When I wrote about the failures of the English
Premier League teams in Europe, I was not
thinking of writing or investigating why
Nigerian clubs are failing on the African
continent. But with the ouster of our two
teams in the Caf Champions League this past
weekend, I am obliged to look into this
consistent failure of our clubs on the
continent.
A little background will help us understand
our football plight in Africa; for a competition
that started in 1964, Nigerian teams have
been to the finals seven times. Two wins by
Enyimba Football Club (2003 and 2004),
runners up by Shooting Stars (1984 & 1996),
Heartland (1988 & 2009) and Rangers (1975),
the last final appearance was by Heartland in
2009. Since 2009, we have under achieved, six
years of failure in African football.
But this is not our only failure on the African
continent, we failed to win the Africa Cup of
Nations for 19 years, prior to winning in 2013,
we failed to qualify in 2012 and now in 2015.
We have missed two of the last three editions.
We did not qualify for the CHAN (cup of
nations for domestic players) in the first two
editions, qualified for the third edition and lost
in the semi-final. So African football is not
good for us, for we have fared better getting to
the World Cup; making appearances in 1994,
1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014 only missing out
in Germany 2006.
So why are we not competitive in local African
football? Many questions are being asked in
the wake of our two teams crashing out of the
Champions League. Who is to blame? Is it the
league (LMC), is it the federation (NFF), is it
the clubs, is it the players, is it the coaching
or is it the football culture?
I am going to try my very best to apportion
blame in answering all the questions.
The LMC – Is the league structured and
scheduled in a way to benefit the clubs that
participate on the continent? In the last few
years, our league has started at a time that it
does not give our clubs enough time to get
into match playing rhythm. Presumably, in
other countries their clubs are already in mid-
season form; maybe the LMC should try to
align our league schedule with the African
football season.
The NFF – Is the NFF in a position to
financially support our clubs on the continent?
There is ample evidence to show that our
failures are mainly due to the fact that many
clubs are not in good financial positions to
pursue successfully international games. If
part of the football federation mission is the
development of football, one might be inclined
to say that the NFF should help the clubs, but
is the NFF itself in a sound financial position?
This option is not viable.
The Clubs – The clubs have full responsibility
for their success or failure. When pursuing the
local league, the goal is to play
internationally; so clubs are fully aware that
playing well in the league will place them in a
position to play in the Champions League.
They are also very aware that this will cost a
lot of money, they also know that we have a
league that is not aligned to the African
calendar, so why do they continue to have
administrative and financial problems?
Everything is known well in advance, club
management must plan ahead for
international participation; I remember our
early losses in these tournaments, we planned
badly; teams got to the countries late, did not
know that North African countries liked to play
on Friday, did not have the proper shoes for
carpet field and did not consider the cold
weather. The problems we have had on the
continent are not of today, we have just
changed to a different kind of problem.
The Players - Good football is made up of
good players. How you treat your players or
how you groom your players will definitely
affect output. From what we read, many clubs
are in financial trouble with their players, it is
tough to get out and play when you have
money issues lingering. But Kano Pillars, the
most successful club and the most financially
stable has been the biggest let down on the
continent; so money for players might not be
the only issues. Are these players exposed
enough to carry out football tactics to win
these games outside the country?
The Coaching – Above, I asked the question,
are our players equipped to carry out tactical
instructions under very tense atmosphere? I
will re-phrase the question; are the coaches
capable of designing tactics that can keep a
game alive in a foreign land? This might be
the biggest reason for our failures on the
continent; the kind of football we play at home
is undisciplined for success outside our
shores. We commit to many fouls, we take too
many long shots that have no chance at a
goal, and we cannot hold the ball for minutes
at a time. When you play football with these
many flaws, you cannot succeed
internationally and that is where the bulk of
the blame should go.
Football Culture – Nigerians expect to win
every game we play. Is this unnecessary
pressure on our players? We live today in a
football culture that says we are better than
everyone else; while our results don’t show it
we still demand victory. It is not a bad thing
to want favourable results but there must be a
plan to win, and until all the bodies I put out
above as having some blame for our failures
come together to address the issues, we will
continue to be passengers in African club
competitions.