International Football
I WARNED AGAINST FIELDING OKWARAJI ON THE DAY HE DIED, SAYS PAT EKEJI
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
Former Nigerian international who also coached the national team, Pat Ekeji, has revealed that he cautioned against the fielding of Samuel Okwaraji on the day he died in 1989.
The all-round sports personality whose featured in all aspects of football as a player, coach, teacher at the National Institute of Sports, sports writer and later administrator, informed www.sportsvillagesquare.com that the death of Okwaraji was unfortunate, but he cautioned against the fielding of the player on that fateful August 12, 1989 match.
Okwaraji would have been 55 last Sunday and his birthday was marked by Google search engine placing his image on its home page.
“I queried the wisdom of fielding Okwaraji in that match as he happened to have been, from what I gathered, on a visit home since the soccer season in Europe was on break.
“Obviously his body was not yet tuned-in for sporadic movements to which he was introduced to under take in that match.
“It was either he was assigned the role of roving mid-field play without boundaries or he was sucked-in with the flow of the game that his cardiovascular function got over laboured because the system was yet in “holiday” phase.
“It was unlikely he had cardiovascular mal or sub-function as this would have been detected by his club’s medical team in Europe.”
Dr. Pat Ekeji who had handled the national team in 1985 and later rose to the pinnacle of Nigerian sports administration as Director General of the National Sports Commission recalled his earlier teachings.
“I used to teach the subject of the science of high performance training at the NIS when I was there and it was a core and compulsory subject Student that coaches must pass in order to acquire the basic coaching certificate – then Grade 3 Certification.
“I do not know what teaching goes on there today but I think too that some coaches do not take advice from the medical team. I know this. There is need more education in this field for our coaches and this one reason I keep advocating for the return of the NSC.
“The NIS today is like a “motherless” child. I doubt if it gets any attention at all. That sector is one of the four pillars of our sport development.”
Samuel Okwaraji slumped and died on the field in the 81st minute of Nigeria’s World Cup qualifying duel with Angola.
Unknown
that he had died while he was stretched out of the field, Okwaraji was later
substituted by Ademola Adesina.
Sadly, the match at the Lagos National Stadium was Okwaraji’s first at the arena and it was the last time he lived. He was the only Nigerian player that got cautioned that day by Togolese referee Hounnake-Koussai.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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