New Nigeria soccer coach Stephen Keshi bans players from wearing earrings in team camps

ABUJA, Nigeria — New Nigeria soccer coach Stephen Keshi has banned his players from wearing earrings while in national team camps, saying it’s “alien” to Nigerian culture for men to have them.

The former Super Eagles captain took charge of his first training camp with locally based players this week after he replaced Samson Siasia following Nigeria’s failure to qualify for next month’s African Cup of Nations.


Keshi laid down strict rules for his players while at training and at hotels, banning earrings and warning that the national team was “no breeding ground for players who want to show off.”

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson last year famously banned his players from wearing snoods — a type of neck-warmer — before they were eventually outlawed by FIFA.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/new-nigeria-soccer-coach-stephen-keshi-bans-players-from-wearing-earrings-in-team-camps/2011/12/21/gIQAaLB09O_story.html

I think that's a Nice move! I wish the same should  be done in Nollywood. Let's draft a guideline for all Nollywood script writers and producers.

when they start winning trophies, they can start wearing skirts!,

What has earring wearing got to do wt their performance,y does he not also stop them frm stylish hairdos & wearing of fancy boots.Abeg,he shd focus on making them tecnically& tactically sound than focussing on d superficial.

doctokwus:

What has earring wearing got to do wt their performance,

Forget that bush man?

Wetin concern earring and football biko?!

This is the beginning of his failure if he is  not careful. Concentrating on things that do not enhance the performance  of the team, but  only add more criticism to him.

Na ear ring dem dey take play football?

What is wrong with you people? God dammit, he's the coach and he has the right to decide what he wants in the team for the team's progress, when you become the head coach, you can allow your players wear pants to the camp or even paint their lips too, that's you.

I want him to ban players from eating excess chew gums too.

Wearing earring,tattoos and same sex are all unafrican. I fully support Keshi for the move.Pride goes before a fall. Pls sagging too.

Maybe he sensed homo tendency associated with it. Probably the untold story. Am sure there is a strong reason we don't know yet!

I support him! discipline should start from somewhere. It's the first step in rebuilding the team which include knowing where you come from, humble etc

Discipline in new dimension!He dont want them to become gay

damola1:

when they start winning trophies, they can start wearing skirts!,

[b]On point[/b]

While I do not agree with Keshi on the reason he put out for banning earings - I see some reason in banning egotistic fashionware and attitudes that do not translate to performance on the field of play. Attitude is important in sport but if it is for the reason of looking good - heck ban it!  

Take our Basketball Team for instance from Dream Team I to xyz. They all play in leagues in Europe and the NBA, they wear dreadlocks and piercings, earings and nose buckles. They are tattooed worse that Lil Wayne and speak like they were all born in yankee - screaming :"nigguh pass da ball fool!" on the court and saying the F-word so often you would think it was part of their dialect. They have never won or even come second in a continental and inter-continental or international (olympics) basketball match-up. Meanwhile Angola has a team of local players, clean-shaven, low-cut appearance and they often contend with the USA in any international match and have won continental titles so many times it has become their birth-right. Naija-for-show. boooooooo!

lagerwhenindoubt:

While I do not agree with Keshi on the reason he put out for banning earings - I see some reason in banning egotistic fashionware and attitudes that do not translate to performance on the field of play. Attitude is important in sport but if it is for the reason of looking good - heck ban it!  

Take our Basketball Team for instance from Dream Team I to xyz. They all play in leagues in Europe and the NBA, they wear dreadlocks and piercings, earings and nose buckles. They are tattooed worse that Lil Wayne and speak like they were all born in yankee - screaming :"nigguh pass da ball fool!" on the court and saying the F-word so often you would think it was part of their dialect. They have never won or even come second in a continental and inter-continental or international (olympics) basketball match-up. Meanwhile Angola has a team of local players, clean-shaven, low-cut appearance and they often contend with the USA in any international match and have won continental titles so many times it has become their birth-right. Naija-for-show. boooooooo!

LMAO "Nigguh pass the ball" I hate when I see Africans using that N-word. the way it sound in their mouth coupled with the accent makes it so annoying!!!

If you are a man who was brought-up in Nigeria and uses earrings, there is no soap you will use for bathing that will make me change my perception of you as being irresponsible. Obviously, Keshi shares the same mindset with me on this one hence the ban.

extension:

Wearing earring,tattoos and same sex are all unafrican. I fully support Keshi for the move.Pride goes before a fall. Pls sagging too.

What does UNAFRICAN REALLY MEAN?? is wearing designer clothes African too or speaking English? Coz the Africans i remember speak their native languages and wear animal skins before the Europeans arrived, so what is this UNAFRICAN WORD MEANS COZ WE DONT DO ANYTHING AFRICAN ANYMORE SO SHUT UP

What makes one responsible is ur outfit, u cant put on earing an fil responsible,.those of u disagrin wit keshi i no nön of u are puting it on, if u ar not responsible in camp,hw wil u play respönsible in d field.

doctokwus:

What has earring wearing got to do wt their performance,y does he not also stop them frm stylish hairdos & wearing of fancy boots.Abeg,he shd focus on making them tecnically& tactically sound than focussing on d superficial.

