20 Sep 2007 |
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Maltreating the Falcons, destroying female football BY now, the Super Falcons, the country's flagbearers at the Fifth Women's Football World Finals, also known as China 2007, should be back in the country. No one should be surprised if nobody from the Nigeria Football Association or the Ministry of Sports went to the airport to receive them. Nigeria's female soccer stars are routinely treated shabbily by the football authorities; sometimes they are maligned, or threatened, or simply told to go to hell. And yet for more than 15 years, the Super Falcons have demonstrated great skill and courage - all in the face of official cruelty - to bring honour and recognition to the country. Their fans even rate them higher than the country's male football teams: the Super Eagles and the Eaglets. The maltreatment of the Falcons is undeserved. In a country with very few moments of happiness, the Falcons and their juniors, the Falconets have always given Nigerians cause to smile. They are not only the undisputed champions of female football in Africa, they are the only African women's team to have beaten European clubsides in a FIFA tournament. They may not have been able to record great success on the world stage, but they have in the past decade improved greatly in terms of their performance at FIFA events and the Olympics, earning in the process much respect. Our women footballers have qualified for every World Cup final since 1991. In 1999, the Falcons reached the Quarter Finals in the Olympic Games. In 2006, the Falconets also reached the Quarter Finals in the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Russia. In USA 2003, the Falcons conceded 11 goals in 3 matches and did not score a single goal - their worst outing ever. In China 2007, they conceded 4 goals in three matches - their best performance so far in the World Cup finals. In October 2004, the Falcons won the African Women's Football Championship for the fourth time; last year, they won the trophy again for a record fifth time - thus establishing themselves as perennial champions of women's football in Africa. In 2004, Nigerians were so excited by the performance of these ladies, seeing them play skilful and entertaining football, confidently and authoritatively. But there was a twist in that tale. The Nigerian factor was soon introduced to turn what should have been a moment of glory into a moment of embarrassment for Nigeria and its people. The Falcons, after their final match refused to surrender the Trophy to NFA officials; they also insisted on remaining in their hotel rooms in Johannesburg except the NFA paid them the bonus of US$6,000 which they had been told they would receive if they won the championship. The Falcons created a big scene and a scandal, and the rest of the world wondered why Nigeria could not manage its affairs differently. Eventually, some money was raised, and the Falcons were paid. When they returned home, they were received at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, not by NFA officials but airport touts who formed a guard of honour and provided security for the girls! Over the years, the Falcons would seem to have learnt that the only way to get Nigerian football administrators to respect them is to throws tantrums and stage a walk-out. A year before the incident in Johannesburg, they had also adopted a similar strategy before they could get their allowances. This show of shame was repeated last week in China. Why does the NFA always find it difficult to pay match bonuses and allowances? On their arrival in China, the Falcons skipper and striker, Perpetua Nkwocha had promised: "We are here in China to show that we are a new, younger and more prepared team than ever before...We are determined to show the world who we are and how well we can play." As individuals and as a team, the Falcons fought gallantly. They drew 1-1 with Sweden, lost 0-2 to Korea DPR and also lost 0-1 to the United States. They were beaten but not defeated. For example, the formidable United States team had beaten them 5-1 in 2003, but on Tuesday, the Falcons, after conceding a goal in the 57th second, managed to hold them down for the next 93 minutes. But the girls really showed the world "who we are" when they decided to go on strike after the Nigeria-Korea DPR match. For three days, they boycotted training and threatened not to show up for the Nigeria-USA match if their match bonuses and camp allowances were not paid. Their coach, Effiom Ntiero, when asked to intervene, said he'd rather not get involved, a diplomatic way of saying "I stand by my girls". In the end, the NFA had to borrow money from a South Korea-based Nigerian businessman, Sunday Audu to pay the girls. The NFA man who was holding the purse, one James Peters was said to be having flight difficulties back home in Nigeria! Quite shameful and outrageous. And yet, there were no words of comfort, and no contrition, from the Nigerian authorities. Only arrogance and further abuse. This is terrible. One NFA official even complained that the coach caused the problem because he did not listen to advice about team selection. What has that got to do with the payment of allowances? And why should the NFA dictate the team list to the national coach? NFA's meddlesomeness is a major problem. The worst evil is the arrogance and sadism of the officials. Rather than show understanding and remorse, an official of the Nigerian Embassy in Beijing reportedly condemned the Falcons. "It is irresponsible", he says. "There are Nigerians all over the world who do things just to keep the country's flag flying without asking for money. Most of the people in the country's Embassies and Commissions abroad go