AFCON
ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST RENAMING OF ONIKAN STADIUM; WHICH STRONG TEAM WILL NIGERIA DRAW AT AFCON 2019 POT 2?
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
It is 67 years this Friday when the premier football ground in Nigeria, the Onikan Stadium, Lagos was first renamed from its original name, The Association Ground.
On this day in 1952, the arena, which was the first home ground of the Nigerian national football team was renamed as King George V (KGV) to mark the coronation of the England monarch.
It is therefore a coincidence that the Nigerian team will draw its Africa Cup of Nations’ opponents on this occasion in Egypt.
Technically, the strongest of the three opponents of the Super Eagles is expected to come from Pot 2. The second level ranked pot hasDR Congo, Ghana, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea and Algeria.
One of these six teams will belong to the same group with the Super Eagles. The draw at the famous Pyramids of Egypt will determine which team.
But significantly, none of the six is strange to the Nigerian side across all competitions, especially the Africa Cup of Nations.
Only Guinea has never fallen in the same group with Nigeria even though both met at the second round of the 1976 edition in Ethiopia. The encounter ended 1-1, no thanks to the last minute equalizer by Papa Camara after Muda Lawal’s early second half goal.
Nigeria and DR Congo (then Zaire) met at Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, in the opening Group B encounter in 1976. Nigeria, then the underdogs, shocked the defending champions with a 4-2 defeat.
Both met again at the Senegal ’92 quarter finals and that of Tunisia ’94. Nigeria triumphed at both matches. Thus, DR Congo has never beaten Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Ghana, another team in Pot 2, is Nigeria’s eternal football rival. Both were in the same Group A at Ghana ’78 and Group B at Cote d’Ivoire 1984.
The first match ended 1-1 in Accra while Nigeria under Chief Adegboye Onigbinde shocked Ghana, 2-1 as defending champions in 1984. The two teams met again in the semi-finals of Senegal ’92 when Ghana avenged the 1984 defeat.
They were at it again at Ghana 2008 second round encounter in which Ghana again triumphed. But before then, Nigeria eliminated Ghana at the quarterfinals of Mali 2002. Both teams clashed again at Angola 2010 semi-finals and Ghana won 1-0.
Mali was in the same Group A at Mali 2002 ending the tie goalless. When they met again at the third place match, Nigeria won 1-0. Nigeria won again 2-1 at the losers’ final match of Tunisia 2004 before a goalless outing at the group stage of Ghana 2008.
The Super Eagles had a massive 4-1 win when both met again at the semi finals of South Africa 2013. So, Mali has never beaten Nigeria in Africa Cup finals’ history!
Cote d’Ivoire was the only team that Nigeria did not beat on the way to winning the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations. Both team played goalless. But when met 10 years later in the same Group A of the continental premier competition, Nigeria won 1-0.
In the march to success at the Tunisia ’94 Africa Cup of Nations, Cote d’Ivoire was the Super Eagles’ last stepping stone to the final, winning 4-2 on penalties after 2-2 score lines at regulation and extra time.
But in 2006 competition in Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire had a revenge of 1-0 in the semi finals and repeated the same at the group stage of 2008 in Sekondi, Ghana. When both met at the quarterfinals of South Africa 2013, Nigeria had a soul-lifting 2-1 win, which sustained the Stephen Keshi-coached side to the ultimate victory in the final. From Pot 2, which team is preferred to be in Nigeria’s group. You can drop your comment ahead of the draw.
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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