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46—SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 23, 2019 Football versus Racism: One match that FIFA must win! Recent developments around rea it ugly head to deface the football, especially in beautiful game. Europe, reveal that FIFA may only Towards the end of his long reign be play acting and paying lip as president of FIFA, Mr. Sepp service to the issue of racism in Blatter, as part of his strategy to football. secure the support of the 53 African The body responsible for football football federations, set up a in the world, a sport that has tamed special task force to address the bridged human differences, issue of discrimination against including religion, has failed in the Black players around the world. battle against the worst scourge in The body was to investigate the human history – slavery. issue and make recommendations Racism is an extension of the to stem the tide of the growing vestiges of slavery, festering in a menace that is introducing a different form. dangerous new dimension to It is, indeed, a big shock that football. football, probably the most The case of Kevin-Prince powerful ‘weapon’ in the world, a Boateng, the Ghanaian simple game that has conquered international playing for Inter most known prejudices, has been Milan, triggered FIFA’s reaction. •Boateng largely ineffective against the Kevin had walked out of the field discrimination of Black persons in the middle of a friendly football (for that’s what racism really is) in match with Pro Patria, following Yaya Toure of Manchester City. the world of football. racial chants and abuse by some The task force met only three This is the 21st Century and spectators in 2013. His action was times in three and half years! racism is a reality on the football unprecedented. It could trigger an As soon as Giovanni Infantino grounds of several big and small avalanche should it escalate and became President of FIFA, the clubs and countries, particularly in become a new trend. body was terminated. FIFA Europe. The Black person is the Other Black players joined in the claimed that the task force had most affected by the scourge, either chorus of condemnation and completed its work and that all its as a pawn, a victim, or a hopeless called for action. recommendations had been onlooker in the battle of White and Sepp Blatter seized the moment and implemented. Nothing could be Coloured races. set up the Anti-Racism Task Force. farther from the truth. It appears that FIFA maybe Members of the adhoc body included According to Osasu’s report in treating the issue that is escalating South Africa’s Tokyo Sexwale, AIPS 2016, Lillian Thuram, a 1998 and threatening the future of the President Gianni Merlo, FIFPRO’s World Cup winner for France, body and of football itself without Theo Van Seggelen, Football- wrote “I am extremely shocked the desired seriousness. Against-Racism-in-Europe, FARE’s that such an important Racism in absolute reality may President, and Howard Webb, former organization that can reach be targeted at all people of colour, renowned EPL Referee, international millions of people, especially but it is mostly at those of black Nigerian journalist, Osasu children, can say, in 2016, in this African descent, their dark skin the Obayiuwana and Kevin-Prince global political situation, that ‘the defining element. Boateng. job is done’, referring to the work Slavery would just not go away Some players were coopted into of the task force. from the human race. Some races the task force but could not The only things done by FIFA cannot easily shed prejudices contribute to the discussions were “‘stiff’ sanctions against clubs embedded in history, and accept because meetings coincided with and fans, and a program of that all men are equal. their match fixtures in their various education for global fans to FIFA should have tackled racism clubs, rendering their change their attitude and in football and eradicated it from contributions zero. They included eliminate prejudices”. the face and lexicon of world Serey Die, of Cote D’Ivoire, Jozy These yielded nothing. football immediately it started to Altidore, a USA International and Infantino’s words have not been Let’s catch them young! Last week, I was opportune to spend two days watching students from more than 50 secondary schools in Lagos compete with each other at the Teslim Balogun Stadium during the 2nd edition of the Channels Track and Field Classics. The excitement in the air was palpable, and just watching these kids display their skills or the lack of it on the track brought back fond memories of my childhood, because my love for sports was ignited right from my primary school days when we used to participate in Physical Education classes and the usual inter-house sports. We all looked forward to those times because it was also an avenue to escape from class and just play for as long as we were allowed. Back then too it was normal for schools to have playing grounds and fields with enough space to run, play football or partake in any other physical activity that caught our interest. It was the same thing at home as we had enough space to indulge in as much physical activity as we had time for, such as riding bicycles, climbing trees and so on. So engaging in physical activity was a normal part of growing up back in the day. It is no coincidence that a lot of our Athletics greats were products of school sports: the Mary Onyalis, Falilat Ogunkoyas, Deji Alius, Glory Alozies, Yusuf Allis, Henry Amikes, Osmond and Davidson Ezinwa, and a host of others. Each of the above-mentioned individuals went on to dominate their events at the national and global level. These days, I see a lot of schools springing up all over the place without proper facilities, and with cramped buildings, leaving little or no place for the