BRIBERY, CORRUPTION & AGE FALSIFICATION IS KILLING THE BEAUTIFUL GAME IN NIGERIA & AFRICA

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world. It has the third-largest youth population in the world, after India and China, with more than 90 million of its population under the age of 18. It is a surprise that with the large talent pool, football development in the country is still lagging behind. It is quite unfortunate that the development of football in this beautiful country has been truncated by gross corruption, mismanagement and lack of accountability. These factors have negatively affected the development of football in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. The game of football has become a billionaire dollar industry worldwide but Nigeria and Africa remain at the periphery of this lucrative system.

It is an open secret that most football coaches and administrators in Nigeria collect a form of bribe or gratification from Parents or wards of Players under them. It is usually given different names; “a little something”, “a dash”, a gift” etc. They use common phrases like “it is a normal thing, everybody has paid”. Most times parents or wards of the young players pay these Coaches and Administrators money so that their wards or children can be selected for certain trails or tournaments in view of them getting Clubs in Europe. Many of these parents are so pressured by the poverty in the land that they make such payments in the hope that their ward can secure a foreign club and bring the family out of poverty. This situation happens a lot at the screening of the Under 17 and Under 23 World Cup Camps. Just a few weeks back it was reported that the chief coach of the Nigeria national football team, Salisu Yusuf was embroiled in a bribery allegation.  In an investigation led by Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, it was alleged that reporters posing as football agents for some players approached Yusuf in September 2017 for a conversation about players’ selection. He was allegedly offered $1000 (equivalent to 365,000 Naira) as payment for player selection, as well as promise of 15% of the two player’s contracts in the event they seal deals with clubs. The allegations sent shock waves throughout the country. However, the Nigerian Coaches Association was quick to shield one of their own. The secretary of the Nigerian Coaches Association, Solomon Ogbeide, leapt to the defence of the Eagles coach over the allegations of corruption levelled against him. He said it had not been confirmed that Salisu erred and that the video clip was misleading. He added that until there is a proper investigation into the issue, the association was solidly behind Salisu. Salisu has in his defence dismissed the allegation of bribe, saying it was ‘mere gift’.  However, the Nigerian Football Federation is thought to be highly embarrassed by the whole situation. The NFF Disciplinary Committee Recommended the Sack of Super Eagles Coach. Salisu Yusuf’s case is one of the many which has been a reoccurring theme in the Nigerian football scene.

It is indeed true that everyone accused of an offence is innocent until proven guilty. The reality of the situation however is that Nigerian/African football is facing a credibility crisis which is not helped by officials accepting “gifts” without set parameters. Personally, I do not see why such gifts should be offered or accepted, as the dividing line between a gift and a bribe accepted by an official is usually very thin. If the powers that be in football feel (for whatever reason) that this practice must continue then I would seriously suggest that a ceiling or limit be placed on the amount or value of such gifts and such gifts should be declared to the appropriate authority within 24 hours of its having been given.

Another vice which hinders the growth and development in Nigeria and Africa as a whole is the issue of Age-Fraud. Over the years, over-aged players have taken control of youth teams in the country and on the continent. Investigations have shown that parents, wards and corrupt officials are complicit in this crime. Due to the inadequacies of Government, there is really no nation wide data base. As a result of this individuals can easily change their date of births by going to the Courts and deposing to affidavits. FIFA introduced the age grade competitions in 1977 as a way of identifying young talents, who will be developed to play football at the senior level. Lionel Messi, Luis Figo, Marco Van Basten, and Ronaldinho to name a few, were all discovered at youth level competitions. Due to our use of over age players in youth competitions, Nigeria usually does very well in the tournaments, but the victory never translates to the senior teams. This also affects the players as most of them fail to make the grade after securing moves to clubs in Europe. For example, an in-depth look into the FIFA U-17 World Cup in South Korea showed a lot of what was wrong with our football development. Macaulay Chrisantus, Nigeria’s forward won the Golden boot (Top goal scorer) and the Silver ball. Subsequently however he never quite hit the heights that we all expected. He never managed to stay at a club for more than 2years and never hit it big. Also, the likes of Kabiru Akinsola, and Dele Ajiboye failed to live up to expectations. The only players who we can say did have relative success compared to their peers are Rabiu Ibrahim & Lukman Haruna. But unfortunately they have both been on the periphery of the game in recent years. However some notable players from other countries who also played in this same tournament have gone on to excel at the top level; Toni Kroos of Germany has gone on to win the world cup with Germany and the champions league multiple times with Real Madrid. Bojan Kirkic of Spain has also won the champions league with Barcelona and is currently a player on the books of Stoke City. Not only has David De Gea gone on to have a successful career at the top level with Manchester United, he is regarded as one of the world’s top goalkeepers today. Danny Welbeck has played top flight football for both Manchester United and Arsenal. Sebastian Rudy is currently on the books of Bayern Munich, he also made the German world cup 2018 squad.  Christian Benteke plays for Crystal Palace and is a Belgian International. The list goes on.

