FIFA Scandal & Africa: An Opportunity Lost?

Colin Udoh's piece Africa, Blatter's Africa aptly summed upped the pathetic nature of football governance in Africa, and the bankruptcy of its leadership under Issa Hayatou.

With near deification of Blatter by the cabals that rule football associations in the continent, it is little wonder that Mr Blatter's hasty resignation has left many of them with eggs on their faces!

Shame!

Rather than sheepish followership, the FIFA corruption scandal presented Africa with an opportunity to forge new relationships and position the continent's football for a new era of global governance, one that is not built on a patronage system, and who can bow down the most!

The glee with which NFF President , Amaju Pinnick pledged undying loyalty to Blatter, was a sad spectacle!

With Blatter now gone, perhaps African football officials can themselves begin to think of a new era for African football, one without the corrupt leadership of Issa Hayatou.

While there are legitimate concerns in the continent about the desire of UEFA clubs and associations to inordinately impose their interests on the global game, this by itself cannot be an excuse for obsequious relationship between Africa and Blatter.

Moving forward, African football must seize the opportunity of a new wind to reform the continent's governance structure for football, and elect fresh and innovative leaders to drive the game.

A first step in this process must involve the departure of Issa Hayatou, and the abrogation of the electoral laws he and his co-conspirators, like Nigeria's Adamu, have imposed on CAF.

African football leaders must begin to forge new relationships, one best on enlightened regional, NOT self interest, especially with the Asian federation, and Oceania.

But the first step must begin with sanitization of CAF and the odious regime of Issa Hayatou!

Charting a New Direction for Nigerian Football: An Open Letter to Amaju Pinnick

Following the failure to qualify for the Nations Cup, Nigerian football is once again challenged to look seriously at its shortcomings and find new mechanisms to generate sustainable growth in the system. 

In response to this, new NFF Chairman Amaju Pinnick is looking to rebuild the Super Eagles by recruiting players of Nigerian parentage in the diaspora and has recently held meetings with Chuba Akpom, the young Arsenal prospect.

In this age of globalization and international migration, the nature of citizenship has changed. Indeed this is why I had in the past called for a football policy for the diaspora.

However, the need for such a policy does not, and cannot replace the hard job of rebuilding Nigerian football from the domestic game. True, there are many high quality footballers of Nigerian parentage in Europe. My team Liverpool has a host of them, including Jordon Ibe, Thiago Ilori, Ovie Ejara and the prodigious Sheyi Ojo.

But anyone who understands how young players emerge and are developed will tell you that there are no guarantees. The history of European youth academies is riddled with the carcass of the careers of once promising youth prospects who failed to make the grade after an initial flourish. To therefore base a substantial portion of rebuilding the national team on diaspora youth is at best a risky proposition. It is in this regard that I find Mr. Pinnick's approach to be highly flawed.

In my opinion, the Nigeria Goal project if faithfully implemented has the potential to fundamentally change the domestic game from the grassroots upwards.

Nigeria's approach to implementing this project has been unfortunately narrowly focused on developing the U-13 and U-15 teams with the primary purpose of feeding the U-17 teams. While this may have been successful in wining age grade competitions, it has had little or no impact on the broader Nigerian domestic game, as a similar program has had for Germany, Switzerland, Chile and Mexico. What is more, some of the technical weaknesses which bedevil talent development at the grassroots level remain, as we see with the current U-17 team.

As part of the Goal project, the then NFF had proposed to establish regional centers as a base for recruiting and training the best players in the various age groups. Before these centers were created, it was planned that coaches will be educated in preparation for their role as talent scouts. However, there was no indication in the plan how these coaches would be trained.

The weakness of this approach was obvious from the start. The truth is that the main promoters of grassroots youth football in Nigeria lie outside the NFF and state federations.

Grassroots football in Nigeria is alive and well by virtue of its non-reliance on government subsidies. There is however a glaring shortage of qualified coaches, equipment, including playing surfaces, and requisite programs for proper training and monitoring of youth footballers.