Seconded.

a lots more people support what is immoral and this is so sad how much Hippocrates we have in our midst

since when did ear ring becomes a man's wear


NAWA FOR UNA, it is wrong and should be banned, tell your son to wear skirt and stop making it looking as if its right for the public

what rubbish

is 22 men chasing an inflated  leather bladder around a grass lawn african ?

is taking paid employment in a 9-5 job instead of working on a farm African?

We all have our prejudices which cause us to  propagate false dogma against all evidence.
It is not Un-African many tribes wear them.
Certainly the fulani and Masai do.
In Nigeria it is not so common but young men with an emerging sense of who they are try all kinds of things eventually they grow out of it and do so more quickly when it is ignored rather than making a fuss about.
If everyone/ themajority buy into it it becomes a "NEW" culture e.g
dating,boyfriend and girlfriend before marriage etc all quite "UN_AFRICAN" practices
It certainly is strange to my Yoruba culture but people make a mistake when they assume culture is static or permanent . Wrist watches,wedding rings and even birthday cakes are all alien to our culture but we absorbed them. What about men wearing perfume,the toothbrush,socks,neckties,bracelets etc Who is it that has the authority to determine what we shall adopt or discard.

People now champion causes like monogamy, stopping female circumcision,stopping tribal marks etc.
The reality is people choose those aspect of our culture they like  and discard those they don't like saying they are primitive
and  adopt foreign ones they like as civilization
and reject those they don't like as Un-African.
There is no consensus on how this should happen so let us cut the hypocrisy

I don't care about if it's unAfrican or not. All I know is that discipline has to start from somewhere if the Super Eagle want to recapture his old glory. And showing signs of seriousness in the training field is the first step.

I hate seeing bunch of home-made Naija player wearing earrings and be shouting "Nigguh pass me ball".

Well we all hate one thing or the other. We can't run the world based on what we hate
Discipline means different things to different people and should be based on principles that endure NOT the whims of the coach.These days players are very powerful and we must remember they are often men i.e. Fathers,wives etc. Not schoolchildren.
I believe i have seen earrings on Kanu,Amokachi,Mikel and ? OdemwigieI know FIFA have rules on safety for certain types of jewelry including wedding rings etc and,in my view that(FIFA rules) should suffice.
No " discpline" in a team is a problem but "too much" discipline is also a problem. Africans develop a certain mentality when they have money(all people do) but you will find that the FA will always back players when push comes to shove particularly when the coach is a black man. So you see a lot of players like Etoo,Adebayor and Kuffour.
A coach must have authority but when you start focusing on things like earrings you only create problems for yourself. A wise coach would simply tell the players privately and if they do not comply not invite them back. Publicizing it this way makes you look petty. Imagine if another coach comes and says he does not want dread locks or he does not want his players to bleach their skin. or spray their hair. These are trivialities and difficult to impose on big players. Imagine telling Messi that if he does not remove his earrings(he does not wear them I know) he won't play . A wise elder does not start a fight he cannot win.
Whether right or wrong the question is what are the likely consequences of this decision and is it worth it?

I fully support Coach Keshi on this, the team should learn to project the right image.
He's in charge and he has got the right to lay down rules which are appropriate.

Wahala de o! Mikel and Yobo, wahala de o!

Thz is a new beginning for us and I have laid down the principles too, hw keshi take read my mind.

u see,sum pple stil have their values,believes morals,protocols and styles that works 4 them,u culd call him too african or bush or local,bt dat is wat he believes in,nd mayb it use 2 work 4 him,he is d boss,he can do all he wants,so lng he success to d team.footbal may nt b african,bt it is a gud sport,it unites us nd even d world,no mata d color,wearin cloths is nt african,bt we use 2 cover our nakednes wit skin,leaves nd wateva,d white brought cloths,its gud,it covers our unclothedness nd fits more,some tins we copy 4rm anoda culture r gud,so retain dem,bt d 1s dat r nt gud nt related 2 our culture shuld b left.wearin earing,man luv man,wman marry wman,is nt gud nd nt our culture,we shuld drop those 1s.pple shuld copy gud tins nd nt bad 1s.its wisdom.

Yes. Let us know if we have men or women playing for the Super Eagles.

Whether un-African or not it is wrong to wear ear.studz to a place where people are watching u malfunction everytime ur given a mandate, like these eagles they know that they have bleeped why dont they cut down on certain things they do?

I tire o!

Whether un-African or not it is wrong to wear ear.studz to a place where people are watching u malfunction everytime ur given a mandate, like these eagles they know that they have bleeped why dont they cut down on certain things they do?

I tire o!

what makes it wrong ?please explain