2017: Highs and Lows of Nigerian Football
By Faith Oluchi
2017 was a year that came with so much expectations for football administrators, journalists and fans.
Now that the year has come to a close, it is time to do an appraisal of football in Nigeria in the past year.
Did we really achieve much in 2017?
I decided to take a stock of all that happened in our country, football-wise, in 2017.
1. Nigerian Women Football League (NWFL): 2017 was a year during which the present board of the Women's league led by Aisha Falode should be commended for being able to steady the ship without so many controversies.
Though we craved for a marathon league, the abridged league went on without any walk-over and another commendable thing that happened was for the first time in a long while, teams' accommodation was taken care of during the end-of-season Super Four-a tournament to determine the overall winner of the league and teams had something to play for.
I easily recollect the last Super Four held in Umuahia before this present board took over. The winners of the competition went home without medals but this year's competition was different. Winners went home with medals and three million naira while the runners-up got two million. Asides that, all the four participating teams were given 500,000 cash by the host State (Edo).
Also, we saw a board that was able to instil discipline on teams that wanted to bring the game to disrepute through the acts of hooliganism. A good example was the incident that occurred in Nembe during the game between Bayelsa Queens and Sunshine Queens where the goalkeeper of Sunshine Queens was manhandled by home team fans to the point of bleeding.
The board took immediate action by sanctioning the home team with a hefty fine and that sent signals to other teams that such actions will not be tolerated.
Finally, as we look forward to a new season, we urge the board not to relent but strive hard to get sponsors for the women league.
2. NPFL: The leadership of League Management Company under Shehu Dikko must be commended for the tremendous work they have done in the league. It's been a year of mixed blessings for the league, but on the bright side, the good outweighed the bad. This goes to show that our league is growing and not dormant.
One ugly incident that keeps occurring in our league is the issue of hooliganism which can be likened to a terminal disease in our league. Many are of the opinion that points deduction is the solution to hooliganism but the implementation of 'points deduction' isn't exactly how the LMC want to go about it.
In this concluded season, we saw players suspended for weeks for the act of indiscipline on the pitch which has become a recurring decimal in the league. I think the league body should be bold enough to come out with stiffer punishments to end this act of indiscipline among players.
It is imperative that clubs organise seminars for their players before the league resumes and probably during the mid-season break to enlighten them that football is played with the spirit of fair play and not do or die affair.
Finally, as the new season is about to kickoff, we hope to see good officiating from Nigerian referees. Truth be told, we've had series of horrible officiating that made some people tag some referees as "killjoy" and as much as the Nigeria Referees Association and Referees Appointment Committee wouldn't want to tag their people with bad names, they should be bold enough to flush out incompetent referees from their ranks.
3. AITEO CUP: The oldest cup competition in Nigeria now renamed AITEO Cup is one of the best things that happened to our football this year, everyone that followed the competition this year would testify to the high level of competition due to the huge prize money involved and the glamour during the finals.
Before the finals, we had controversies at various centres ( both men and women). Kogi United was banned from the tournament for two years for breaching competition rules.
Another shameful act occurred during this year's competition in Nembe in the 1st leg semi-final match between Bayelsa Queens and Rivers Angels where the goalkeeper of the home team (Jonathan Alaba) attacked the centre referee after she awarded a penalty to the away team, she also tore the referee's note.
This act of indiscipline does not have a place in our league or cups.
I remember vividly well that I wrote about this particular incident the same day it occurred because I was at the stadium but it's sad that there was no official report of sanctions on Bayelsa Queens players that attacked the referees. I think this incident shouldn't be swept under the carpet if we don't want to encourage players to take laws into their hands against match officials.
Finally, I have it on good authority that match officials who officiated the semi-final matches of both men and women AITEO Cup have not been paid till date, probably the money has been released by the sponsors but it's been held by some "powers that be". I want to plead with the "powers that be" to pay their referees their dues.
4. NFF: Nigeria Football Federation under the leadership of Amaju Pinnick did tremendously well in 2017 by securing sponsors for the national teams, also been able to play the politics to elevate some Nigerians to leadership positions in CAF and FIFA.
One of the greatest achievements of Nigeria Football Federation under the leadership of Amaju Pinnick in 2017 was the qualification of the Super Eagles for 2018 FIFA World Cup with a game to spare. This qualification seems to have been the main vision of NFF, no wonder Nigeria qualified with relative ease.
Asides the Super Eagles, the Super Falcons were neglected in the year 2017 with no coach, no friendly matches and this neglect tend to disturb a whole lot of women football followers because they have not forgotten how Amaju Pinnick went on air after he was elected as the President of NFF to declare his love for women football and his plans for women football in Nigeria but in the year 2017, these promises can be likened to a situation where water is poured on rocks.