students to engage in physical activity. How then do we raise future champions for our country? I believe that it should be made mandatory for every school to have playing space for its wards, and for sports to be made an integral part of the curriculum for primary and secondary schools. In the words of Dr. Oluyomi Oluwasanmi, the Director, School Sports Directorate of the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), “Apart from talent discovery and the empowerment School Sports provides, it is also a platform to reduce juvenile delinquency.” Indeed the benefits of catching them young far outweigh whatever perceived concerns there may be. Last week, it was enthralling to watch the boys and girls compete in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 100m Hurdles, 110m Hurdles, Shot Put, Long Jump, High Jump, 4x100m and 4x400m relays. For some of these students, this was their first time of participating in events like the throws and hurdles, yet they braved all odds to make their efforts count. So many promising talents were unearthed, having been provided a platform to showcase their gifts and potential. Imagine the level of progress they will attain if they are properly groomed and trained by the right coaches. Take for instance 17-year old Olaolu Olatunde of Temple Secondary School who won the Boys’ 100m, 200m and Long Jump with 10.96sec, 22.16sec and 6.49m respectively. Or the lanky 15-year old Victoria Ejembi of Federal Government College Ijanikin who on her first attempt at doing the Long Jump, won the event with 5.00m? She also finished 2nd in the Girls’ 100m and 200m respectively. Muhammed Kabiru backed by any strong resolve to do more than it is doing already. What followed were slaps on the wrist of perpetrators of these ugly acts, ‘slaps’ too feeble to effect the kind of change that would halt the taunting of Black players, the chanting of monkey sounds and the depiction of ‘banana-eating’ in the African jungle. Why has racism defied every intervention of FIFA and is still festering in football? Osasu’s report written after the task force was dissolved in 2016, showed that although they went about their assignment seriously, three years down the line, they had to conclude that FIFA were not serious and the project was not designed by FIFA to succeed. I have reluctantly reached that same unfortunate but realistic conclusion - world football administration, like the rest of the world systems, is not designed so that any Black country or Black person should enjoy equality and succeed. Racism and discrimination are the major tools that can stop that actualization. European football is being blatantly and seriously inflicted with a fresh dose of Racism and discrimination. Racial chants and abuses are increasing and spreading to several countries beyond the most notorious ones of Russia, Italy, Spain, and a few others. On October 14, this year, against Bulgaria in Sofia, England’s Raheem Sterling and his other Black English colleagues, were victims of Nazi and racist chants by segments of the spectators. Such stories are becoming more rampant against the claim by FIFA that it is doing all it can to arrest the plague. The reality is that the Black person is not the most loved race in the world. Every other race claims and assumes intellectual superiority over them, even though the facts on ground and history stand those on the head. Simply put, racism in football is a continuation of 600 years of of State Senior High School placed 2nd in both the 100m and 200m and also scooped Bronze in the Boys’ Long Jump. There was also the talented Alaere Peterside of Chrisland Secondary School who won the Girls’ High Jump event with 1.57m and also claimed a Silver medal in the Long Jump with a leap of 4.89m. I can go on and on about the many gifted athletes I saw, but then these questions got me thinking: what is next for these youngsters? Will there be more competitions slavery, colonialism, and neocolonialism against those of African descent. Blacks must appreciate this and change their attitude and strategy in fighting the ugly scourge. They must not allow racism to establish any firm roots in the last and powerful frontier - football. FIFA’s professed efforts have not yielded positive results because they are not designed to do so. Otherwise, why would the power of football, the power that Nelson Mandela professed in 1995 could change the world, fail when deployed to get rid of racism in football? The weapon is not well deployed. FIFA, represented mostly by people of the dominant race in the world, lack the cultural will to undertake this effective deployment. So they bluff and play games. They must be ‘helped’ and forced to do what is right and just and effective by the aggrieved victims. The solutions do not lie in FIFA’s half-hearted, cosmetic, publicity stunts that have largely failed. So far, perpetuators in the terraces are treated with kid gloves. There must be a strong resolve to maximize punishment and escalate the cost to those engaging in any racist practice in football all over the world. Racism is a return to slavery and must be stopped by all means and at all costs. National Football Federations lack the capacity, resources, political power and will to deal with the global problem. It is only FIFA that has the might and the means and can do it, yet it won’t. Black countries around the world (through their federations) must raise the ante and fight the racism war differently. They did it in Montreal, Canada, and changed the face of South Africa for good, forever. They can do it again. Do not ask me how on these pages. What I know is that the way things are going now, football’s power to tame the tiger is been whittled down by a silent complicity of FIFA to keep things the way they are. I don’t think there will ever be a complete end to the battle of the races. It