Governing Bodies
THIS DAY IN HISTORY: NIGERIA’S FIRST NATIONAL TEAM ARRIVES UK
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
On this date, 29 August 1949, Nigeria’s first national football team, simply tagged ‘UK Tourists’ arrived Liverpool on a goodwill tour of the United Kingdom.
It was the first time, an African or team from any Black country visited England.
Unlike today’s jet-travelling footballers, the pioneers travelled third class aboard RMSS Apapa and had to run four times round the deck every morning to keep fit during the 13-day voyage before arriving Liverpool at 8.30am on Monday, 29 August 1949.
They were scheduled to play nine matches against fellow amateur sides in the four weeks they were to stay in the UK.
The 18 players were dressed in grey trousers and olive green blazers with a badge emblazoned with the initials NFA and with ‘United Kingdom 1949’ woven underneath.
On arrival, John Finch, a former Fulham forward, who had been appointed as the coach, met them. There was also a welcome message from the Duke of Edinburgh.
On disembarking, the players and the officials were interviewed by the BBC radio on newsreel followed by the pressmen.
Okoronkwo Kanu, Etim Henshaw, Dan Anyiam, Isaac Akioye, John Dankaro and Sokari Dokubo send messages for broadcast in English, Efik, Ibo, Yoruba, Hausa and Kalabari respectively.
That was where the story of Nigeria’s Super Eagles began. Without the famed UK Tourists, perhaps, there would not have been the Super Eagles of today.
Sadly, all the 18 players and their officials led by Captain Donald H. Holley and every other person connected with the trip are now dead.
Holley who was also the NFA chairman at the time died in December 1956. Barely eight months later, a member of the team, Ahmed Tijani Ottun, committed suicide by drowning in the Lagos lagoon on 6 August 1957, ostensibly out of frustration.
It was reported that he drowned himself in the Lagos lagoon after returning from the England in later years but could not find a job that was commensurate with his new status and acquired skills.
The last survivor and the first choice goalkeeper, Sam Ibiam died 1 December 2015, aged 91.
Tesilimi Balogun, the arrowhead of the attack died in Ibadan on 30 July 1972 in Ibadan.
Vice captain of the side and Nigeria’s first national indigenous coach, Dan Anyiam died mysteriously in his car on 6 July 1977. Isiaku Aremu, popularly called ‘Baba Shittu’, died on 28 March 1985.
Olisah Chukwurah who became a legal luminary and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), died on 3 September 2001. Isaac Akioye who later became the Director of Sports at the National Sports Commission (NSC) died in February 2007.
Mesembe Otu, a right winger in the squad followed in October 2007. There were scanty information on Okoronkwo Kanu who coincidentally hailed from the same Arochukwu area of Abia State in Eastern Nigeria like the more popular Nwankwo Kanu, but the later said there was no connection.
He, like Hope Lawson who was believed to have hailed from the South West Cameroon, the Anglophone part of the Nigerian eastern neighbours which was then part of Nigeria, could not be accounted for.
Another player who cannot be accounted for is Titus Okere, the left winger who perhaps made the greatest impression to the British. A newspaper reported then that he was worth £15,000 and a row of houses.
Little wonder he was the first Nigerian player to sign a professional football contract in 1952, three years after the UK tour. He signed for Swindon Town FC. It is believed he never returned to Nigeria and nothing was heard about him since
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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