More importantly, there is a lack of coordination of programs and harmonization of training methodology to avoid a situation where academies exist merely to facilitate the sale of players abroad.

To simply construct regional centres does not begin to address the needs of this crucial sub-sector of Nigerian football.

1. First there is need to put in place, a structure within the NFF for collaborating with the youth leagues, associations and clubs that proliferate in such cities as Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Aba, Benin, Warri, etc. An easy solution might be to adopt the organizational framework of the Pepsi Academy, and site the Regional Centers at their principal locations. It would then require that all other youth organizations be given the same access to these facilities and its resources. It is suggested as follows:

1. Establish a youth department at the NFF with requisite infrastructure
2. Mandate all grassroots associations and youth clubs to register with the department, AT NO COST; providing basic information on club and especially the bio-data of players, programs, etc. this will need to be phased, starting with Lagos and moving progressively to other cities.
3. Through consultation, synchronize the competition calendar of the grassroots leagues and clubs across the various regions and then nationally.

Thus, the primary goal of this department would be to serve as a coordinating body for youth football in Nigeria, streamlining calendars, facilitating the use of the Centers, providing coaches and other technical resources, and maintaining a database. The implication of this is that the actual implementation of the programs for youth football will remain with the promoters of grassroots football. This is crucial, as government intervention through the NFF will ultimately destroy this fledgling sub-sector of our football.

2. Establish the Goal Project’s national technical centre (NTC) as the primary institutional basis for the program. In my opinion, the Regional Centers can only be successful if a strong NTC is first put in place with requisite infrastructure. But more importantly, the NTC needs to be established as a training center for youth team coaches who can then be deployed to the regional centers to identify and train talented youths in their regions, and recommend the best prospects to the national level.

To build regional centers without addressing key programmatic issues in the youth sub-sector just does not cut it. In the end, such regional centers will join several other white elephant projects that have been abandoned and today litter the Nigerian landscape.

The Nigeria Goal Project needs to be restructured as a vehicle for sustainable development of youth football in Nigeria. More importantly, a program needs to be effectively put in place, involving the key drivers of the youth football sub-sector in Nigeria, so that the regional centers are able to truly address the needs for which they are created.

3. Thirdly, the NFF should seek the assistance of Chelsea's Director of Football, Mike Emenalo in the recruitment of a Technical Director to run this program. Such a coach should be one that is experienced in developmental programs of this nature, The recommendation is made because there are not too many Nigerians with the depth of knowledge and experience to creatively develop and manage such a program.

4. With the Technical Director in place, and in consultation with the youth clubs, streamline and adopt a synchronized framework to guide the training and development of young players by all youth clubs and age grade national teams, but with enough flexibility for innovative ideas to grow.

5. Develop a system of incentives and support services for the clubs, including playing kits. The Adidas contract should have a provision through which to fund this, and indeed other aspects of this programme. If one does not exist, then requisite sponsorship for such should be developed.

6. In addition to this, the NFF should invoke the relevant section of the CAF ‘Contract with Africa’ and develop a funding proposal to CAF to finance the administration of this program.

7. The Technical Director should, in addition to his primary responsibilities, also provide technical assistance to the senior national team, and assume a back-room advisory role during such tournaments as the Africa Nations Cup and the World Cup. This way, the direct day to day management of the national team is left with a local coach who is made to grow with the team.

8. But more importantly, this initiative requires that Nigeria invest in a new generation of coaches, with emphasis on players with experience of European football as well as others with demonstrated ambition to excel in the profession. However for each of these ex-footballers, a minimum qualification should be the CAF or UEFA license, which can be secured even while on the job, but subject to a specified deadline. The CAF ‘Contract with Africa’ and its coaching program offers the best prospects for enhancing the capability of coaches already involved in youth football, and streamlining youth coaching under this program.

9. Changes in the management of football, including the transfer system resulting from the Bosman ruling in Europe has made the entry level into the European league much more difficult than a few years ago. The availability of quality players from Eastern Europe has further restricted the availability of places for African players. The result is that too many of our talented players are forced to remain in the lower leagues of Europe in such places as Malta, Albania, Latvia, Cyprus, with many ultimately lost to the game.

