Governing Bodies
COVID-19 IMPACT ON AFRICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUES
The coronavirus pandemic has continued to cause major upsets on world sports and African football has not been left behind, with the effects already rolling down. Here is how the pandemic has so far affected African leagues.
Mauritius
Mauritius became the first African country to end its football season due to the pandemic after an initial indefinite postponement on March 19.
The Football Association, through General Secretary Didier Gnanapragassa communicated to the clubs the decision to wind down the season throughout the country over uncertainties as to when the pandemic will be over.
A decision is yet to be made on its representatives in next year’s CAF Clubs competitions.
Date of decision: 6 April 2020
Kenya
The Football Kenya Federation has decided to end football across all its seven tiers of the men’s game as well as the two tiers of the Women Leagues. Under a Force Majeure clause in its rules, the champions of each league will be decided by the standings at mid-season.
Gor Mahia are crowned the Premier League champions for a 19th time with Chemelil Sugar and Sony Sugar relegated while Nairobi City Stars are champions of the second tier and promoted to the Premier League alongside Bidco United.
The two tiers of the women’s leagues have consequently been cancelled as they had only played one round of matches into the new season.
Date of decision: 30 April 2020
Angola
After a meeting with the top tier clubs, the Angolan Football Federation also made a decision on it’s leagues and different from Kenya, they decided to cancel the season with five rounds of matches left to play.
Petro de Luanda were leading the top tier with 54 points with Primero de Agosto second. A decision was reached that the two clubs will represent Angola in the Total CAF Champions League.
For the Confederations Cup representative, a decision will be reached at a later date, depending on finances and the coronavirus situation.
Date of decision: 30 April 2020
Guinea
The President of the Guinean Professional Football League (LGFP) General Mathurin Bangoura announced that the top two tiers of Guinean football will not be able to be completed because of the pandemic.
With the uncertainty on when the pandemic will be over, Bangoura said a unanimous decision was reached to cancel the season with no champions, promotion or relegation.
The league had reached the halfway point with Horoya leading the standings with 29 points, four ahead of second placed Wakirya. The Federation is set to make a decision on the representatives for CAF Competitions.
Date of Decision: 30 April 2020
Burkina Faso
The Emergency Committee of the Burkina Faso Football Federation has made the decision to cancel the top tier season with six rounds of matches left to play.
There will be no champions or relegation in the top tier, but with the second tier already completed, the top two teams will be promoted which means the next season of the top tier league will have 18 teams
At the same time, Rahimo FC has been selected to represent Burkina Faso in the Total CAF Champions League while Salitas FC will play in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Date of decision: 4 May 2020
Ethiopia
The Executive Committee of the Ethiopia Football Federation, in consultation with government organs and the league administrators has announced the cancellation of all tiers of football in the Eastern Africa Country with no champions declared, promotion or relegation as well.
The league was halted early March as the coronavirus pandemic began to gather pace with Fasil Kenema top of the standings with 30 points, Mekelle Enderta second with 28 points, same as third placed St, George.
Consequently, EFF has announced that Ethiopia will not have a representative at next season’s continental club championship.
Date of decision: 5 May 2020
Congo
The Congo Football Federation has named AS Otoho as champions of the 2019-20 season after cancelling all football due to the coronavirus.
The Executive Committee made the decision after a meeting to assess the situation and it was unanimously agreed that it would be difficult to resume sporting activities soon.
Otoho who were leading the standings with a 14-point gap with six matches remaining before the season was halted will play in the Total CAF Champions League while second placed Diables Noirs will play in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Date of decision: 5 May 2020
Liberia
The Liberia Football Association has also announced the cancellation of all its football leagues with no champions, relegation or promotion after a meeting of the Executive Committee.
With nine rounds of matches left, Mighty Barolle were leading the standings with 23 points, one ahead of BEA Mountain and two ahead of third placed MC Breweries. The league was still open with only four points separating the leaders and the eighth placed team.
Meanwhile the Liberia FA will consult on a play-off between the top four to determine representatives at next season’s CAF Competitions.
