AFRICA AND THE WORLD CUP

The continent should put its house in order The final of the ongoing FIFA World Cup which began last month in Brazil with 32 countries, including Nigeria, will be held this weekend. While it has been an exciting tournament that has produced unprecedented number of goals and several new records, it is unfortunate that no African country went beyond the second round. But the greater tragedy is the fact that three of the five teams representing the continent became sources of embarrassment by their conduct on and off the pitch at the tournament. The three countries are Cameroun, Ghana and Nigeria. Once respected in global football, the national players of Cameroun put up scandalous performance in their matches at the tournament, leading to suspicions of unethical practices. Indeed, the ethics committee at Fecafoot is currently probing allegations of fraud in Cameroun's three Group A matches, particularly the 4-0 defeat by Croatia on June 18 in Manaus. In confirming that an investigation had been launched into what transpired at the tournament, the Cameroun football administration said they were also going to examine the "existence of seven bad apples in our national team". As for Ghana whose national team actually put up good performance in their matches before being eliminated in the first round, the conduct of two players became the subject of international shame for the country and the continent. On the eve of their crucial third match with Portugal which they ended up losing, midfielder Sulley Muntari (who plays for AC Milan of Italy) was sent home after reportedly slapping a team official in the face – and threatening some other members of the coaching staff with a broken bottle. Muntari was ejected from the team along with fellow midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng, who was also involved in a fracas at the team’s hotel. A statement by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) said Muntari has been suspended “indefinitely from the Black Stars with immediate effect. The decision was taken in the wake of his unprovoked physical attack on an executive committee member of the GFA and a management member of the Black Star.” In the case of Nigeria, the Super Eagles players also refused to train on the eve of their crucial elimination match with France, on grounds that they had not been paid their “appearance fees” for participation in the World Cup. Against the background that a row over such a fee derailed the Super Eagles at the 1998 World Cup in France and almost caused the country to miss out on the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil before the Presidency intervened to avoid an international embarrassment, it is a shame that no lesson was learned. We condemn the indiscipline displayed by the players of the three national teams and we hope the Confederation of African Football (CAF) will wade into this perennial issue to ensure that teams that represent the continent in global competitions do not continue to be sources of disgrace. But it is also important that more attention be paid to the development of the local leagues. Coming back home, for instance, it is the decline in the national domestic league that has engendered a situation in which we now depend almost solely on players from European leagues to prosecute important competitions like the World Cup. Unfortunately, as we have highlighted in the past, these boys have not always played for Nigeria with as much resilience and commitment as they do for their respective professional clubs. Therefore, as preparations begin for the defence of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) trophy won two years ago by the Super Eagles, it is important for our football administrators to understand that they cannot continue to rely on a bunch of players who adopt a mercantile approach to national assignment. The same goes for other African countries