International Football
HOW FIFA BLACKLISTED NIGERIA IN ERROR
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
Sports Village Square can confirm that at a time, FIFA did not approve of the annual football contests between Nigeria and the then Gold Coast (now Ghana).
It was based on an assumption that international football contact with Nigeria was illegal.
On August 31, 1953, the Gold Coast FA (Ghana) wrote FIFA to inform it of the impending JALCO Cup contest of October 11, 1953, in Accra and wanted the international body to record it in its calendar of international matches.
FIFA replied on September 16, 1953 and expressed regrets that the match could not hold as Nigeria was not yet a FIFA member.
FIFA drew Gold Coast’s attention to Art. 15 of its statutes which stated: “Associations in membership with the federation, as well as their clubs shall not be allowed to have sporting relations with unaffiliated Associations or clubs without the consent of the federation”.
The letter concluded: “As long as the Nigerian FA is not affiliated with the FIFA, no member of this federation will be allowed to play against Nigerian teams”.
The match took place and apparently, FIFA did not like it and wrote to the Gold Coast FA on February 24, 1954. Gold Coast responded by explaining thus: “We knew the Nigeria Football Association were members of FIFA.
In their communication with us sometime ago, their letter-headed form showed they were affiliated to FIFA, and so we thought we were all members of the same sporting brotherhood.
“Before the match was played, we made a formal application for permission from the FIFA, and we received no reply. We took it for granted that all was well. In view of par. 3 of your letter, it is clear that Nigeria is not a member of FIFA, and we are therefore wrong in assuming that they are. We deeply regret our error”.
FIFA later discovered its own error of judgement and this was conveyed in a December 16, 1954 letter to the Gold Coast FA. Titled “International matches”, it reads: “Referring to our correspondence exchange in February/March 1954 in the above subject matter, we would like to correct the statement made in our letter of 24th February as follows:
“When we wrote you that the Nigerian Football Association were not affiliated to this Federation, it escaped ours (sic) notice that they were affiliated to the Football Association, London.
“Owing to this fact, they are not directly but indirectly affiliated to FIFA and consequently are allowed to play international and other matches against teams of any association in membership with the FIFA.
“The same applies to the Sierra Leone Football Association. You are therefore allowed to play against teams of the Football Associations of Nigeria and Sierra Leone. We would apologise for the error committed and are”.
Former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has been named the new head coach of the England national team, the country’s Football Association said in a statement on Wednesday.
The German, who is England’s third foreign manager, after Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio Capello, will be assisted by Englishman Anthony Barry, the statement added.
“We are thrilled to have hired Thomas Tuchel, one of the best coaches in the world and Anthony Barry who is one of the best English coaches to support him,” FA CEO Mark Bullingham said.
Tuchel replaces Lee Carsley, England’s under-21 manager, who has been in temporary charge since the resignation of Gareth Southgate after England’s defeat by Spain in the Euro 2024 final in July.
-Reuters
German Thomas Tuchel has been appointed head coach of the England national team on Wednesday.
Born: Aug. 29, 1973 in Krumbach, Germany.
PLAYING CAREER
* Tuchel played for his local club TSV Krumbach, before moving to FC Augsburg’s academy at the age of 15.
* He never played for Augsburg’s senior side and joined German second division team Stuttgarter Kickers in 1992.
* After eight league appearances for Kickers, Tuchel moved to fourth-tier SSV Ulm.
* Tuchel made 69 league appearances for Ulm as a central defender before he was forced to retire in 1998 at the age of 25 due to a knee injury.
COACHING CAREER
* Tuchel began his coaching career with a youth team role at VfB Stuttgart in 2000, working with future Germany internationals Mario Gomez and Holger Badstuber.
* He returned to Augsburg and took charge of their reserve team for the 2007-08 season.
* Tuchel was appointed Mainz 05 manager in 2009, replacing compatriot Juergen Klopp.
* He guided Mainz to Bundesliga stability during his five-year stint at the club, gaining plaudits for his team’s high energy, attacking style of play.
* Tuchel took over from Klopp as Borussia Dortmund coach in 2015.
* He led Dortmund to a 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2017 German Cup final. He was sacked by Dortmund three days later.
* Tuchel joined Paris St Germain in 2018 on a two-year contract, replacing Unai Emery.
* He won two Ligue 1 titles, including a domestic quadruple in his second season, and guided the club to their first Champions League final, where they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich.
* Tuchel was sacked by PSG on Christmas Eve in 2020, despite the club finishing top of their Champions League group and sitting third in the Ligue 1 table.
* He was named Chelsea manager in January 2021 on an initial 18-month contract following the dismissal of Frank Lampard.
* Tuchel revived the team’s Premier League season and guided the London club to the Champions League final, where they beat Manchester City. Chelsea also won the Super Cup and Club World Cup.
* Chelsea sacked Tuchel in September 2022 following a shock 1-0 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb in their opening Champions League group game.
* Bayern Munich appointed Tuchel to succeed Julian Nagelsmann in March last year.
* Bayern decided to let Tuchel go at the end of the 2023-24 season despite a contract until 2025. Tuchel steered Bayern to the Bundesliga title in 2022-23, but they finished the last campaign without any silverware for the first time in more than a decade.
* Tuchel will become England’s third foreign manager after Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio Capello.
* Tuchel will take over the team in January ahead of the qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup.
-Reuters
Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Mateus Mane has become hot property after Portugal named the 17-year-old in their Under-18 squad on Friday, one day after England included him in their squad.
Mane was called up for a second successive England youth camp by coach Liam Bramley before the team travel to Marbella for a four-team tournament this month.
Mane is eligible for both teams having played for the Portugal Under-17 side last season. As the Under-18 team is a non-UEFA age group, both nations are entitled to call the player up.
He made his England international debut last month against the Portugal Under-18 side who have named Mane in their squad for a four-nation tournament this month.
With both tournaments running concurrently, Mane can only play for one team and Wolves and England confirmed he would feature in Bramley’s side.
Reuters has contacted Portugal’s football association for clarification.
While players with multiple nationalities have played for more than one country if they are eligible, they are not allowed to switch allegiances at senior level – unless they have played only in friendly matches for the first country.
-Reuters
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