Was I happy that Nigeria lost? You bet I was happy. Let the cheating Nigerian 'men' go and relax. Imagine the captain of Nigerian side claiming to be 17 when he competed in an under 18 football tournament in year 2002. The group photograph taken was published in Punch Newspaper for everyone to see. Why lie about age?
This lying about age in Nigeria is not new. In Ministries and Government parastatals, workers keep swearing to new affidavits every year to maintain a particular age. Some call it official age while hiding the real age. In football, it is called 'football age'.
This is dishonesty and it pervades social, political and now sports in Nigeria. Why would a young man who knows, he's way above the age approved for a particular tournament still goes ahead to participate? Why did his parents allow him when they knew the truth? What about the coaches and the technical team? Is the Nigerian Football Federation ignorant of the true age of the captain of Golden Eaglets, FORTUNE CHUKWUDI and another aggressive player STANLEY OKORO? Are the government representatives or officials claiming 'deafness' or they deliberately shut out the screams of Nigerians in order to justify the huge budget presented to execute the tournament?
Some call it sabotage and some call it witch hunting but whatever we decide to call it does not justify using over age players to compete in this under 17 FIFA World Cup tournament.
After reading comments of several people in the dailies and hearing sport commentators on electronic media, i felt sad for this Nation Nigeria. Most of the commentators blamed Barrister ADOKIYE AMIESIMAKA for speaking out against this fraud. Some say he is seeking attention while others say he is fighting back for being excluded from the several committees set up for the tournament. What a shame that the so called sport administrators and managers should see this issue differently and become illogocal to reasoning. Where lies our honour and integrity? Why has lies, corruption taken over and truth and honesty taken flight from Nigeria? Must we win at all cost? Is this a do or die affair? The former President Obasanjo said that the last election was a do or die affair and its being seen in every area of our national life.
I read a comment from a former player who said the problem of over aged players being fielded in tournament is the fault of the administrators. He said there is this mentality of 'real age' and 'football age' and since nobody complained, they thought there was nothing wrong with it. He said they were encouraged to play despite their 'old' ages and were even promised protection as long as they win matches. Is winning footbal matches the bottom line? What about development of the game?
I refused to watch those 'old men' when i heard the Captain is 25 years old and the other players are between 20 and 22 years old. Little wonder we perform poorly in the U-20 and the senior category.If the age of 25 and 27 play in U-17, then they will be 40 years by the time they are promoted to the senior side and by then, the legs are weak.
On the day of the finals, i prayed that their 'jazz' would not be effective against the Swiss and alas it did not. The young lads won and i was so happy for them. Let our cheating 'men' go jump into the lagoon.
Patriotism, No way.
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