By Dumbi Johny
Not many Nigerians would be surprised about their wasted optimism in the Super Eagles at the Russia 2018 World Cup and their inability to qualify for the last edition in Qatar 2022. All that they’ve always taken to every World Cup edition is baseless hope and deceit of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF that the coach would deliver a semi-final ticket.
The hopes were built on nothing. Our coaches never met their players until weeks to the event, Always assuring Nigerians that they would deliver, though they sometimes were evasive on what score.
For a country, whose leaders at all levels have accepted minimal standards as the best, the result from South Africa 2010 and 2018 would be rated respectable. It started with the glowing tributes paid the team for containing Argentina.
Nigerians were thinking that the other two teams, Greece and South Korea, would be easily taken after what was considered a gallant effort against Argentina.
None of these positions tallied with the brazen deceit of a World Cup semi-final ticket being in the horizon. The NFF claims that the details of Lagerback’s contract had a clause on this. The NFF, however, is silent on the sanction it would impose on the coach for the failure and the commitment of the players at the World Cup.
After every World Cup since 1998, a call for the overhauling of our football follows. None of those exercises, normally executed without thoroughness, have produced the changes that would make Nigerian football to operate with globally acceptable standards.
Other countries concentrated on the World Cup. The Nigeria Football Association was busy in South Africa with activities for its elections that are scheduled for August. The desperation of the NFA leadership to remain in office led it to release criteria that have excluded others from the elections.
One of the things the sports authorities must do is to reach a fair judgement on what happened at the World Cup. An issue like the fine Nigeria had to pay for breaching a contract on the Eagles accommodation should be visited for it provides a precedent that can hurt us in future.
The only thing that hurts is not Nigeria’s poor performance at the World Cup. We need to pay attention to the activities of the leadership that propels our football, especially its determination to continue in office.
The 2010, 2018 and 2022 World Cup are lost already. We cannot afford to compromise the 2026 World Cup.