has always existed. It exists now. It will always exist in the future. Yet, football must find a way to be free from the blight of racism. to help them improve, because of what importance is the talent if there is no platform to showcase it? Do we have a structure in place to monitor their progress and ensure that there is a smooth transition into the national youth teams? Are scouts and coaches of the Athletics Federation present at events such as these to identify young boys and girls who have shown great promise, and who have the potential of making it big in Athletics? Going by the population of our country, we are meant to be dominating every event, but that’s only if we are willing to put in the work and shun our culture of cutting of corners. If a country like China has found a way to use its population to its advantage as seen by their participation in almost every sport at the Olympics, why can’t we do same? It’s time to get back to the basics.
Mourinho targets flying start with Spurs After the international football break, European club football will return this weekend on Supersports on DStv with some mouth-watering fixtures in England, Spain and Italy. English champions Manchester City welcome Chelsea to the Etihad Stadium. The match is a must-win for Pep Guardiola’s boys who must remain defensively solid against a very young and creative Chelsea side. After losing 3-1 against Liverpool, City will hope to get back on track with a win at home and reclaim 2nd position should Leicester fail to win at Brighton. Newly appointed Jose Mourinho will look to halt the run of Tottenham’s bad results as he takes over his first game as manager against a West Ham team that is in dire need of a win. Mourinho promised Tottenham fans’ passion and will hope to begin his reign as manager with a win at London Stadium. In the Serie A, defending champions Juventus visit high-flying Atalanta who sit fifth on the Serie A table. Juventus will hope to continue their unbeaten run in Serie A and extend their lead on Antonio Conte’s Inter with a win at Atalanta. Juventus will hope that their star player Cristiano Ronaldo, coming off the 4 goals scored for Portugal during the international break will inspire them to another Serie A victory. Another exciting match to look forward to this weekend is AC Milan vs Napoli. 7th place Napoli travels to the Italian capital to face fellow strugglers AC Milan who occupy the 14th position on the table. Napoli will travel with their “rock solid” Senegalese defender, Kalidou Koulibaly who starred for his national team during the international break. In Spain, Real Madrid will hope for a full 3 points as they square up against a very tricky Real Sociedad side. The capital club sits 2nd on the table with 25 points and will want to maintain the pressure on leaders Barcelona who travel to Estadio Municipal de Butarque, to face bottom side, Leganes. Celta Vigo to battle Galatasaray for Onyekuru Celta Vigo are the latest club being linked with a move for former Everton player Henry Onyekuru in the January transfer window. Turkish media outlet Ajansspor claims Celta Vigo are on the trail of the Nigeria international but have to see off competition from Galatasaray to sign the Monaco striker. Onyekuru has failed to live up to expectations since his summer move to the Principality outfit, making just two starts in Ligue 1 with no goals to his name and could be shipped off on loan in the winter transfer market. The likes of Gelson Martins, Ben Yedder, Baldé and Islam Slimani are ahead of the Nigerian in manager Leonardo Jardim’s Ambrose Alli University pencils Buhari, Ighalo, others for honours Ighalo The management of Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma, Edo says it will need about N500million to construct a befitting mini stadium in the school environment in honour of the country’s sports men and women who graduated from the institution. Vice Chancellor (VC) of the University Prof. Ignatius Onimawo disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja, while speaking on preparations for the institution’s maiden Pillar of Sports Award/Endowment Fund scheduled to hold on Nov. 28 in the university premises. Onimawo who was represented by Prof. Aigbokhavbolo Oziegbe, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) of the University said the aim of constructing the mini stadium was to ensure a steady development of sports in the area, and the country in general. The VC noted that prominent Onyekuru Edo indigenes including Super Eagles striker Odion Ighalo and renowned boxer Bash Ali would be honoured for their contributions to sports development in the state and in the country. “We want to begin to reward excellence in sports every year and for this to happen we need infrastructure where people can display their talents; this is why we need a mini stadium and we need N500million for it to be achieved. “Ambrose Alli University has come of age; it came into existence in 1981 and since then, it has produced great people of this country including the First Lady Mrs Aisha Buhari. •Mourinho pecking order of strikers at Monaco. Despite his limited playing opportunities, Onyekuru is not lacking suitors with CSKA Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow also credited with an interest in the 22- year-old. Celta Vigo have scored the least number of goals in La Liga this season, seven in total from 13 games, and might consider signing a striker in January. Onyekuru showed his goalscoring credentials at Eupen, RSC Anderlecht and Galatasaray, netting 56 goals in 132 competitive matches. SATURDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 23, 2019 — 47 2021 AFCON Qualifiers: Rohr: Conceding 3 goals in two games unacceptable •To analyse mistakes with assistants, players Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has bared his mind on the