Countries like Ghana and South Africa played high profile friendly matches in the year 2017 but the Super Falcons have been for a full year.
South Africa's U20 Women's team, who the Falconets will meet in the last round of the U20 World Cup qualifiers (Africa zone) were in Ghana last week for a friendly game with the Ghana Women's U20 team.
This shows proper planning and preparation on the side of the South Africans but ironically, the Falconets have been holed up in Abuja playing friendly matches with U15 and U13 boys teams in the nation's capital.
With the qualifier coming up in January, the Falconets will have to be on their toes if they are to get past South Africa who look determined to pick the ticket.
I have it on good authority how the money for the coaches was slashed after they returned from Morocco, the coaches were supposed to be paid 1500 dollars but their money was slashed to 225 dollars, yet we have sponsors that are supposed to take care of the payment of salaries of the officials of the team.
At a point, we were promised a coach after 10 days, the days expired without any coach named and recently we have been told to expect a world class coach in the next 14 days for Super Falcons.
By my own calculation, the 14 days expires on the 10th of January and I sincerely hope that stories will not be told on that day.
Also in 2017, bonuses for junior national teams were scrapped, the Federation may be right scrapping bonuses for age grade teams but what measures have they put in place to take care of the young players under their custody?
Other countries that we intend to emulate by scrapping bonuses take care of the age-grade teams. Some of the players are on scholarships in various schools.
As we enter a New Year, I want to remind our dear NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, that the Super Eagles is not the only project of NFF in this year 2018. Super Falcons needs all the necessary support to qualify for 2018 AWCON and this can only happen if they are given the best preparation.
I want to add that the era of appointing coaches for women national team few weeks to crucial qualifiers should please stop, a good example is the appointment of Bala Nikyu as Flamingos coach barely few weeks to a crucial match.
I'm optimistic that Falconets and Flamingos would qualify for both U-20 and U-17 World Cup but I want to appeal to the leadership of NFF to please give the girls all the necessary support. Let's not focus only on the Men's World Cup alone.
Our women deserve a break. Really.
Finally, I pray God to give all our administrators the wisdom to take our football to greater heights in this year 2018. Long live NWFL
Long live NPFL
Long live NFF
Long live Nigeria.
2017 was a year that came with so much expectations for football administrators, journalists and fans.
Now that the year has come to a close, it is time to do an appraisal of football in Nigeria in the past year.
Did we really achieve much in 2017?
I decided to take a stock of all that happened in our country, football-wise, in 2017.
1. Nigerian Women Football League (NWFL): 2017 was a year during which the present board of the Women's league led by Aisha Falode should be commended for being able to steady the ship without so many controversies.
Though we craved for a marathon league, the abridged league went on without any walk-over and another commendable thing that happened was for the first time in a long while, teams' accommodation was taken care of during the end-of-season Super Four-a tournament to determine the overall winner of the league and teams had something to play for.
I easily recollect the last Super Four held in Umuahia before this present board took over. The winners of the competition went home without medals but this year's competition was different. Winners went home with medals and three million naira while the runners-up got two million. Asides that, all the four participating teams were given 500,000 cash by the host State (Edo).
Also, we saw a board that was able to instil discipline on teams that wanted to bring the game to disrepute through the acts of hooliganism. A good example was the incident that occurred in Nembe during the game between Bayelsa Queens and Sunshine Queens where the goalkeeper of Sunshine Queens was manhandled by home team fans to the point of bleeding.
The board took immediate action by sanctioning the home team with a hefty fine and that sent signals to other teams that such actions will not be tolerated.
Finally, as we look forward to a new season, we urge the board not to relent but strive hard to get sponsors for the women league.
2. NPFL: The leadership of League Management Company under Shehu Dikko must be commended for the tremendous work they have done in the league. It's been a year of mixed blessings for the league, but on the bright side, the good outweighed the bad. This goes to show that our league is growing and not dormant.
One ugly incident that keeps occurring in our league is the issue of hooliganism which can be likened to a terminal disease in our league. Many are of the opinion that points deduction is the solution to hooliganism but the implementation of 'points deduction' isn't exactly how the LMC want to go about it.
In this concluded season, we saw players suspended for weeks for the act of indiscipline on the pitch which has become a recurring decimal in the league. I think the league body should be bold enough to come out with stiffer punishments to end this act of indiscipline among players.
It is imperative that clubs organise seminars for their players before the league resumes and probably during the mid-season break to enlighten them that football is played with the spirit of fair play and not do or die affair.
