There is nothing to celebrate in the just concluded U-23 AFCON hosted by Senegal.
Beyond reasonable doubt, for how long will it take CAF to build or standardise our regional and local football leagues? Moreso, the 2015 U-23 AFCON is nothing to write home about. It could best be described as a symbol of failure and pessimism.
Firstly, it has recorded and showcased four peculiar or perennial problems in African football. One is racism. Two is poor officiating alongside amateur referees and linesmen. Three is amateur players in a scanty stadium and lastly is the substandard football pitches (fields).
As we all know that football (generally) has graduated from entertainment to setting an agenda and as well money-making vehicle (venture) as talents are being celebrated. In otherwords, the reverse is the case in the just concluded U-23 AFCON.
As for racism, it's a general phenomenon in football or in virtually everywhere in the world. World leaders have done more than enough to curb it but it's still practically and ironically inevitably a reality and a clog in the wheel. Yesterday's final between Nigeria & Algeria spoke volume in this regard.
Secondly, it's universally accepted that, for every novelty match, the best referees and linesmen officiate at least, the opening & final matches.
No words can best describe yesterday's final as the poorest officiating in football's history. At a point, some of us who're watching it hastily concluded that, can our local (professional) leagues, principals' cup, set, four posts, etc be as worse as this? If the answer remains "yes," it then means that there is a problem somewhere bedevilling our regional football. In a nutshell, the referee's mode of issuing cards as a form of punishment totally portrayed him as professionally amateurish in nature.
A referee (no matter how biased he's), there are stipulated rules governing 'when', 'why', 'how' to issue yellow and red cards respectively vis-`a-vis blowing the whistle from time to time. In the first place, can this type of referee fit into any international match outside Africa? The answer may either be 'yes' or 'no' as charity begins from home.
Thirdly, the players' style of play who represented their respective countries tremendously advertised their ignorance or how poor and substandard (amateurish) they are. It's not easy but a professional is always respected in his field as the case maybe. It's in your job (profession) that you receive salutary remarks as the boss and not as the apprentice. Can an apprentice be rated the same as a professional or the boss? The answer may mostly (but not always) be no!
These range from indiscipline, inaccurate passes plus throwing, inability to control ball at close, long and high range to mention a few are not only sad to express but a disappointment in disguise.
If at this stage of our football (sporting activity), we could see players who're hoping to be professionals in the nearest future but lack the necessary [equitable] skills to control long, bouncing or high passes or can't supply accurate passes as at when due; then, everything boils down to our local leagues and grassroot football.
It won't be surprising if in the next few months, these set of players otherwise qualified as a team are dumped & forgotten like the deceased at the cementary.
This might have contributed to Africans' lackadaisical attitude towards promoting, watch or sponsoring football generally.
Dangote who's at a time jokingly passionate to buy Arsenal maybe as a result of this costly factor. It's no longer a news that our interest in Africa has shifted from watching Rangers, U-23, U-21, U-17, Warri Wolves, etc to world cup, olympics, premiership, UEFA Championship, El-Clasico, Bundesliga, to mention a few.
My avid or passionate reader may want to argue that, 'must we imitate the west in everything so as to be great?' The answer can't be far-fetched. In football globally, there is a required benchmark to be met and Africans mustn't be short of this as we even need to crave to be better off but it takes collective efforts, adequate funding and the passion to drive home our dreams as at when due.
Moreover, Rome wasn't built in a day but the building of Rome started in a day.
Lastly, our football pitches aren't different from that of cultivated cassava, vegetable farmlands in all ramifications. Can any local match in Europe be played on these type of pitches (fields)? I strongly doubt that but nevertheless, we've no excuse for such failures if it repeats itself [subsequently] as these same European countries who're like this several years or some decades ago are now reaping momentarily and positively from their flowery past records which are today promoted and emulated by Africans and people of other continents irrespective of where they are.
Furthermore, the African governments, the mass media and all football stakeholders are not doing enough to wipe away our tears at all cost as this becomes challenging day-by-day. Sufficient funding may actually and likely not be a challenge where viewers, sponsors (philanthropists), mass media and the government have no interest in promoting (developing) African football but we need more than interest to drive home the best in African football.
Money isn't everything as interest comes first in every success story to be narrated or read aloud.
Indeed, we need to go beyond theory by doing the right thing at the right time; if not, we might end up doing the wrong thing at the right (material) time or right thing at the wrong time which will perfectly yield into null or negative results.
However, the future becomes brighter when we take the bull by the horns as well as talking less and doing more than enough.
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