after having played the first leg on its territory must refund the association of the visiting team a minimum sum of fifteen thousand (15,000) U.S. dollars in reparation for the damage suffered by the host country.”
If the NFF is adjudged as the culprit, the body will be fined $15,000. Chapter 19 of the regulations gives a window to appeal the fine. But judging from the CAF statement of the situation, and the condemnation of the treatment meted out to the Super Eagles, the fine is very unlikely as the weight of evidence tilts against the Libyans who in the x-handle admitted keeping the Super Eagles in captivity with an explanation that episode was largely due to an airport protocol mishap.
A decision lies firstly on the nine-man panel. With the possibility of the losing side not satisfied, another nine-man panel, the Appeals Board will take a possible final decision which can only be contested at the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS)
Here are the decision-makers:
Disciplinary Board
- Ousmane Kane, Senegal. – President.
- Jane Njeri Onyango, Kenya – Vice President.
- Norman Arendse, South Africa – member
- Mohamed Mostafa El-Mashta, Egypt. – member
- Djonfoune Golbassia Felix, Chad. – member
- Patrick Shale, Lesotho – member
- Douma Ibrahim Issaka – Niger. -member
- Ruth Kisaakye, Uganda. -member
- Drucil Taylor, Sierra Leone. – member
Appeal Board
Justice Roli Daibo Harriman, Nigeria
Faustino Varela Monteiro, Cape Verde
Moez Ben Tahar Nasri, Tunisia
Moses Ikanqa, Namibia
Hamoud T’feil Bowbe, Mauritania
Mohamed Robleh Djama, Djibouti
Asogbavi Komlan, Togo
Justice Masauko Timothy Msungama, Malawi
Lubamba Ngimbi Hector, DR Congo
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The Libya-Nigeria Group D tie of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers scheduled for this Tuesday has been put off owing to the refusal of the Libyan authorities to allow the Nigerian team to enter their territory for the match.
As a result, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has referred the case to its Disciplinary Board to make an appropriate decision. The immediate consequence of this is the delay of the Nigerian team picking an early qualification as has been done by Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Algeria who have all qualified after four matches.
A win by Nigeria on Tuesday would have taken their point haul to 10 while a draw would take their total to eight. That way, irrespective of the result of the Rwanda-Benin Republic corresponding match would have qualified the Super Eagles for Morocco 2025 as they would not have ended below second position in Group D.
They now await the decision of the CAF body. A possible outcome could be Libya’s forfeiture of the match. A case in point is that of USM Alger of Algeria versus Morocco’s RS Berkane in last year’s Confederation Cup semi-final duel when the Moroccans were unjustly delayed at the airport by the Algerians.
In the case of the Super Eagles, it was worse as theirs was not just delayed, they were locked up in a desolate airport in what was a psychologically draining and energy sapping tactics.
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