Nations Cup: Where are we?

Nations Cup: Where are we?

By Clem Oluwole

This time last year, the city of Accra and Kumasi metropolis were in a festive mood.

Eight African nations, namely host country Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Tunisia, Congo, Zambia, Upper Volta and Morocco converged on two venues to fight for Africa’s most prestigious soccer honour. In the end, the host country’s Black Stars won the cup for the third time and it thus became their property for life.

‘Ghana won the cup because they were the hosts’; that was the reaction of many Nigerian soccer followers who were in Accra. But whether or not those were the best compliments to the Black Stars is a matter which only the future can tell.

I am inclined to believe that the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) share the belief that when you host a soccer tournament, it is a foregone conclusion that you emerge as champions… simply because Ghana hosted the last Nations Cup Tournament and won. Or simply because Argentina hosted the 1978 World Cup and won the cup. Or simply because Algeria hosted the 3rd All-Africa Games and won the soccer gold medal just as we did in 1973 in Lagos.

I am afraid we will end up gnashing our teeth if we continue to reason along this line… by gathering our materials together a couple of days or weeks before the tournament next February and expecting the cup to be won… because we are the hosts. That will be disastrous.

Ghana’s Black Stars who won the cup started to prospect for it a year before the kick-off. By this time, the new youthful crop of Black Stars had been assembled and a programme mapped out for them. This programme took them to places like Brazil where they played some tune-up matches. Besides, all the players invited to camp were not allowed to take part in any club side competitions. In fact, Ghana’s club sides did not take any active part in continental championships throughout 1977. This is because that country attached more importance to the 1978 Nations Cup which it had won twice before.

Here again the question of priorities comes in. This year, which should be the 1980 Nations Cup preparatory year, we are involved in everything you can think of. The National League is on. We have two leading clubs on the continental scene and all clubs attach the greatest importance to these club side championships. And it is from these clubs that the new crop of Eagles would be picked. But this should have been done before the national league because I expect that once a player is picked and he finally wins his ticket to play in the Eagles for the Nations Cup, he would have nothing to do with his club until the national assignment is over. At least that was what Ghana FA wisely did and it paid off… home advantage or no home advantage. After all, there are some countries which had hosted the tournament in the past only to see the coveted cup taken away from their shores.

Now the question: Where are we?

If by now we have not been told of what arrangements have been made so far, then one is tempted to believe that the 1980 Nations Cup Finals will not be hosted by us after all as reported by the Nigerian Observer in its issue of February 1, this year. It reported other things and I quote inter alia… “The National Sports Commission is not finding things easy with the Federal Government and the Nigeria Football Association is battling to please the AFC who had written several letters to the NFA to know the situation of things.

“…immediately Nigeria won the battle to stage the next competition in Ghana last year, the commission instantly wrote the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Social Welfare, Youth and Sports about the intention and what the whole show was expected to cost.

“…ever since, there has been no reply from the government.

“…the matter was an issue to be debated by the Federal Executive Council in any of their meetings.”

The report also alleged that during the meeting, the former federal sports commissioner denied having any knowledge of the whole show. It added that unless the issue was debated and sorted out, there is no hope for the NSC to get anything from the Federal Government.

Pardon my ignorance if I do not know the latest from the Federal Government/NSC circle. But how shameful it is that about one year after Nigeria has ‘indicated her readiness’ to host the next tournament, we now turn round to apportion blame. I expect that the green light should have been given from home before NSC/NFA left for Ghana to canvass for the hosting of the next tournament.

And now that the Federal Government has been committed, I think it is too late to go back. After all, we have the facilities. We do not need to construct or reconstruct the National Stadium, Lagos, and the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, where the tournament will be held. If Ghana, in spite of her poor economic state, could host the tournament, reconstructing and renovating Accra and Kumasi Stadia in the process, what excuse have we got to give the African Football Confederation – the organizers of the tournament? For disrupting its programme, the AFC could impose a heavy fine on the NFA plus a possible suspension from all competitions organized by it.

The FMG should think again and fast. It has to accept the reality of the situation and then penalize the NSC/NFA for committing the country without going through the normal procedure… as reported by the Nigerian Observer.





(Culled from Saturday Commentary, first published on March 10, 1979).