International Football
HOW VICTOR MOSES LOST OUT
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria’s wingback, Victor Moses lost out in the race for the African Footballer of the Year as well as being named in the Fans Finest XI. He was one of the front runners until the last ‘legs’ of both races.
According to data collected by www.sportsvillagesquare.com from the Confederation of African Football, CAF, Moses possibly lost out from being in the final shortlist as two Nigerians in the voting panel did not vote in the Phase 1 of the poll.
Moses ended up in that phase with 60 points to a joint third with Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Voting by them, especially if Moses was indicated as their prime candidate, could have given the Nigerian right wingback an additional 10 votes. But all the same, Moses still made the top 11 as at that stage.
Among the 18-man CAF Technical & Development Committee that voted, Zambia’s Kalusha Bwalya voted Victor Moses as his second preferred candidate behind Egypt’s Mohammed Salah. Kalusha’s vote fetched Moses, four points.
Korici Toufique of Algeria is the only one who voted Moses as number one, thus giving him a maximum five points.
Overall, the Technical & Development Committee ranked Moses as number four with 22 points behind Mohammed Salah (63), Sadio Mane (34) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (28).
The other Nigerian in the initial 30-man list, William Troost-Ekong did not get any vote from the members of the CAF Technical & Development Committee. He was not alone in that poor outing. Christian Bassogog of Cameroon, Fabrice Ondoa, Fackson Kapumbu, Junior Kabananga, Mbwana Samata, Michael Olunga, Moussa Marega, Percy Tau and Thomas Partey are the others with zero votes.
Eventually, the Nigerian central defender, Troost-Ekong got three votes from the second panel of voters – the CAF Panel of Media Experts. Nigeria’s Ayotunde Adelakun gave him his least vote of one point while Marceline-Maze Muakumanya of DR Congo gave him two points.
The CAF Panel of Media Experts cumulatively gave Moses 23 votes to rank him third behind Sadio Mane (52 votes) and Mohamed Salah (51 votes).
The third group of voters are the Independent Media and TV Consultants where all the 10 but one did not vote. The missing vote, if given to Moses could have seen him come second here. But he finished fourth with 15 votes behind Mohammed Salah (44), Sadio Mane (25) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (16).
The last set of voters was the national associations where the coaches and captains formed the Electoral College.
Victor Moses’ votes were from diverse national associations except the following that had neither their captain nor coach voting for him: Rwanda, Central African Republic, Morocco, Mozambique, Guinea, Liberia, Niger Republic, Djibouti, Sudan, DR Congo, and Burkina Faso.
Significantly, Zambia, eliminated by Nigeria from the World Cup, offered Moses six of maximum 10 points.
The Coach of Cameroon voted Moses second, offering him four of possible five points while the Cameroon skipper gave him the maximum five points. Thus, Moses got nine of maximum 10 points from Nigeria’s eastern neighbours, Cameroon.
When all the points were summed up, Moses had 155 points as against 452 by Mohammed Salah, 391 by Sadio Mane, and 241 by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. That way, Moses placed fourth and could not make the final three shortlist.
International Football
Grudgingly, Eto’o accepts new Cameroon coach Brys, but fails to attend ceremony
Cameroon’s new coach Marc Brys penned a contract on Monday but the Belgian’s appointment by the government remains contentious as the football federation did not attend the signing ceremony.
Brys has been handed a 2-1/2-year contract by Cameroon’s sports ministry but the federation (FECAFOOT) was conspicuous by its absence at the event in Yaounde.
Last week, FECAFOOT criticised the unilateral decision of sports minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombito to appoint the 61-year-old Brys, who has no prior experience as a national team coach and has not previously worked on the African continent.
FECAFOOT president Samuel Eto’o issued a statement on Monday, excusing himself from the unveiling event.
“We thank you for inviting us to the ceremony. Following this, we inform you of the fact that we received the letter two hours before the said ceremony,” wrote Eto’o.
“Unfortunately, we are busy organising the funeral of our late Dad, and for this reason we will not be able to attend presence at the ceremony.”
His father’s funeral is to be held at the weekend.
Eto’o balked at Brys’ appointment and is now in a deepening standoff with the minister.
In Cameroon, the government has long paid the salary of the national team coach and therefore held powerful sway over FECAFOOT’s affairs, even if such state interference is frowned upon by world football’s governing body FIFA.
Any heightened dispute risks a potential ban from international competition for Cameroon, one of the heavyweights of African football.
FECAFOOT held an emergency meeting on Saturday and asked Eto’o to propose an alternative coach for the national team.