10. While the availability of quality players based in top European teams will remain important in the foreseeable future, the long term future of Nigerian football lies more in developing the domestic game, especially at the youth level, than in the academies of Liverpool, Arsenal or Barcelona's La Masia.

Who Wins AFCON 2015?

The Nations Cup begins this weekend with a slightly less open field and competition as the 2013 edition. It also begins without African powers Nigeria and Egypt, the former from a failure to build on its surprise success in 2013, and the latter from weaknesses that transcend the management of its domestic game.

2. As is often the case in recent tournaments, the seeding system by CAF has conspired to reward too much of the status quo rather than form and progressive development. The result is a truncated distribution of teams that unfortunately lumps Ghana, Senegal, Algeria and South Africa in one group, and a Zambian team that has been living on the dregs and leftovers of its 2012 success is rewarded with a seed.

3. As the competition gets set to begin, two key off-field issues will be significant, the quality of the playing surface and the weather. In 2012, the image of some "water polo" contests in Gabon remains seared in the mind, as was the cattle grazing fields in South Africa a year later...

4. In my opinion Cameroon starts out as the favorites to win this tournament. Readers of this blog will recall that I first called attention to the early signs of a Cameroonian revival two years ago. Readers will also recall my criticism of Volke Finke for the slow pace of his transition from the Eto'o generation of players. Today the rewards of a forward looking selection policy is self evident, a fact that I suspect will be further reinforced by the recent retirement of Song from the team.

5. My position on Cameroon is based on two things: an improved team spirit and strength in defence, with a team that is competitive in both the passing game in open play, as well as the counterattack. A formula that will get you success any day of the week in African football. I especially look forward to seeing Edgar Salli, Clinton N'jie and the young Franck Bagnack, should he get to play. But I remain unconvinced by Choupo Moting, even while recognizing his work rate.

6. The current Ivorien team has remained steadily at the top echelon of African football since 2008, but with nothing to show for it by way of titles, except the perennial tag of favorites. They come into the tournament again with probably the most complete and experienced squad, but a lingering malaise that successive coaches have been unable to eradicate. With two of the best players in Africa today in Yaya Toure and Wilfred Bony, there is clear evidence of a lack of reinvention in defence especially. Thankfully Sol Bamba and Zokora have been finally replaced, but the sense remains that it's been too late coming. The young Espanyol centerback Eric Bailly is an interesting prospect, and his round-house physical approach should find fertile ground in African football! Nonetheless, this team should be in contention, especially with the African experience and motivational skills of Herve Renard, even if not altogether his attention to tactical details.

7. Algeria arrive at the tournament with clearly the best team in the continent over the last one and half years. A very balanced squad in both personnel and systems, its pace from midfield and the defensive platform provided by Bentaleb and Medhi from midfield, enables the team fully exploit the pace of Brahimi, Djabou and Feghouli in attack. Although the current form of the latter is a little concerning. Of all the top teams in the tournament, the condition of the playing surface is likely to affect Algeria the most, because of the nature of its attacking game and transitions.

8. Ghana remain a powerful force that should content for the title, but there is an unmistakeable sense that this is a team in decline, a situation further compounded by bizarre decisions on coaching changes since the exit of the Serbian Milovan Rajevac. The injury and absence of Mojeed Warris will hurt the team, as will the lack of regular playing time by key players, especially in midfield. In defence the team is a little light in terms of depth. The addition of Augsburg's Baba Rahman is a welcome change. Overall there is not enough quality young players coming through in the team. In attack Mahatma Otoo should be an interesting player to watch especially with the fitness doubts surrounding Gyan. What he lacks in technique, he more than makes up in his fighting spirit...

9. Among the outsiders in this tournament, I suspect one of South Africa, Tunisia and Senegal could possibly be one of the teams to watch. In my opinion, given its football infrastructure and organization, South Africa has often underachieved in the continent, largely from a lack of self belief. But Shakes Mashaba's team has grown consistently in confidence, underlined by its performance over the last one year, and could spring a surprise.

