International Football
UPDATED: WHY NIGERIAN OFFICIALS ARE RELUCTANT TO ACCEPT THE ‘FOUNDED 1945’ ERROR
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
The fear of possible backlash has been the major reasons football officials have been reluctant to correct the foundation date of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which until 11 years ago, was known as the NFA.
Presentations of verified documents have been made to successive regimes since 2003. Each regime claimed acceptance of the actual foundation date might put to ridicule, the football body.
For instance, Alhaji Sani Lulu Abdulahi, the NFF chieftain from 2006 to 2010 and now a governorship candidate of the APC in November Gubernatorial Election in Kogi State on November 21, expressed fears about the possible global reception of NFF reversing its foundation date.
What he said 11 years ago may still be very valid as successive heads of the NFF have been reluctant to examine the issue.
It should be noted even FIFA always adjust their record books each time new facts emerge invalidating existing ones.
There have been several instances. Some are listed below:
First Hat-trick of the FIFA World Cup
On November 10, 2006, FIFA officially acknowledged that America’s Bert Patenaude scored the first hat trick of the World Cup.
Before then, for 56 years, FIFA records and vast majority of books on the World Cup gave the credit for the first hat trick to Guillermo Stabile of Argentina.
Another discrepancy that was cleared up by the FIFA press release is that Oldrich Nejedly of Czechoslovakia had been awarded a goal.
Nejedly is now credited with all three of his country’s goals in their 3-1 victory over Germany in the 1934 World Cup semi-final in Italy, which constitute the sixth hat trick in FIFA World Cup history.
Nejedly’s new total of five goals makes him top-scorer outright of the 1934 FIFA World Cup, ahead of Edmund Conen (Germany) and Angelo Schiavio (Italy), with four goals apiece.
Fastest Scorer of FIFA World Cup
For 12 years, FIFA claimed that Englishman, Bryan Robson was the fastest marksman in the World Cup history. Thanks to the goal he scored within 27 seconds in a game against France at the Spain’82 World Cup.
The fact held until 1994 when a British television company, Trans World International came up with evidence to the contrary and provided proof that the honour belonged to the Czech player, Vaclav Masek who put his team ahead 1-0 only 15 seconds into the match against Mexico on June 7, 1962 at the Chile ’62 World Cup.
Most Capped International Player
The former England goalkeeper, Peter Shilton was also wrongly believed by FIFA to be the player with the most international appearances for years.
At the time, Peter Shilton had chalked up 125 caps. But in 1995, the Saudi Arabians came up with new facts that their striker, Majed Abdullah had broken Shilton ‘records’ by more than a few.
The Saudi Arabian FA sent to FIFA documents that proved that their player had had 147 international appearances and that was 22 more than the 125 FIFA attributed to Shilton.
FIFA in a publication on page 10 of the January 1995 edition of FIFA News acknowledged the fact and promptly put the Saudi player as the most capped in the world.
First Official Publication of FIFA disputed
Also, the world football governing body had believed for several years that their first official publication was made in 1929.
But in the FIFA Magazine edition of January 1988, the federation bowed to the views of respected football historian, Paulo Godog who provided evidences that FIFA’s first official publication was in 1905, a year after the body was founded.
If the global body can admit its error and correct it, why can’t an affiliate do the same and put its records straight.
The improper record keeping has always been the bane of sports development in Nigeria.
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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