The mandatory use of Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was introduced by FIFA in 2009 for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup to help ascertain whether players are over age or not. MRI is considered to be 99% accurate until the age of 17. In august of 2016, 26 out of 60 players failed the mandatory MRI screening carried out on members of the Nigeriansquad. This happened ahead of a crucial tie against Niger and more than half of the starting 11 was affected by this. As a result Nigeria failed to qualify for the world cup.More recently in August 2018 it is reported that 15 out of the 40 best players selected for the U17 AFCON Zonal Qualifiers, failed the mandatory use of Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test.  This is coming just 2 weeks from the kick-off date for the said qualifiers. It’s not rocket science: logic and common sense dictate that the NFF screen the players before subjecting them to FIFA screening.

Some Football Associations on the continent are also complicit in corruption. Football in Nigeria and Africa as a whole is largely funded by Government. As a result, positions in the associations are hugely politicised and officials, fearful of being removed by Government for non-performance are willing to do anything under the sun to win tournaments.

Another worrying factor is the penchant for authorities to feel that promises, undertakings and obligations are made only to be broken.  Most times at major tournaments it is the African teams that usually have grievances with the various FA’s over unkept promises and unpaid bonuses. The past litany of unkept promises to successful Nigerian teams is un-ending: it took almost a quarter of a century for the Nigerian football authorities to make good their promise of a 3-bedroom bungalow to Bonfere Jo, for his Atlanta ’96 Olympic gold medal in football.

The Ghanaian National team at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil refused to train due to non-payment of allowances. This prompted Ghana’s then President, John Dramani Mahama, to send £1.76m to Brazil by plane as the players insisted on cash payments. At the same tournament the Nigerian squad boycotted training, demanding part payment of their bonuses as they feared they will not be paid. As in the case of Ghana the then President Goodluck Jonathan had to speak to coach Stephen Keshi and captain Joseph Yobo. Where he assured the squad their dues will be settled following which the players travelled and started training.It is hoped that the fact that there were no squabbles over finances in the camp of the Nigerian 2018 world come team is a sign of better things to come

Poor Facilities, atrocious organisation and lack of adequate investments at the grassroots has left the game of football and sports in Africa as a whole in the doldrums. Even though this article is dedicated to football, I would like to reflect on the recent 2018 African Senior Athletics Championships held in Nigeria. The tournament was a monumental disaster and that is putting it mildly. There were logistical issues as over 200 athletes were stuck at Murtala Muhammad Airport in Lagos for about 3 days before they could get connecting flights to Asaba, the host city for the tournament.  The stadium which was to host the event was not completed at the approved time. From the bumpy athletics track, to the inadequate facilities for media. The Tanzanian team eventually boycotted the tournament. Several top athletes, like IvoryCoast’s Marie Josee Ta Lou tweeted “I think this is my first and last time to come to Nigeria to compete”.

Lack of investments at the grassroots has contributed to the decline of development of the beautiful game. A look around most of the public schools in Nigeria shows that there is a huge problem. In the developed countries, talents are identified from the schools or in the local parks in most cases. The lack of adequate facilities both in the schools and in the community has continued to cause decline in the development of the game.

The government in Nigeria needs to put proper structure and mechanism in place to help bolster the Football Leagues in the country. They should take a look at the Premier Soccer League in South Africa and see how it is run. For the league to thrive and attract foreign investor’s interference from the government must be a thing of the past.

Nigeria and Africa as a whole have produced world-class talents in the past. There is need to wake up from our slumber and ensure that the generations to come are given a better opportunity to maximise their talents. Proper structures must be provided, in an atmosphere that is not polluted by corruption. Only thencan we reap the benefits of the beautiful game.