Finally, as the new season is about to kickoff, we hope to see good officiating from Nigerian referees. Truth be told, we've had series of horrible officiating that made some people tag some referees as "killjoy" and as much as the Nigeria Referees Association and Referees Appointment Committee wouldn't want to tag their people with bad names, they should be bold enough to flush out incompetent referees from their ranks.
3. AITEO CUP: The oldest cup competition in Nigeria now renamed AITEO Cup is one of the best things that happened to our football this year, everyone that followed the competition this year would testify to the high level of competition due to the huge prize money involved and the glamour during the finals.
Before the finals, we had controversies at various centres ( both men and women). Kogi United was banned from the tournament for two years for breaching competition rules.
Another shameful act occurred during this year's competition in Nembe in the 1st leg semi-final match between Bayelsa Queens and Rivers Angels where the goalkeeper of the home team (Jonathan Alaba) attacked the centre referee after she awarded a penalty to the away team, she also tore the referee's note.
This act of indiscipline does not have a place in our league or cups.
I remember vividly well that I wrote about this particular incident the same day it occurred because I was at the stadium but it's sad that there was no official report of sanctions on Bayelsa Queens players that attacked the referees. I think this incident shouldn't be swept under the carpet if we don't want to encourage players to take laws into their hands against match officials.
Finally, I have it on good authority that match officials who officiated the semi-final matches of both men and women AITEO Cup have not been paid till date, probably the money has been released by the sponsors but it's been held by some "powers that be". I want to plead with the "powers that be" to pay their referees their dues.
4. NFF: Nigeria Football Federation under the leadership of Amaju Pinnick did tremendously well in 2017 by securing sponsors for the national teams, also been able to play the politics to elevate some Nigerians to leadership positions in CAF and FIFA.
One of the greatest achievements of Nigeria Football Federation under the leadership of Amaju Pinnick in 2017 was the qualification of the Super Eagles for 2018 FIFA World Cup with a game to spare. This qualification seems to have been the main vision of NFF, no wonder Nigeria qualified with relative ease.
Asides the Super Eagles, the Super Falcons were neglected in the year 2017 with no coach, no friendly matches and this neglect tend to disturb a whole lot of women football followers because they have not forgotten how Amaju Pinnick went on air after he was elected as the President of NFF to declare his love for women football and his plans for women football in Nigeria but in the year 2017, these promises can be likened to a situation where water is poured on rocks.
Countries like Ghana and South Africa played high profile friendly matches in the year 2017 but the Super Falcons have been for a full year.
South Africa's U20 Women's team, who the Falconets will meet in the last round of the U20 World Cup qualifiers (Africa zone) were in Ghana last week for a friendly game with the Ghana Women's U20 team.
This shows proper planning and preparation on the side of the South Africans but ironically, the Falconets have been holed up in Abuja playing friendly matches with U15 and U13 boys teams in the nation's capital.
With the qualifier coming up in January, the Falconets will have to be on their toes if they are to get past South Africa who look determined to pick the ticket.
I have it on good authority how the money for the coaches was slashed after they returned from Morocco, the coaches were supposed to be paid 1500 dollars but their money was slashed to 225 dollars, yet we have sponsors that are supposed to take care of the payment of salaries of the officials of the team.
At a point, we were promised a coach after 10 days, the days expired without any coach named and recently we have been told to expect a world class coach in the next 14 days for Super Falcons.
By my own calculation, the 14 days expires on the 10th of January and I sincerely hope that stories will not be told on that day.
Also in 2017, bonuses for junior national teams were scrapped, the Federation may be right scrapping bonuses for age grade teams but what measures have they put in place to take care of the young players under their custody?
Other countries that we intend to emulate by scrapping bonuses take care of the age-grade teams. Some of the players are on scholarships in various schools.
As we enter a New Year, I want to remind our dear NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, that the Super Eagles is not the only project of NFF in this year 2018. Super Falcons needs all the necessary support to qualify for 2018 AWCON and this can only happen if they are given the best preparation.
I want to add that the era of appointing coaches for women national team few weeks to crucial qualifiers should please stop, a good example is the appointment of Bala Nikyu as Flamingos coach barely few weeks to a crucial match.
I'm optimistic that Falconets and Flamingos would qualify for both U-20 and U-17 World Cup but I want to appeal to the leadership of NFF to please give the girls all the necessary support. Let's not focus only on the Men's World Cup alone.
Our women deserve a break. Really.
Finally, I pray God to give all our administrators the wisdom to take our football to greater heights in this year 2018. Long live NWFL
Long live NPFL
Long live NFF
Long live Nigeria.
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