Nigeria may fail to host
By Olukayode Thomas (234next.com)Football governing body, FIFA's vice president, Jack Warner should be reminded of his characterization by the British press each time he engages in double speak.
Warner, to the British press, is a man who speaks before engaging his brain. A hash verdict? Let the facts speak: Last week, shortly, before the Egypt 2009 FIFA U-20 Championship began, Warner told the world that Nigeria is not fully ready to host the Under-17 World Cup which begins in Abuja October 24. Warner then urged Nigeria to use Egypt's preparations for the under-20 event as a catalyst to help them get ready.
"This should serve as a catalyst to help Nigeria to be ready. Nigeria should look at the organization and look at the quality of the facilities. And therefore I hope that this will serve as a kind of stepping stone for Nigeria to be ready. As I speak to you now Nigeria is not yet fully ready. I hope that some of this (Egypt's planning) will pass off on to Nigeria," Warner told journalist in Alexandra, Egypt.
Last visit to NigeriaIronically, during his last visit to Nigeria about two months ago, he told the world that Nigeria is ready to host the world. Warner told reporters that after two major inspections, Nigeria has satisfied FIFA's requirements and everything is in place for the country to host the world later in the year. During the draws for the championship, Warner thanked Nigerians and Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, for their determination and perseverance. "I know it has been difficult and I know that I have not been the easiest on you, but that is only because I believe in what this nation can do, and now you have done it," Warner was reported to have told journalists in Abuja.
So for Warner to last week deride Nigeria and Nigerians to the world as a nation that could not host cadets is a betrayal.
It also says a lot about his character. If he can tell the world that Nigeria is ready, and less than two months later, he is telling the world that we are not ready, will it not be right to say that the British press are apt with the description of Warner as man that talks before engaging his brain?
Away from WarnerBut Warner's inconsistency apart, the truth is Nigeria is not ready to host the world.
While most of the stadia that will host the matches are near ready, the practice fields for seven of the eight centers are not ready, only Ijebu-Ode center has standard practice pitches that are as good as the match pitch.
So bad are some of the practice pitches that one of the participating countries, United Arab Emirates, threatened to pull out because of the poor state of Kano practice pitches.
Emirates team manager According to reports, the team manager of the United Arab Emirates team, Jamal Hassan, was taken aback when he saw the facilities at Kano. Hassan was reported to have threatened to withdraw his team from the tournament if the Gwagwarawa and Bayero University training pitches were not raised to world standards immediately. "How do they expect my youthful players to come and train on a pitch without grass? They want us to train on the field which cannot accommodate even a five-a-side game. This is horrible; I have never seen a thing like this all my life in football. Even the doping room is only comparable to a detention centre, there are no excuses, and we cannot stay here."
Organisers' response Emeka Odikpo, the General Manager Media for the LOC who we tried to speak with on many occasions without success, was reported to have said "We have challenges in Kano but some of these exaggerated condemnations are unfounded.
The training pitches are a major concern but there is ongoing work there to make things ready because we want them to be graced by, and appreciated by teams coming here. They (UAE) cannot pull out because it is a FIFA-organized tournament, besides FIFA looked at Kano and pronounced it fit to stage the tournament. Things that need to be done are minor which can be fixed in a matter of hours and not days. We will, of course, seek to address any concerns raised by the UAE officials and hope to work it out to reach a satisfactory conclusion for all."
Other areas of concernApart from the training pitches which are a major concern, the environment around the stadia is also a problem. Efforts by some of the host states to coax residents around the venue centers to beautify their houses have been met with resistance, while Kaduna's effort to get destitutes off the road has not succeeded.
A major aspect of any big championship is yet to start. Many of the centers are still waiting for Abuja to approve the list of volunteers. Many people believe merit did not play any role in the choice of volunteers as efforts were not made to include people from different socio-cultural backgrounds who could speak certain languages and help people from those countries.
Protocol is another area of concern, a few days to the championship; immigration officers are yet to train staff to receive visitors, ditto for officials of FAAN and other agencies at the airport. Nigerian policemen too are yet to be trained, nor cab drivers and hoteliers.
Funding as problemOne could go on and on listing important aspects of the championship that the LOC has either ignored or had not consider important enough.
Funding is also a problem facing the LOC. Government has not been releasing money to the organisers. NEXT Sports has it on good authority that officials cannot sign for more than one million naira.
Government sources said the reason why fund was not released to the LOC was to prevent a situation where money will be released and used for frivolous things, like it happened during the Abuja 2008 All Africa Games when the organizers spent N250 million on feeding paid staff.
"We will get our acts together in the last minute and host.Though it may be shambolic, things will not work like five fingers, but Nigeria will do better than Warner did in Trinidad and Tobago. There may be some hitches here and there, but Nigerians and the world will enjoy the atmosphere inside the stadia, there will be good football and good spectators, which what the championship is all about'' said a top official of the LOC on condition of anonymity.
The main pitch of the National stadium, Lagos is still undergoing refurbishment 20 days to the championships. Photo: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI