Governing Bodies
HOW DID THE SUPER EAGLES SINK TO THIS LEVEL?
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The Guardian on Tuesday (April 28) published a story in which one of the backroom staff of Super Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr, Tunde Adelakun reportedly explained the exclusion of players of the domestic league from the national team.
From the report, one can easily deduce that the man solely determines who gets called up into the Nigerian Super Eagles. Yet, there are no evidences to show that he had any coaching background or had played football at any level to the point that he could be assigned the role of determining what the composition of an aspiring global brand should be.
According to the report, the domestic league players are excluded from the Super Eagles because the UK-based Adelakun has no means of assessing the players online.
The report further quoted Adelakun as saying that it was difficult for him to monitor players in Nigerian league from his base in the United Kingdom because the games do not have visuals online that could enable him to critically study them before recommending players to Rohr.
“Scouting for players overseas is easy for me because there is a special software device I use to track Nigerian foreign-based players’ performance online.
“Any Nigerian player that is doing fine in Europe, if I get his contact and data, I use the device to watch his clips and study his performance.
“After this process, if I am satisfied, I will recommend to Rohr and he will also assess the player before taking the step to approach the player in his base.”
Could this be true? If yes, invitation to the Super Eagles has now been reduced to the convenience of Adelakun, whom Gernot Rohr himself has admitted was influential to his getting the Super Eagles’ job in 2016.
Except the statements attributed to him are either recanted or rebutted, the inference is that the Super Eagles have become the personal estate of Adelakun.
How did we sink to this level? What then is the role of the technical committee of the NFF or its Technical Department that is headed by Bitrus Bewarang who since the days of Clemence Westerhof has been linked with the Super Eagles?
By Adelakun’s reckoning, Nigerians have to be born abroad or venture abroad to get his attention and thus have realistic chances of playing for the Super Eagles.
He ascribes himself as the alpha and omega of our collective brand. Should this be so? Little wonder, the Technical Committee of the NFF has long been made redundant while the Technical Department only exists in the minds of few people.
The creed then in the national team will be: ‘Seek ye the attention of the sole administrator on technical matters, invitation to the Super Eagles shall then follow’.
From his personal blog, football was the last on the seven attributes he ascribed to his profile. He admitted never to have played football or getting any coaching training, yet he is Nigerian football lead brand’s scout!
In his personal blog visited as at 9.30pm on Wednesday 28 April 2020, he mentioned his involvement in the football industry as ranging from “football journalism to football marketing; football politics and lobbying to players’ welfare management, mentoring and coaching (at the highest levels of World Cup football).”
Very soon, lobbying to be included into the Super Eagles will soon be a lucrative business.
What exactly is the role of Tunde Adelakun in the NFF? He has been a recurring decimal since 2008 and was the one that suspected to have organized the aborted flight that was to ferry the Super Eagles from London to Johannesburg for the 2010 World Cup before the Federal Government saved the embarrassing situation and chattered another plane to convey the team.
Let someone save our Super Eagles!
The president of the Confédération of African Football, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, has announced five new CAF Vice Presidents. They are:
- CAF First Vice President: Mr Fouzi Lekjaa (Morocco)
- CAF Second Vice President: Mr Kurt Okraku (Ghana)
- CAF Third Vice President: Mr Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
- CAF Fourth Vice President: Ms Bestine Kazadi Ditabala (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- CAF Fifth Vice President: Mr Feizal Sidat (Mozambique)
In addition, the CAF President has co-opted Yacine Idriss Diallo, President of Fédération Ivoirienne de football, into the CAF Executive Committee.
The CAF Executive Committee also approved the names to fill vacant positions on several CAF Committees.
Organising Committee for the African Nations Championship (CHAN)
- President: Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
CAF Technical and Development Committee
- President: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
- Vice President: Malouche Belhassen (Tunisia)
CAF Medical Committee:
- President: Dr. Mohammed Bouya (Mauritania)
- Vice President: Dr. Thulani Ngwenya (South Africa)
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Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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