FIFA – torn between allowing cheats and saving its championship!
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- Category: Sports
- Written by ODEGBAMI ON SATURDAY
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I am in Abeokuta as I write this! An 8 team-tournament organised each year by Chief Kashimawo Laloko for under-17 boys from some West African countries is going on.
This year there are teams from Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Republic of Benin, and four from Nigeria. By the time you are reading this the tournament would have been rounded off. With the recent developments in football, particularly the matter of a new technology that can reveal the actual age of players, and as the countdown to the FIFA under-17 championship begins, it is important to observe developments more closely and to start to imagine what would happen when the championship starts in October. Are countries already taking the threat of a FIFA disqualification seriously? Nigeria seems to be even though one is not sure at the moment what the NFF will do. Although the Abeokuta football fiesta is not a FIFA or CAF or even NFF competition it has the potential to reveal how some countries are thinking and what they are doing in reaction to the development! Incidentally, one of the teams in Abeokuta (Gambia) is the current African champions using the tournament to prepare for the bigger event in October! Since their African victory the Gambians have not changed their team to reflect the threat of a FIFA disqualification! They will be coming to Nigeria in October loaded to the hilt with these players.
Now this is the interesting part. I have observed the size and physical look of the players from Gambia and Ghana in particular in Abeokuta. Although there is no screening of players for their ages even a blind man can clearly see the difference in strength and size of the players of these two teams and the rest of the teams. Incidentally, the Gambian team are the current African under-17 champions! I dare them to conduct the MIR test. If they find more than 5 of them in each team below the age of 17 months and 10 months, which is the maximum allowable age for those that can participate by October 2009, I shall never comment on football again in my life! I have a school of students from different backgrounds and social strata. They all play football at a high level. I have given them good food and good physical conditioning over the period of two years. So, I have a fairly good idea how an average 17 year old can look physically even under extra-ordinary circumstances of growth. I have discussed with some scholars with experience in physiology and physical health education. I have seen the power, strength, speed, athleticism and rippling muscles displayed by many an African (and some South American also) country’s under-17s. If FIFA dare and insist on screening all the teams and disqualifying the players that will fail the MIR test, the championship may become so depleted we might end up not having one at all in October. That’s how challenging and how bad the present situation is. Will FIFA have the guts to go ahead to conduct the most needed tests that will sanitise their age-group competitions, and disqualify players that fail this scientifically-proven test with 95% reliability? Or will they capitulate to ‘fear’ of not having a competition at all and allow the teams to do as they did in Korea and use only their international passports to verify the ages they claim to be?
It does not matter what decision FIFA finally takes. The 2009 Under-17 FIFA championship will pose a big challenge to the association. Their decision will determine the ultimate fate of the championship. It is a decision torn between immorality and authenticity, injustice and fair play, lies and the truth!
For us in Nigeria, now that we have decided to take the moral high road and do things properly, my opinion is that we think for the long term good! The risk associated with cheating is unnecessary! Nigeria should, for a change, champion a moral cause in African football. We must do so in October even at the risk of not winning the championship. Our short term ‘loss’ would definitely become a long term gain when the boys pass through the proper development mill and emerge still young, but better honed and better prepared to challenge for the optimal trophy in World football in future on a regular basis!
Artificial turfs in Nigerian football – a word of caution!
So, Abeokuta is agog with a football festival. The first thing to observe about the tournament is the beautiful new artificial turf of the MKO Abiola stadium. Artificial turfs, now approved by FIFA for its under-17 championship, dot the Nigerian football landscape and many more are in the pipeline. But what is not known up till now is the real effect on players playing on this kind of turf. Obviously the turf is good for television coverage and viewing. The ball can be beautifully stroked around the field better. But that’s about all. It may adversely be affecting the performance of players as was very evident during the last Federation Cup drab finals played at the Tesilimi Balogun stadium in Lagos, one of the approved stadia for the FIFA championship. It is clear it is not easy to master playing on the turf. The ball travels differently on the pitch and is slowed down considerably by the grains of black plastic spread on the field. For optimum performance the turf requires shoes with a special sole designed for the surface. The surface is extremely hard on the leg joints (knees and ankles) increasing the tendency and seriousness of injury. Long-term effect on the joints is still untested and unknown. The surface also heats up considerably on a sunny day and may become unbearable for some European players. Before every State in Nigeria embarks on the journey of constructing one of these pitches I think it is necessary to properly investigate and report some of these effects and how they can impact the game either negatively or positively.
I ask the following questions though : if artificial turf technology has developed so much in recent times and the feel of the turf is so close to the real thing (grass), why has none of the serious football-playing countries in the world changed their playing grounds to this kind of turf? Why do none of the big teams in Europe and South America play on artificial turf if it is cheaper to construct and maintain them? Why do foreign clubs still invest heavily in improving grass fields? Why would FIFA approve such a pitch and only third world countries are adopting it for use? I am watching the matches in Abeokuta very closely and I am getting worried that in the long run, investing in artificial turf in answer to our slow football development may not be such a bright idea after all. Once again, I do not know, but from what I have observed, it may be necessary for us to take a second look, ask some deeper questions, and be convinced of the benefits to our football before we go any further in artificial turf construction. Algeria started it in the mid-1970s. Why did they stop it and went back to grass? To play safe we must continue to encourage the use of lush green, grass fields and invest in improving their construction and maintenance so that we do not end up victims of FIFA’s seemingly innocuous experiment!
