25 Oct 2009 |
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What's Wrong With Jack Warner? By Reuben Abati JACK Warner, the FIFA Vice-President who against all protestations even by the local Nigerian media and the evidence of his own eyes during pre-tournament inspection visits to the country still recommended that Nigeria should be allowed to host the FIFA U-17 soccer tournament is said to be complaining that Nigeria does not appear to be ready for the world. Jack Warner must be kidding. He can't be serious! The tournament kicked off yesterday with matches in Abuja and Lagos. The first sign of Nigeria's lack of preparedness is the absolute disinterest in the event by Nigerians. The Honduras-Argentina match was poorly attended. In Lagos, a small, but bigger crowd showed up for the Switzerland-Mexico match, and an even smaller crowd for the Brazil-Japan match. I asked around, most football fans were more interested in the English Premiership and the UEFA Champions League. You don't get the impression that a big football event is going on in the country. Nigerians are just not excited by it. Which is unusual. Nigerians love football. And they are very hospitable people. But the poor management of the tournament from day one is a scandal foretold. Jack Warner should have known better. Each time he and his team visited Nigeria, they saw many loopholes. They didn't require the services of a sorcerer to know that most of the things that needed to be fixed could not be taken care of so quickly. Jack Warner should therefore stop whining. He is quoted as having said that FIFA is known for "100 per cent performance in all its operations." Sorry, this one ain't going to be like that. And you could have avoided the embarrassment if you did your job as an independent assessor. Within two days of the world arriving to play football in Nigeria, the failures have been grand. In Lagos, stewards who have been engaged to cater for the players staged a protest over their allowances. They alleged that the Nigerian authorities are offering them something far lower than the FIFA rate. Looks like someone or a cabal may be pocketing the difference. In Kano, the teams in that centre could not train due to the failure of the generating set at the Sani Abacha Stadium. Training pitches are also not ready across the country. In Bauchi, FIFA officials and guests were trapped in a lift at the Zaranda hotel. Was it also a case of power outage? The Mobilisation Committee for the tournament has not been able to hold the concerts it promised as scheduled. There are complaints also about the high cost of the tickets with the cheapest being N3, 000. A member of the FIFA Executive Committee, a Nigerian has been quoted as saying there is no cause for panic. "In every human endeavour, things cannot be perfect but that is the standard of FIFA. Nigeria will rise to the challenge and I believe that this event will go on smoothly after the kick-off on Saturday." He is wrong. The first day was a disaster. The LOC Director of Organisation also added: "We are ready and from Saturday, you will be amazed because the huge work of the LOC will fully manifest in this competition." Huge work? Stupid. Tell that to the Marines. What huge work has been done that even Nigerians are not aware of the tournament? These two official spokespersons have betrayed an aspect of the Nigerian character: We do things at the last minute. We are never prepared. We gamble. To use a familiar phrase, we "wobble and fumble". And we are wobbling very badly. This is despite the fact that the Nigerian Premier League has had to be suspended for five weeks because FIFA has taken over all possible venues. Many Nigerians will not even miss the local league; it never existed in their calendar of sporting priorities. But did anyone watch the Honduras-Argentina match in Abuja yesterday? It was shown on television. Whoever got the broadcast rights couldn't even show us good pictures on local television. And it rained in Abuja. And the pitch got terribly flooded. The two teams could have been playing water polo. The cynical cameramen recording the event kept showing puddles of water and the terribly sub-standard pitch. The Nigeria-Germany match had to be delayed to allow the water-soaked Abuja National Stadium pitch to drain off. FIFA had to compromise its time regulations in order to accommodate Nigeria which is most unusual! If the pitch was playable for Honduras and Argentina, and the match was not suspended, then the Nigeria-Germany match should have started as scheduled. And did you watch the Nigeria-Germany match? By the time the Germans who were more technically accomplished were two goals ahead before the end of the first half, Nigerian spectators started leaving the stadium. It was more than enough for a day of serious "wobbling and fumbling". It didn't quite matter that the match ended 3-3. This is shameful more so as Nigeria's hosting of the FIFA U-17 World Cup is coming shortly after Egypt's hosting of the U-20 tournament. Egypt staged a grand event. Its organisation was superb. Both FIFA and the teams had no reason to complain. In Egypt, Ghana, the winners of the trophy showed that only serious countries excel on the world stage. Between 2009 and 2010, Africa is hosting all the three major FIFA soccer tournaments: U-20 (Egypt), U-17 (Nigeria) and the World Cup (South Africa). Ordinarily these are regarded as the three key countries in the continent. Egypt has already given a good account of itself. One year ahead of the World Cup, South Africa is ready. Well, almost. But no one is doubting its ability to host the world. Out of the three African countries, Nigeria looks like the only one that is set to disappoint the world. Blame Jack Warner, I insist. He didn't need to expose FIFA and the U-17 to this kind of embarrassment. With the Nigerian authorities not geeting six stadia ready three months ago, he should have advised FIFA to take the tournament elsewhere. And the matter is even worse than we have seen on Day One. If care is not taken, some of the teams playing in Lagos may arrive late at the stadium because the main road to the Teslim Balogun stadium is still under construction in one of the toughest traffic hold up zones in Lagos. Let us also hope that the protesting stewards in any of the centres would also not abandon the kitchen and refuse to cater for the visiting players and officials. This is one of those tacky situations that require the personal intervention of the President and Governors. Whatever can be done to improve the situation, let all the affected state Governors roll out the necessary logistics and work round the clock. If President Yar'Adua has to take charge of the Local Organising Committee personally, let him do so. There have also been complaints about transportation problems. What is wrong with Yar'çdua's Nigeria? We can't provide vehicles? But whatever happens, adequate security should be provided. I understand FIFA is complaining about heavy police presence particulary at the Lagos stadium. Those FIFA guys obviously don't know that they are in Nigeria where "everything" is possible. No effort should be spared to protect the visiting teams from kidnappers. Can you imagine an U-17 footballer or official being kidnapped? I pray that does not happen. But with all the fumbling going on and earlier reports that the Local Organising Committee has already spent N9 billion, we should also ask: where did all the money go? Where is the money? What was it spent on? President Yar'çdua had initially rejected the huge budget proposal for hosting the U-17, but it now seems as if far more than the initial amount has been spent and yet we are forcing the young men from Honduras and Argentina to play water polo instead of football! When finally this tournament is over, since we are stuck with it, there must be proper accounting in the public domain. Hopefully by then, many of the sports writers who are now very busy serving in one committee of the LOC or the other will be ready to do their job and ask the right questions. FIFA's responsibility is to ensure in the long run that Jack Warner's advice and Nigeria's lack of preparedness still do not sabotage the objectives of the tournament: which is to identify and encourage young talents who will keep the game alive in the future. FIFA's insistence on the MRI age test is well-advised. I have just read the interview by one Nigerian who once played in the U-17 tournament, a trophy that was won by Nigeria thrice, the fellow looked as if he is knocking 50 and yet it wasn't so long ago that he was hailed as a genius at the U-17 level. His football career ended shortly afterwards while the likes of Ronaldinho and others have moved on to greater heights. It is FIFA's duty to ensure that this is truly an U-17 event.
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