Governing Bodies
How Maureen Mmadu’s name erroneously crept into FIFA Century list
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has officially declared that former international Maureen Mmadu did not make 101 international appearances for the team.
It has however taken over a decade for the declaration to be made.
The player in question had made a surprise appearance of the list of players who had made 100 international appearances.
Had that been established, she would have been the first Nigerian to achieve the enviable feat.
At the time, the most capped Nigerian footballer was the lat Muda Lawal who had 85 caps in a glorious career that spanned 10 years (22 January 1975 to 18 August 1985).
Muda’s record was only equaled by Joseph Yobo on 12 November 2011 when Nigeria played a goalless draw with Botswana in Benin City when Stephen Keshi made his debut as Super Eagles’ head coach.
Two days later, Yobo raised the bar with his 87th cap when Nigeria beat Zambia 2-0 in a friendly match in Kaduna.
It was a landmark for Yobo who made his international debut playing against Zambia on 24 March 2001. It was against the same team that he became Nigeria’s most capped player and went on to become the first centurion on 30 June 2014 in Brazil when Nigeria lost to France.
But not all believed that Yobo was the first Nigerian to clock a century of caps. The Maureen Mmadu claim lingererd.
This reporter disputed the woman footballer’s claim and launched an investigation into it as the player’s international appearances were just a fraction over 50 when it was claimed to be 101 after her last international appearance in 2007.
The figures did not add up. First, the number of matches the Falcons had played from 1995 when Mmadu debuted and 2007 when she last played, was far below 100. How could she have had 101?
A mail was sent to FIFA on 4 December 2010 and the reply obtained two days later pointed to a German journalist, Rainer Hennies who was the speciallist in compiling stats on women football for FIFA.
Then began a chain of e-mail exchanges between this reporter and Hennies.
The German pointed out that sometime in 2003, after the Super Falcons qualified for the football event of the 2004 Olympics in Athens, he contacted the then NFA to supply the number of international appearnces of the Falcons’ players.
According to him, he gathers information through the various football associations every four years for both the Olympics and the Women’s World Cup. The Nigerian “FA is just inventing statistics and still seems to be happy with it,” Rainer wrote in an e-mail response to enquiries.
According to him, that is why Nigerian players were hardly considered to be listed on the Century Club since the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
No doubt, record keeping in Nigerian sports is a difficult task. It is also the same in most African countries.
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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