10. Finally I look forward to watching the continued development of Cape Verde, with its attention to the fundamentals of the team game, and especially with its organization in defence.

11. Among the young players to watch are Ghana's Baba Rahman, Cameroon's Clinto N'jie, DR Congo's centerback Chancel Mbemba, and Congo's Thievy Bifouma.

Top 5 Nigerian Midfielders

1. Following Nigeria's second round exit at the world cup to France, and particularly the performance of the team following the injury to key midfield player, Ogenyi Onazi, and his replacement by Reuben Gabriel, the question of which players constitute the best Nigerian midfielders available has remained.

So who are Nigeria's top five midfielders?

2. In order to answer the question, a little background on the criteria for determining the players on the list is pertinent.

By midfielders, we refer to the category of central midfielders, which would include, defensive, attacking or holding midfielders.

The selection is based on the time frame of performance in the last season, as well as the games of the new season.

3. The first criteria adopted is the level of the league in which the player is based. This is weighed slightly against number of games played as starter or sub, as well as the relative strength/ranking of the club within the league. Accordingly, a player at Chelsea or Liverpool is ranked high, based on the profile of the clubs, but weighted against the position of the player as a starter or sub.

4. The second criteria is number of years in the team as a starter. This would include the profile of the player on-field with respect to established role in the team's game/tactical plan, as well as any leadership roles within the club, for instance as captain.

5. The third criteria is based on technical quality of the player, including dynamism in play, contribution to the attack and defence as determined by goals, assists, work rate (distances covered), tackles won, etc.

6. The fourth criteria is based on prospects of the player, with the focus on balancing between short and long term value to the Super Eagles.

7. Based on the above, Nigeria's best midfielders within this time frame are as follows:

- John Mikel Obi (Chelsea)
- Eddy Ogenyi Onazi (Lazio)
- Izunna Uzochukwu (FC Midtjylland)
- Raheem Lawal (Eskisehirspor)
- Chuks Aneke (S.V. Zulte Waregem)

8. John Mikel Obi by his standards had an average world cup in Brazil, although it can be argued that in some respects, his game at the world cup suffered from some structural imbalance in the Nigerian midfield. At Chelsea, his role diminished progressively over the time frame under consideration. However he plays at a higher level than any other Nigerian midfielder.

9. Ogenyi Onazi has continued to grow at Lazio and established himself as a young player to watch with his strong performance at the world cup, leading to rumors of a transfer, and eventually to a contract extension. He has firmly established himself as a mainstay of the Nigerian midfield.

10. Izunna Uzochukwu has steadily established himself since 2009, as a top controlling midfielder in FC Midtjylland and the Danish  league. He brings a combative presence and technique to the anchor role in central midfield, able to break up as well as build up play, either in the team's favored 4-3-3 or as part of a double pivot in a 4-2-3-1. He started the season as captain of his club.

11. Raheem Lawal comes into the list from an unheralded Turkish Superliga club, Eskisehirspor, where he plays as a dominant influence in the teams game. An industrious box-to-box midfielder, his main strengths lie in his effectiveness in the pressing game and ability to break forward in open play, at pace. However, his game sometimes suffers from excessive verticality, which constrains the ability of his team to control games. But it is the power and drive he brings to central midfield that earns him a spot in this list.

12. Chuks Aneke is a product of the Arsenal school, and is the beneficiary of a well rounded curriculum. After over 80 games and 24 goals in the rough and tumble of the English League One while on loan at Crewe, he moved on a free transfer to Zulte Waregem, where he has made a barnstorming start to establishing his career. Playing from an attacking midfield position, he has been especially impressive in the Europa League qualifiers, with a goal and an assist. He represents very good prospects for Nigeria in both the short, and especially the long term.

13. On a general note, it is of course necessary to point out that the list and the criteria on which it is based is by no means exhaustive. Neither does it, or should it necessarily reflect either way on the decisions of national team selectors, who are guided by additional considerations, not normally reflected in the criteria adopted in an project of this nature.

