MRI: Time to embrace English programme

Well, the wind has blown and the proverbial “back-side” of the hen has been exposed. So it took FIFA’s threat to use MRI test for the U-17 World Youth Soccer Championship that we are hosting next month for us to put our house in order. What a pity? What a shame? What would have happened if FIFA had not said it will use the MRI machine, we would have continued our culture of cheating that gave us many undeserved titles.

Thanks to a few sports journalists who have been exposing the rot, Nigerians are beginning to know who the real patriots are, when it comes down to sports journalism. We will never relent because history will absolve us sooner than later. We will not keep quiet until the correct structures and infra-structures that can effectively be used to develop sports are functionally put in place.

Lying and cheating

This is why I want to join issues with the NFF (Nigeria Football Federation) officials and anybody, who believes that the only way to victory especially in football is by lying and cheating. Some officials of the NFF justified our culture of lying by saying that age - falsification is global - everybody does it. This is not only laughable but instructive. Instructive because, God Himself said His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. No one acquires knowledge without adequate information. You know because you have been informed. The way and manner by which the knowledge acquired is utilized however determines whether the recipient of the information translated to knowledge is wise or foolish. It is better to be wise. I want to think that the Technical Development department of the NFF, (please note carefully, Technical Development and not just technical department) know for instance, that there are about 150,000 registered female football players and almost 10,000 affiliated female football teams in England. England can today also boast of about 60 full-time female football development officers, whose responsibility is just to ensure the “search and groom” initiative - amongst several other initiatives, in the UK Counties from the grassroots to the elite levels succeed. There are also about 50 centres of excellence specially put in place for players between the ages of 10 and 17. Today in England, there are about 20,000 female coaches, with various categories of UEFA professional licenses.

How the English academy evolved

In the same England is one very wise Briton, Simon Clifford who went to Brazil, studied and researched into the secret behind the success of Brazilian Futebol, came back to England and founded the Brazilian Soccer Schools, now in over 100 Countries. Theo Walcot and Micah Richards (England Internationals) are products of this school that started 12 years ago in England. There is also a very powerful football development revolution currently going on silently in the U.K. known as the SOCATOTS programme.

This is the world’s first specific football development programme developed by the same Clifford, aimed at developing a child’s affinity and control of the ball from tender age. Hundreds of children are therefore being strategically and patiently nurtured in the UK for the future. Guess what? Clifford is not in a hurry at all. He made it clear that the project - that is from the Socatots to the elite players’ level will take about the next 15 years. Will the English falsify age.

What would therefore compel any member of the English FA to become so morally debased and think about integrating such madness as age-falsification into such programmes described above. In a country like Britain, where the child protection scheme is of top priority, what manner of coach would ever dream of aiding falsification of ages by players? It is my considered personal opinion that information technology and the involvement of parents in sports, shall not allow this. The English FA policy for football development especially at the age - grade levels, does not encourage this at all. Germany, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Cote de Voire, South Africa, Canada and Brazil are some of the countries where professional management structures meant to keep up with international age-grade football development are in operation.

These countries know that participating in age-grade competitions is not by “hook or crook”. They know that it is purely for developmental purposes.

Brazil behind Nigeria

That is one of the reasons why a country like Brazil - by our own standard, does not do well in age-grade competition. That is why our own “U-17” team will defeat the German, Spanish or Ivorian U-17 or U-20 football teams.

But have we ever stopped to think of why there are no footballers within the ages of 16 and 20 in any of the football teams playing in the Nigerian Premier League. Brazil has about 90 players - some of them still below 20 years, playing professional football in European Clubs that have already qualified for the Champions League and the UEFA Cup competitions.

About 20 percent of the goalkeepers in England and some European countries are from North America, simply because of the developmental programmes and initiatives put in place by these countries.

Embracing development

There is the urgent need for Nigeria to adopt or import such developmental initiatives as practised in England. But is it possible for such initiatives to succeed in Nigeria? Are we sure such ideas would not have been “stolen” and bastardized by some greedy and selfish individuals parading themselves as football or sports technocrats?