Governing Bodies
HOW DID THE SUPER EAGLES SINK TO THIS LEVEL?
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The Guardian on Tuesday (April 28) published a story in which one of the backroom staff of Super Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr, Tunde Adelakun reportedly explained the exclusion of players of the domestic league from the national team.
From the report, one can easily deduce that the man solely determines who gets called up into the Nigerian Super Eagles. Yet, there are no evidences to show that he had any coaching background or had played football at any level to the point that he could be assigned the role of determining what the composition of an aspiring global brand should be.
According to the report, the domestic league players are excluded from the Super Eagles because the UK-based Adelakun has no means of assessing the players online.
The report further quoted Adelakun as saying that it was difficult for him to monitor players in Nigerian league from his base in the United Kingdom because the games do not have visuals online that could enable him to critically study them before recommending players to Rohr.
“Scouting for players overseas is easy for me because there is a special software device I use to track Nigerian foreign-based players’ performance online.
“Any Nigerian player that is doing fine in Europe, if I get his contact and data, I use the device to watch his clips and study his performance.
“After this process, if I am satisfied, I will recommend to Rohr and he will also assess the player before taking the step to approach the player in his base.”
Could this be true? If yes, invitation to the Super Eagles has now been reduced to the convenience of Adelakun, whom Gernot Rohr himself has admitted was influential to his getting the Super Eagles’ job in 2016.
Except the statements attributed to him are either recanted or rebutted, the inference is that the Super Eagles have become the personal estate of Adelakun.
How did we sink to this level? What then is the role of the technical committee of the NFF or its Technical Department that is headed by Bitrus Bewarang who since the days of Clemence Westerhof has been linked with the Super Eagles?
By Adelakun’s reckoning, Nigerians have to be born abroad or venture abroad to get his attention and thus have realistic chances of playing for the Super Eagles.
He ascribes himself as the alpha and omega of our collective brand. Should this be so? Little wonder, the Technical Committee of the NFF has long been made redundant while the Technical Department only exists in the minds of few people.
The creed then in the national team will be: ‘Seek ye the attention of the sole administrator on technical matters, invitation to the Super Eagles shall then follow’.
From his personal blog, football was the last on the seven attributes he ascribed to his profile. He admitted never to have played football or getting any coaching training, yet he is Nigerian football lead brand’s scout!
In his personal blog visited as at 9.30pm on Wednesday 28 April 2020, he mentioned his involvement in the football industry as ranging from “football journalism to football marketing; football politics and lobbying to players’ welfare management, mentoring and coaching (at the highest levels of World Cup football).”
Very soon, lobbying to be included into the Super Eagles will soon be a lucrative business.
What exactly is the role of Tunde Adelakun in the NFF? He has been a recurring decimal since 2008 and was the one that suspected to have organized the aborted flight that was to ferry the Super Eagles from London to Johannesburg for the 2010 World Cup before the Federal Government saved the embarrassing situation and chattered another plane to convey the team.
Let someone save our Super Eagles!
By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria is set to host the 48th Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), marking the third time the country will stage the continent’s top football gathering.
The development was confirmed in a statement issued by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, approved Nigeria’s proposal to host the event.
The approval followed a meeting between President Tinubu and CAF President Patrice Motsepe, attended by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, former NFF President and Special Adviser to the CAF President Amaju Melvin Pinnick, as well as CAF Acting General Secretary Samson Adamu.
Sports Villages Square affirms that Nigeria previously hosted the CAF Congress at the National Theatre in Lagos in March 1980 and again in February 2009, when the late CAF President Issa Hayatou secured another four-year term in office.
In addition to this year’s 48th Ordinary General Assembly, scheduled for October, Nigeria also secured the hosting rights of the CAF Awards ceremony. The annual awards gala, which celebrates Africa’s top football performers, has been staged in Morocco over the past three years.
Nigeria had earlier hosted the CAF Awards when telecom firm, Globacom, was the headline sponsor. This year’s event will be the seventh to be held in Nigeria after those of 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
The CAF Ordinary General Assembly traditionally attracts key football stakeholders from across the continent, including presidents of CAF’s 54 member associations, representatives of the six zonal unions and senior football administrators.
The CAF Awards ceremony is regarded as one of African football’s flagship events, honouring outstanding players, coaches, clubs and officials in a glamorous setting that showcases the continent’s football excellence.
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FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee has banned former Guyana Football Federation (GFF) General Secretary Ian Alves from all football-related activities for five years after finding he sexually harassed female staff members.
FIFA also fined Alves 20,000 Swiss francs ($22,000) after determining that he had breached provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics relating to the protection of physical and mental integrity, abuse of position and general duties.
“FIFA has a strict stance against all forms of abuse in football,” the organisation said on Monday.
The decision followed a review of written statements from the victims, documents provided by the GFF, submissions from Alves, and other evidence gathered during the investigation.
Alves stepped down from his position in 2024.
The ban came into force on Monday, when the terms of the decision were notified to Alves, and the full grounds for the ruling will be communicated within 60 days in accordance with the Code of Ethics, FIFA added.
The GFF did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Alves could not immediately be reached for comment.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that he planned to seek re-election for a fourth term in a bid to continue to lead the governing body of world soccer.
Infantino confirmed he would run for the 2027–2031 term in the closing moments of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, which comes less than two months before the start of the World Cup.
The election will be held on March 18 in Morocco, which is set to co-host the 2030 World Cup.
Infantino said he was “honoured and humbled” to have the chance to run for a fourth term.
The Italian-Swiss took office in 2016, replacing Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023.
Infantino has pushed for the expansion of FIFA competitions during his tenure, with this year’s World Cup in North America the first to feature 48 teams, while the women’s tournament in 2023 has been expanded to 32 teams.
Infantino’s tenure has also drawn some criticism over issues such as high World Cup ticket prices and the decision to award the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Cup draw in December.
Earlier this month, the council of South American football’s governing body (CONMEBOL) said in a statement it would unanimously support the 56-year-old if he decided to seek another term.
-Reuters
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