last two 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers played by the national team in which they conceded three goals. The Franco-German has revealed that he’s not going to forget about the two games and his assistants will analyse the mistakes and show the players when they meet again in the next FIFA window in March 2020. An error from Chidozie Awaziem led to the Super Eagles conceding an own goal in the closing minutes against the Crocodiles but Rohr refused to blame the CD Leganes defender. ‘’When we concede three goals it is a little bit too much, from the three goals we scored one ourselves, it was unlucky but the first one against Benin and the first one we conceded against Lesotho there were some mistakes, we have to work on it, so all the time we do that,’’ Rohr said. ‘’Speaking about the mistakes we can improve, that’s what we have been doing since three years. It’s not only we win and we forget and look forward. We want to analyse what went wrong.’’ On a more positive note, Rohr was delighted with the Super Eagles performance in attack in the two matches and felt they deserved to score more goals, especially against Lesotho. ‘’There are much more positive things we have to see and we have to analyse also, we have for example six goals in the two games, an attack scoring goals and even we could score more. ‘’We hit the bar, there was two or three situations we had in the second game which could be a goal also,’’ he added. Ndidi is Nigeria's highest-paid player in Europe •Iheanacho places second A new study has revealed that a former teenage wonderkid, presently struggling to find his footballing feet once again is one of the highest paid Nigerian players in Europe. Five stars in the English Premier League, Two in the Serie A, another two in the Turkish Super League and one in the La Liga completes the list of top ten earning Super Eagles players in Europe. Leicester City’s forward and Super Eagles star, Kelechi Iheanacho is reportedly the second highest paid Nigerian footballer in Europe, according to a study by Spotrac. The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup winner and receiver of the said tournament’s Golden Boot award 2019 Nigeria Bankers Games enter penultimate Week The 2019 Nigeria Bankers Games continues tomorrow, at the YabaTech Sports Complex with the football event in the semifinal stages. Scrabble and Athletics events will also begin. In Athletics spectators will witness heat races in 100m, 200m and the new inclusion – 400m in both male and female categories. The semi-final ties of the football event have mouth-watering fixtures as defending champions, UBA take on Union Bank. Union Bank who have been victorious in their last two matches in the competition will be looking to continue their winning form and cause an upset. The second match will see FCMB take on last year’s finalists – Fidelity Bank. Both teams will be looking to book a place in the final. Nigeria’s Ukandu wins WorldRemit/ Arsenal Future Stars coaching course Nigeria youth coach, China sa Ukandu, at the weekend emerged the winner of the second edition of WorldRemit and Arsenal FC organized Future Stars coaching programme. The Online money transfer company alongside the English Premier League side at the weekend announced Ukandu alongside Luis Alejandro Castañeda from Colombia as the two winners. The youth football coaches will fly to London for a personalised training session with Arsenal Football Development coaches with the sponsored by WorldRemit. Ukandu and Castañeda were among eight finalists, four women and four men, who were Ndidi and Iheanacho has endured a tough start to the new season having not featured at all in the Premier League as the highflying Brendan Rodgers side climb above champions Manchester City to second on the league table. Yet the former Manchester City striker, who joined the Foxes for •27.7 million in the summer of 2017 earns a cool £60,000 weekly, about £3.12m per annum. Sitting atop the chart, however, for the highest-paid Super Eagles player in Europe this season, is Iheanacho’s compatriot and fellow Foxes teammate Wilfred Ndidi. The midfield enforcer was the Premier League’s top tackler of the 2018/19 season and has •Ekong and Awaziem selected by a panel of judges from WorldRemit and Arsenal for their commitment to using football to empower young people and benefit their communities. Andrew Stewart, Managing Director Middle East & Africa at WorldRemit said: “At WorldRemit, we are inspired every day by our customers, who work hard to send money home to support their communities. •Ukandu maintained those high standards this term as Leicester City has emerged as a surprising league title challenger. Ndidi, 22, a key member of Gernot Rohr’s Super Eagles squad that earned two consecutive victories over Benin and Lesotho last week, is reported to earn about £75,000 a week (£3.9m per annum). The former Genk midfield general joined Leicester City for £17m in 2016. Next on the Super Eagles top earners list is Everton’s playmaker Alex Iwobi who swapped Arsenal for the Toffees over the summer. The former Gunners Academy graduate cost Marco Silva’s side £40m and is weekly paid £50,000 (£2.6m p.a.) for his exertions. Trabzonspor’s forward Anthony Nwakaeme and Watford’s Isaac Success completes the Super Eagles top five earners list in Europe with both earning £32,000 and £30,000 respectively weekly. Retired Nigeria international and former Super Eagles skipper Mikel Obi picks up a weekly package of £30,000 to occupy the sixth position while the defensive duo of Torino’s Ola Aina and Kenneth Omeruo pocket £20,000 every week each. In ninth and tenth positions are the centre back pairing of Udinese’s William Troost-Ekong and Brighton’s Leon Balogun whose weekly earnings are £19,500 and £18,269 respectively.
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