14. Based on the criteria, a number of players were dropped for various reasons. Notable among them is Ramon Azeez, who has been slowly establishing himself in his first season in the Spanish La Liga with Almeria. In my opinion, even while recognizing his improving performance, his game and role is largely unformed, which appeared to reflect in his performances with the Super Eagles. He should be one to watch in the new season.

15. Two other players were considered- Nosa Igiebor and Fegor Ogude. While the former suffered an injury ravaged season and relegation at Betis, the latter has struggled to re-establish his form following a long term injury.

16. We will revisit the list over the half way point of the new season. In the interim, we will be paying some attention to several young midfielders including, Kelechi Iheanacho and Anderson Esiti.

What do you think? Your comments are of course welcome...

Victor Moses: 10 Things...

1. Last night against Greece, Moses at times looked unplayable! I exaggerate a little...But certainly Nigeria looked at its most dangerous when he had the ball. He looked a far cry from the tentative player at Liverpool...


2. He looked unplayable, until you look at the hard numbers: crosses delivered, chances created, passes completed, shots on goal, shots off target, turnovers, etc as compared to number of touches on the ball.


3. His major approach was to run at the defence in open play and unbalance it with the dribble at pace. Nothing wrong with running at a defence...Barcelona are at their most potent when Messi is running at a defence in open play....


4. However, Messi's runs are not ahead of the team, but rather a subset of the team game. His team play and the movement of players around him is designed to create the space that he subsequently attacks. Even more important, it is discriminant in the choice of where to initiate the run and when.


5. In the case of Moses, his dribble runs are non-discriminant. He is running from deep in the Nigerian half, from midfield and from high up the pitch.


6. He first creates space with the dribble and then brings the rest of the team into play, when he chooses.


7. Now, Moses is a talented player with good technique. At the World Cup he will succeed with his dribbles. But the non-discriminant nature of it means he will also be a turnover magnet and WILL be targeted.


8. Ultimately, it will come down to a risk-reward thing.


9. The Nigerian game; at the heart of the Nigerian football culture is its spontaneity. I understand that. The structured European style team game will constrain a Nigerian team as we saw sadly with Berti Vogts.


10. But spontaneity can be enhanced by a solid structure, not diminished. The devil as always, is in the balance....

Emenike- A Note of Caution...

Emmanuel Emenike's importance to Nigeria under Stephen Keshi is crystal clear. His pace, power, ability to hold up play with back to goal, or attack diagonally from wide, make him near indispensable in Keshi's attacking scheme.

At the World Cup, his pace and power will be crucial when Nigeria sets up on the counterattack, especially against Bosnia and Argentina.

However, a close analysis of his career so far shows some worrying issues that could impact his ability to perform at the highest level in Brazil in June.

Having followed his career in Europe, starting from his stint at the Turkish side, Karabukspor, a consistent string of muscle and ligament injuries appear to have increasingly affected his explosiveness, making him more reliant on power than pace and technique.

A UEFA study of injury incidence and injury patterns in professional football
classifies a severe injury as one that sidelines a player for more than 28 days. Emenike has had three severe injuries in the last four seasons, all of a muscular nature.

In the just concluded season, he starred in 28 league games (5 as subs), scoring 12 goals, with nine assists to emerge Turkish league champions with Fenerbahce.

This has been his best season since helping Karabukspor to the Turkish Super Liga in 2009/10,

Between the 2010/11 season and the current, he has suffered four serious muscular injuries, including an arthroscopic surgery and a hamstring tear early this year.

It is critical that Nigerian handlers be fully informed of his medical history and to accordingly design a fitness regime that is target specific to the player.

In the Best Interest of the African Child?

This week, FIFA imposed a one year ban on Barcelona FC for contravening its rules on the transfer of players under 18 years. Specifically, the club was found to be in breach of Article 19 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.

The ban centers around ten players under 18 years who were recruited by the club to its famed La Masia academy between 2009 and 2013. Among these are three players with African parentage, one Nigerian, Bobby Adekanye, and two Cameroonians, Patrice Sousia and Andrei Onana.