through so much, sometimes without wages for half a year, yet they have to keep up the smile and nobody will hear anything from them. The younger generation must curtail their attitude about lucre. It is a shame that the players refused to train before the game because they wanted more money. Other more serious countries must not hear this. It is always a pride to play at the World Cup..." What other countries must not hear is that the Nigerian government treats its sportsmen and women as if they are beggars. Elsewhere, sportsmen and women are encouraged to do their best. What other countries must not hear is that Nigerian football administrators sit on players' allowances and claim stupidly that they are having flight difficulties? What was James Peters doing in Nigeria holding on to money meant for the Falcons? What other countries must also not hear is that the Nigerian government uses its athletes and does not care for them. For example, the Falcons were caught up in China in the midst of Typhoon Wipha, which has forced FIFA to call off some of the on-going matches. Although FIFA regulations require a team that has lost out to depart within 24 hours, the Falcons had pointed out the threat of the typhoon and implications for air travel, so, they insisted on staying back in China until the weather situation improved. They were not asking for anything extra-ordinary. The Argentine team which had similarly crashed out of the tournament, was also staying behind for the same reasons. But it was the Nigerian team that was forced out of the hotel and ordered to go home. NFA officials, including a board member, Princess Bola Jegede are however still in China on the ground that they have a FIFA seminar to attend (how nice!); while the girls were dragooned to the airport! The Nigerian Embassy in China had nothing to say about this or the safety of the footballers. How can anyone expect patriotism under these circumstances? I wouldn't be surprised if it was the NFA that asked FIFA to evict the Falcons from the hotel in Shanghai. Trust the Falcons; they didn't leave without a fight. They argued with the hotel officials, made plenty of noise and thus they managed to show FIFA "who we are" - Nigerians! The poor treatment of the Falcons is in sharp contrast to the goodwill that the U-17 male football team, the Golden Eaglets have been enjoying since their victory at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in South Korea. The boys were successful in Seoul not because they had the support of the NFA, rather they won the tournament in spite of the NFA and the Ministry of Sports. Since their return to Nigeria, they have been feted by both governments and the private sector. President Yar'Adua has given them a gift of houses and national honours. But all that really is hypocritical and opportunistic. The sad truth is that successive Nigerian governments have treated the sports sector as if it were a burden and a distraction. Whatever successes we may have recorded in sporting competitions have been due more to individual ambition and resourcefulness, rather than the success of policy and management. Frustrated, many Nigerian sportsmen and women have taken up the citizenship of other countries where they are sure of better treatment. Our sporting facilities are in a state of disrepair. Today, in Nigeria, there isn't even a single football pitch that is of international standard. If the occasion requires it, of course, a contract would be immediately awarded to renovate and upgrade the football pitches. The NFA is incompetent, its members are busy engaging in petty squabbles and looking for positions and money. To say that NFA officials are irresponsible and incompetent is to be generous. Maureen Mmadu, Sweden-based Falcons midfielder in China 2007, is so disgusted she says she will no longer play for the country because she is "sick and tired of NFA's antics". Other membe rs of the team are enraged. Sports is a useful and veritable weapon of diplomacy and public relations. The Yar'Adua government should come up with a National Sports Policy that emphasizes the nurturing and development of talent, an enabling environment for creativity and innovation in sports and recognition of achievement, rather than an ad-hoc system which focusses more on the welfare of sports administrators and the use of sports as a vehicle of corruption. Sports is also big business. There is no reason why the NFA should be complaining perpetually about being cash-strapped. What is lacking is imagination and ability. Where is the national league? Where are the stadia and the clubsides? The pettiness with which female football is managed raises other questions: do we really want female football in Nigeria? Why are the Falcons the target of so much sadism? Why should the girls be punished for their success? Is this a case of male chauvinism? Are there other problems between the girls and NFA officials, who are of course mostly men, which the girls are not yet talking about? In spite of all this, Cynthia Uwak, the Africa Player of the Year had intoned: "We played some great football for a very young team. Although we failed to win a game, we were always in a position to do so. We'll be back four years from now, even stronger and better." That can only happen if the NFA changes its attitude towards the girls. President Yar'Adua in the meantime should set up a panel to investigate the disgraceful conduct of Nigeria's football administrators in China 2007. The Falcons should be received in audience by the President and congratulated on their effort. The NFA Board should be sacked. And the debt that the NFA is owing that Good Samaritan - Sunday Audu - should be paid forthwith.
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