Date of decision: May 5, 2020
-CAFONLINE
Governing Bodies
The National Sports Commission that Nigeria deserves
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
It is over two weeks now since the return of the National Sports Commission (NSC) as the apex sports governing body of Nigeria. Beyond the naming of Shehu Dikko as the Chairman, nothing more has been made public regarding the role of the NSC and its composition.
In simple terms, what has happened so far is a mere change of nomenclature from the Federal Ministry of Sports Development to the National Sports Commission. Beyond that, Sports organisation in the country have been downgraded as the man at the apex cannot sit at the weekly Federal Executive Council since is not a cabinet-ranked administrator.
Beyond that, the leadership of sports organisation is reduced to that of sole administrator since there is no board or board members as it was when there were extant laws setting up the NSC.
Such laws included the Decree 34 of 1971 and the amended version, Decree 34 of 1979. Those laws spelt out the roles and mode of composition of the National Sports Commission.
For instance, Decree 34 of 1971 established the NSC as a replacement for the National Sports Council, which was previously a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Labour.
It did not stand in isolation. It worked under a commissioner *now a minister in the current dispensation). It had at the apex, a chairman overseeing a board with a well-defined composition. Also, there was an Executive Committee, of which the NSC Charman is the head.
The composition of both the NSC and its executive committee was well articulated. So also, were their roles. Within the NSC, was also another board, the National Stadia Management Board which the NSC Chairman heads.
Others include the commission’s secretary and five other members drawn from the NSC.
Like what happens in present-day Morocco, where most of the kingdom’s owned stadiums are being kept in good condition by the state-run company, Société nationale de réalisation et de gestion des stades (SONARGES) which in English translates to National stadium construction and management company., the stadia management board in the previous NSC was charged with that same responsibility of maintenance.
As it is now, a chairman has been named for the NSC. Without a board, he becomes a sole administrator and will rule according to his understandings as the public has not been informed of any specific assignment for the chairman.
The ideal would have been the establishment of a board for the NSC and mode of composition well laid out as were the instances with the Decree 34 of 1971 and the amended version of 1979 – Decree 34 of 1979.
Whatever the situation, the NSC deserves to have a minister of cabinet ranking for direct liaison with the Federal Government. Alternatively, the chairman should be upgraded to the ministerial position and supervision a board that will be an upgrade of the ones stipulated in the decrees 34 of 1971 and 1979.
With the Decree 7 of 1991dissolving the NSC, the nation appears to have lost track of the essence of the commission. Even when it was brought back under later regimes, it was just another nomenclature for the sports ministry as the NSC existed without a board.
Changing names from Ministry to Commission will not necessarily translate to getting improvement in sports administration. An NSC in the present situation is just a substitute to the Ministry of Sports. It is not an alternative.
Governing Bodies
I drafted the NSC bill 16 years ago; today I have a mission to make sports viable in Nigeria, says NSC helmsman, Dikko
Newly appointed Chairman of the National Sports Commission NSC, Shehu Dikko says Nigeria’s journey towards a sustainable sports economy has begun.
He stated this when the former Minister of Sports, John Enoh officially handed over the affairs of the country’s sports to him in a brief ceremony in Abuja.
History is on my side
“History has a way of coming full circle because in 2008 I was a consultant to the House of Representatives and was responsible for the drafting of the National Sports Commission Bill, a job I did pro-bono and about 16 years down the line I have here with the assignment to implement the work I assisted to put together”.
” The objective of Mr President is to harness the full potential of the Sports Economy in Nigeria.
“And we have to first change our mindset from the fixation of just competitions and winning medals and come back and fix our domestic sports development”.
“When we set the foundation right the results and the winning of medals will naturally come sustainably and that should be the new mindset”.
“We cannot continue to run in cycles so we need to have a different approach from day one because in my view and indeed the firm view of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, competition is what we call “Consumption” because we just take scarce resources and burn out abroad without any impact on the domestic sports development ecosystem and the Nigerian Economy.
” But we have to go back to “Production” which is deliberate sports development, where we set the structure right, set the framework and put together good parameters to have a sustainable sports development which will naturally give us a solid sports economy and indeed guaranteed competitive participation at all competitions and medals.