Articles
FIFA – torn between allowing cheats and saving its championship!
Category: Sports Written by ODEGBAMI ON SATURDAY Hits: 656
I am in Abeokuta as I write this! An 8 team-tournament organised each year by Chief Kashimawo Laloko for under-17 boys from some West African countries is going on.
This year there are teams from Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Republic of Benin, and four from Nigeria. By the time you are reading this the tournament would have been rounded off. With the recent developments in football, particularly the matter of a new technology that can reveal the actual age of players, and as the countdown to the FIFA under-17 championship begins, it is important to observe developments more closely and to start to imagine what would happen when the championship starts in October. Are countries already taking the threat of a FIFA disqualification seriously? Nigeria seems to be even though one is not sure at the moment what the NFF will do. Although the Abeokuta football fiesta is not a FIFA or CAF or even NFF competition it has the potential to reveal how some countries are thinking and what they are doing in reaction to the development! Incidentally, one of the teams in Abeokuta (Gambia) is the current African champions using the tournament to prepare for the bigger event in October! Since their African victory the Gambians have not changed their team to reflect the threat of a FIFA disqualification! They will be coming to Nigeria in October loaded to the hilt with these players.
Now this is the interesting part. I have observed the size and physical look of the players from Gambia and Ghana in particular in Abeokuta. Although there is no screening of players for their ages even a blind man can clearly see the difference in strength and size of the players of these two teams and the rest of the teams. Incidentally, the Gambian team are the current African under-17 champions! I dare them to conduct the MIR test. If they find more than 5 of them in each team below the age of 17 months and 10 months, which is the maximum allowable age for those that can participate by October 2009, I shall never comment on football again in my life! I have a school of students from different backgrounds and social strata. They all play football at a high level. I have given them good food and good physical conditioning over the period of two years. So, I have a fairly good idea how an average 17 year old can look physically even under extra-ordinary circumstances of growth. I have discussed with some scholars with experience in physiology and physical health education. I have seen the power, strength, speed, athleticism and rippling muscles displayed by many an African (and some South American also) country’s under-17s. If FIFA dare and insist on screening all the teams and disqualifying the players that will fail the MIR test, the championship may become so depleted we might end up not having one at all in October. That’s how challenging and how bad the present situation is. Will FIFA have the guts to go ahead to conduct the most needed tests that will sanitise their age-group competitions, and disqualify players that fail this scientifically-proven test with 95% reliability? Or will they capitulate to ‘fear’ of not having a competition at all and allow the teams to do as they did in Korea and use only their international passports to verify the ages they claim to be?
It does not matter what decision FIFA finally takes. The 2009 Under-17 FIFA championship will pose a big challenge to the association. Their decision will determine the ultimate fate of the championship. It is a decision torn between immorality and authenticity, injustice and fair play, lies and the truth!
For us in Nigeria, now that we have decided to take the moral high road and do things properly, my opinion is that we think for the long term good! The risk associated with cheating is unnecessary! Nigeria should, for a change, champion a moral cause in African football. We must do so in October even at the risk of not winning the championship. Our short term ‘loss’ would definitely become a long term gain when the boys pass through the proper development mill and emerge still young, but better honed and better prepared to challenge for the optimal trophy in World football in future on a regular basis!
Artificial turfs in Nigerian football – a word of caution!
So, Abeokuta is agog with a football festival. The first thing to observe about the tournament is the beautiful new artificial turf of the MKO Abiola stadium. Artificial turfs, now approved by FIFA for its under-17 championship, dot the Nigerian football landscape and many more are in the pipeline. But what is not known up till now is the real effect on players playing on this kind of turf. Obviously the turf is good for television coverage and viewing. The ball can be beautifully stroked around the field better. But that’s about all. It may adversely be affecting the performance of players as was very evident during the last Federation Cup drab finals played at the Tesilimi Balogun stadium in Lagos, one of the approved stadia for the FIFA championship. It is clear it is not easy to master playing on the turf. The ball travels differently on the pitch and is slowed down considerably by the grains of black plastic spread on the field. For optimum performance the turf requires shoes with a special sole designed for the surface. The surface is extremely hard on the leg joints (knees and ankles) increasing the tendency and seriousness of injury. Long-term effect on the joints is still untested and unknown. The surface also heats up considerably on a sunny day and may become unbearable for some European players. Before every State in Nigeria embarks on the journey of constructing one of these pitches I think it is necessary to properly investigate and report some of these effects and how they can impact the game either negatively or positively.
I ask the following questions though : if artificial turf technology has developed so much in recent times and the feel of the turf is so close to the real thing (grass), why has none of the serious football-playing countries in the world changed their playing grounds to this kind of turf? Why do none of the big teams in Europe and South America play on artificial turf if it is cheaper to construct and maintain them? Why do foreign clubs still invest heavily in improving grass fields? Why would FIFA approve such a pitch and only third world countries are adopting it for use? I am watching the matches in Abeokuta very closely and I am getting worried that in the long run, investing in artificial turf in answer to our slow football development may not be such a bright idea after all. Once again, I do not know, but from what I have observed, it may be necessary for us to take a second look, ask some deeper questions, and be convinced of the benefits to our football before we go any further in artificial turf construction. Algeria started it in the mid-1970s. Why did they stop it and went back to grass? To play safe we must continue to encourage the use of lush green, grass fields and invest in improving their construction and maintenance so that we do not end up victims of FIFA’s seemingly innocuous experiment!