In taking this decision, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee sought to underline the seriousness with which it takes the protection of minors in football. The Committee stated that the "protection of minors is one of the key principles included in the agreement concluded between FIFA, UEFA and the European Commission in 2001". The Disciplinary Committee acknowledged that "young football players are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse in a foreign country without the proper controls".

Accordingly, the Committee emphasized that the protection of minors in the context of international transfers is an important social and legal issue that concerns all stakeholders in football. The Committee agreed that while international transfers might, in specific cases, be favorable to a young player’s sporting career, they are nonetheless very likely to be contrary to the best interests of the player as a minor. Thus, the committee concluded that “the interest in protecting the appropriate and healthy development of a minor as a whole must prevail over purely sporting interests.” Link

In writing this, my interest is not Barcelona, although it is a club I admire. My interest is, the best interest of the African child, the thousands of talented African kids with the ambition to be the next JJ Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo, George Weah, Samuel Eto'o or Didier Drogba.

It is instructive that the principles that motivated this Regulation, emerged from an agreement between FIFA, UEFA and the European Commission in 2001. I am left wondering, where was the African representation? In what ways did these principles recognize the specific circumstance of the African child footballer? Or does it assume the interest and the circumstance to be the same, and thus to know and act in his best interest?

While Article 19 of the Regulation expressly forbids the international transfer of players under 18 years, it creates three exceptions, one which directly impacts the African player and  states as follows:

a) 'The player’s parents move to the country in which the new club is located for reasons not linked to football'.

I would imagine that the primary intent of this provision is to help provide a stable home environment to enable these young players navigate the transition to a new life and a new culture. Why is it then necessary that the relocation of the parents be for 'reasons not linked to football'? In what specific way does the fact of the parents moving for non-footballing reasons, as opposed to reasons linked to football, help in "protecting the appropriate and healthy development of a minor"?

Commenting on this provision, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger  suggested that the rules may need to be changed, "because there is more competition now to get the young players, and you will always be in a debate as to why did the parents move? There is more money in the game, so the parents will be tempted to give their young boys a chance to have a great career" (Link).

In my opinion, the provision for relocation of parents for reasons not linked to football, imposes an extra burden on the transfer of African young players  and thus constrains their chance to develop a successful career, without any corresponding additional benefits to the child.

It lacks understanding of the enormity of the challenge an African parent would face in adjusting to a new environment, culture, language and weather, in relocating with the child, who in any case, is often better equipped to handle such transitions. I am an African in the diaspora, and I live this reality everyday!

It appears presumptuous and arrogant and puts FIFA in the unlikely position where it assumes to know better than Bukola Mosunmola and Ademola Adekanye, what is in the best interest of  their son Bobby Adekanye.

More importantly, it is ineffective because it doesn't address the two major mechanisms through which African minors are exploited in the transfer market, fraudulent agency representation and slave contracts, both of which continue, irrespective of the age of the player!

With specific reference to Barcelona, it is  rather ironic that a law that is designed to prevent the exploitation of minors, is punishing a team, whose facilities and conditions of work, as well as the management of young players is probably of the highest standard in the world.

It has been argued that this will force U-17 players to stay at home and play locally until they are 18. But this does not address the primary economic factors behind the desire of young, talented African footballers to move to Europe. Besides, many of the clubs interested in U-17 African players would simply conclude agreements with them and wait for a year, as may already be the case with some of Nigeria's championship winning players.

Like FIFA, I too believe that protecting the appropriate and healthy development of a minor as a whole must prevail over purely sporting interests. However the mechanisms for achieving this laudable goal does not often lend itself to simplistic, one-size fits all approaches.

The case of ex-Liverpool youth player, Victor Palsson readily comes to mind, and how the relocation of his family rather than be a source of comfort, became the source of instability that eventually cost him, what was projected to be a career in the first team (Link). 

What is required here is a regulation that sets high minimum standards for the international transfer of minors, retains the important provisions on education, but is flexible enough to allow each club and the concerned parents to mutually arrive at the best arrangement that protects the interest of the child