Three Pillars
” This is the reason why our administration will be focused on three pillars including running Sports as a National Asset, that is entitled to special privileges, regulations and concessions to drive growth and development to open its potential to be a key driver of the economy across all sectors, a vehicle for achieving national cohesion and projection of the positive and unique attributes of our culture and national identity “.
” We have to also work on legislations and regulations to set the framework to enable the Industry to grow effectively like what happened in the communications industry some years back”.
” The other pillar is investing in purposeful world-class infrastructures that will provide an enabling environment for Growth.
“These infrastructures must be deliberate with maintenance culture and span from world-class infrastructure for professional sports to community infrastructure to drive grassroots sports and mass participation across the country”
” The thinking of Mr President is that after having some of all these in place we should be able to measure the Country’s Sports by its contribution to the nation’s GDP by at least three per cent (3%) addition via sports and the number of jobs sports and its value chain are providing in the country in the next four to five years and indeed our competitiveness across all competitions and tournaments”
“Thus, it’s a visionary decision for Mr President to approve the return of the National Sports Commission to drive this process and objectives in line with the best international practices and standards devoid of any bureaucratic bottlenecks but absolute professionalism”
Dikko concluded by outlining some of the immediate action points to drive the agenda and the mandate which includes but is not limited to the structural organization of the National Sports Commission (NSC).
The essence is to position the NSC to implement the desired policies and framework envisaged.
According to Dikko, it is to facilitate private sector participation in the sector through investment in sports production and infrastructure development.
He also outlined the restructuring and capacity-building initiatives of the sports federations for optimal performance.
Also on his agenda is the engagement of competent personnel and partners to deliver on the mandate.
This will involve policy development by putting together strategies, policies and legislations to protect and support sports development in the country.
He promised to ensure that the NSC seamlessly assume the assets and liabilities from the defunct Federal Ministry of Sports; and most critically commence the process to amend/update the NSC Act to align with international best practices, creating a professional governance framework, resolve the funding challenges of sports in Nigeria and provide the enabling environment to drive Mr President vision to create a sustainable sports economy in Nigeria.
Governing Bodies
Amaju Pinnick lectures at Nigeria’s premier university
The immediate-past President of Nigeria Football Federation and Nigeria’s FIFA Council Member, Amaju Melvin Pinnick, will add another feather to his cap when he delivers this year’s Personality Guest Lecture of the Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan on Tuesday.
Pinnick, who is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football, will address the very germane topic of sport infrastructure, as he speaks on The Challenges of Sports Infrastructure and Maintenance In Nigeria: Prospect for Podium Performance.
The Dean of the Faculty, Professor Olufemi Adegbesan, said Pinnick, who is also a holder of the traditional honour of Royal Order of Iwere (ROI) was chosen for the honour based on his vast experience in sports administration and management, his broad worldview of the problems of sport infrastructure and maintenance, and his passion for youth empowerment through well-maintained infrastructure to discover and nurture budding talents.
“The Personality Guest Lecture is a part of the town-gown synergy of the University of Ibadan, the premier university. The Faculty of Education is desirous of contributing its quota to the development of Nigerian society through organizing personality lectures to discuss issues affecting the Nigerian economy.
“Our guest lecturer, Mr. Amaju Pinnick, has the resume to present the lecture having been at the top in sports management and administration nationally and internationally. The personality lecture offers a forum where individuals with proven track records of hard work, service to humanity and excellence in their chosen careers interface with a large audience comprising the youth, members of the academic community, stakeholders in the public and private sectors, and the general public.”
Tuesday’s lecture will hold at the Trenchard Hall of Nigeria’s first university and will commence at 11am.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Kayode Adebowale will lead the top echelon of the foremost citadel of learning to the event, with the sports community also well-represented. Newly-appointed Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Shehu Dikko will lead the crew that will include President of NFF, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi and NFF Director of Media and Communications, Dr Ademola Olajire. Pinnick’s business associates and jet-set friends will also be there in numbers.
n board and dig our feet into the ground against the Falcons on Tuesday.”
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