Earlier on the weekend, the minister had defended the appointment, saying he had acted in accordance with national and international regulations.
In a letter to FECAFOOT, Kombi said his ministry’s appointment of coaching staff “in no way affects the autonomy of FECAFOOT and does not violate any of the ‘supranational regulations”.
He said FECAFOOT had suggested three candidates to the ministry but their salary demands ranged between 1.5 million euros and 2.5 million euros ($1.63 million and $2.71 million) per year.
“These are excessive amounts never paid to any coach in the history of the Indomitable Lions,” Kombi said.
-Reuters
Cameroon’s football federation (FECAFOOT) held an emergency meeting on Saturday and asked its president to propose an alternative coach for the national team, deepening a standoff with the sports ministry.
FECAFOOT on Wednesday accused the ministry of unilaterally appointing Belgian Marc Brys as coach and other staff to manage the Indomitable Lions, who are five-times African champions.
The dispute risks a potential ban from international competition as world soccer’s governing body FIFA has strict rules against government interference in national federations.
In a statement, FECAFOOT said its emergency committee had met on Saturday and unanimously confirmed that the federation had not been involved in the appointments in alleged contravention of regulations.
As a result, it asked its president Samuel Eto’o to propose a national coach and other management staff for the national side within 72 hours.
Responding to a request for comment, a spokesperson for the ministry said the result of the FECAFOOT meeting was “an appeal. It is not yet a decision.”
On Friday, Sports Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi wrote to FECAFOOT to defend the coaching appointments, which he said were in accordance with national and international rules.
In a letter seen by Reuters, Kombi said the ministry’s move “in no way affects the autonomy of FECAFOOT and does not violate any of the ‘supranational regulations’.”
A spokesperson for the ministry confirmed the authenticity of the letter.
Kombi’s letter also said the salaries requested by three candidates earlier proposed by the federation for the position of coach ranged between 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million) and 2.5 million euros per year.
“These are excessive amounts never paid to any coach in the history of the Indomitable Lions,” Kombi said.
FECAFOOT did not respond to a request for comment on the letter.
-Reuters
RELATED STORIES:
BREAKING! Turmoil in Cameroon federation over naming of new national coach Brys. https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/2024/04/03/breaking-turmoil-in-cameroon-federation-over-naming-of-new-national-coach-brys/
Soccer Cameroon appoint Brys as new head coach https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/2024/04/03/soccer-cameroon-appoint-brys-as-new-head-coach/
International Football
National team and club-mate Owolabi commiserates with grief-stricken Odegbami –
Powerful left-wing back in his playing days, Felix Owolabi has expressed great grief over the loss of a son of former teammate, Segun Odegbami.
Both Felix Owolabi and Odegbami share common traits as the earliest tertiary institution footballers featuring for clubs and the national team.
While Odegbami was a mechanical engineering student at The Ibadan Polytechnic, Owolabi was an undergraduate at the University of Lagos.
Both were players of the then rampaging IICC Shooting Stars and the Africa Cup of Nations winning team of 1980. The crucial goals that won the cup for Nigeria were scored by the duo.
While Owolabi’s goal against Morocco sent Nigeria to the Africa Cup of Nations final match for the first time, Odegbami’s two goals in the final against Algeria put a stamp of definity to Nigeria’s victory before another club-mate Muda Lawal put in the third.
“We have come a long way”, remarked Owolabi in a message to the Sports Village Square Thursday morning.
“I have just arrived from Morocco on a national assignment trying to adjust and deal with the extreme and gruelling hot weather here in Nigeria when I got the sad news of the sudden death of the son of my dear brother and senior colleague Dr Olusegun Odegbami.
“Hearing the death of Oluwagbeminiyi Omo Odegbami, I paused for a moment and did not know what to say.
“All the media both print and electronics carried it as a breaking news.
“And that was when it dawned on me that I had to call ‘Big Sheg’ as he is fondly called by me.
“His authoritative confirmation about it dealt a blow on me and put me total darkness.What would have happened to this our vibrant and such an enterprising Oluwagbeminiyi?
“Why would death be so so wicked to suddenly take this gentleman away from us without notice. Going on a journey that he will need not to look at anybody, an eternal journey till Christ come.
“My heart and that of my entire family are with you and the rest of the family”, remarked Owolabi.
“It is well. I pray that God grant him eternal rest. I pray also that the almighty God grant you the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. Today the death of Oluwagbeminiyi has made me to believe and conclude that death is real and it is universal
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Grudgingly, Eto’o accepts new Cameroon coach Brys, but fails to attend ceremony
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