Nigeria: Questioning the FIFA hegemony

Questioning the FIFA hegemony

One begins to wonder about the clout and the power the world’s football governing body, FIFA [1], and its dogged determination not to brook any interference of national governments in football administration.

A number of events have shown that this FIFA stance has to be at least negotiable and ideally questionable. Indeed, there are instances where football associations need to be protected from political interference and the nations sanctioned for undue process but where player safety, the national interest or honour is at stake, FIFA’s desires have to be secondary.

Safety above rules

When at the African Nations’ Cup the Togolese team was attacked [2] by insurgents in the Cabinda region of the Angola, the basic fact that lives were lost was of overwhelming concern to the Togolese government that players and the national football association were overruled with the team being withdrawn from the competition.

FIFA took a rather draconian stance of suspending Togo from all international competitions which to the fair-minded was unjust the rules notwithstanding. The Togolese government and FIFA have come to some arrangement but more interestingly were the comments Emmanual Adebayor of Togo made [3] about the Togolese Football Association that had received tickets for air travel but decided to travel by road leading to the unfortunate incident.

FIFA is no good cop

Whilst FIFA has been unforgiving of government interference there is no evidence of FIFA coming down heavily on the corruption within football associations nor does it seem they have the wherewithal to ensure that football associations do not create situations that call for immediate and drastic interference from their home governments.

With the World Cup underway, the French team displayed conduct [4] so unbecoming and shocking beyond words, nothing has been heard from FIFA as regards how the game had been brought into disrepute by these players on a global stage at their premier event.

Rather FIFA has been threatening [5] the French government about perceived interference but really where the honour of a country had been impacted by shameful representation it is only right for the representatives of the people who constitute the government to get to the bottom of why this disgraceful behaviour came about if FIFA cannot effectively manage the conduct of players.

The case for political interference is just too compelling as it brings to question how democratic football associations really are, who they are accountable to and to what extent is FIFA accountable to any higher constituted body representative of global interests.

In the national interest

Today in the news, the Nigerian President suspended the national team [6] from international competitions for two years and in the process is planning a complete overhaul of the football organisational structure in Nigeria.

Surely, every country and their elected or governing representation should have pre-eminence over how their country is represented, by whom and for what purposes. If the country decides that their sporting representatives are not of the quality that can do the nation proud, surely, it should be the prerogative of that country to choose not to be represented and present at global tournaments.

FIFA is no role model

I have not seen any sense of moral, ethical or commendable standard that allows FIFA to seek overarching protection of non-performing football associations if FIFA itself cannot impose rules of operation that compel the associations to be transparent, incorruptible, properly run and genuinely serving of the national interests they are supposed to represent.

FIFA appears to be a law unto itself, supported by patronage and tribal allegiances, sustained by global conglomerate sponsorships predicated in FIFA’s world-wide reach almost to the exclusion of local business and local partnerships in countries that host their events.

It is untenable that FIFA can by its clout not drawn from any virtuous conduct dictate carte blanche and exude such authority as to cow national political representatives when they are desirous of having better organisations and representations of football in their countries.

Now is the time to limit the remit and ambit of FIFA when the national honour and interest is demonstrably at stake, no FIFA rule or stance should have pre-eminence over that situation – ever.

Sources

[1] FIFA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[2] BBC News - Three dead after gun attack on Togo football team

[3] ADEBAYOR may reconsider Togo decision

[4] Thought Picnic: Légion d'honte to the French XI [akin.blog-city.com]

[5] French Government Rejects FIFA Claim of Meddling in Federation - BusinessWeek

[6] BBC Sport - Football - World Cup 2010: Nigeria president suspends team

Thought Picnic: Légion d'honte to the French XI

Unacceptable conduct

The indiscipline of the French team at this World Cup is breath-taking in its depiction and despicable in all respects. Regardless of whether the manager of the French team had lost the respect of players and fans there was nothing that could warrant the insult and abuse that he suffered of the words from Nicholas Anelka.

If anything, what we must take away from this is that talent and success does not necessarily breed good character and conduct – in football, we do celebrate talent but that should not transform the talented into an automatic role model, much more should be desired and expected.

The haughtiness of success

It is unfortunate that players can become so full of themselves that their ability to submit to authority and respect leadership is lost, they thinking that by their ability they are not answerable to anyone and have by reason of prowess become indispensable and irreplaceable.

When one plays for one’s country, it is an honour, a privilege and a calling to a cause greater than oneself to participate in a team committed to bringing glory to the motherland – the case with the French-XI 2010 has done more to bring shame and derision to a country that once was the pride of world football when they lifted the World Cup in 1998.

Missing the point

The captain of the team completely missed the point when he said Anelka was not the problem but the traitor that made the abuse public. Well, there would have been no need for seeking a traitor if Anelka had been of impeccable behaviour at first and even if the case were made public and Anelka had gracefully apologised, the situation would have not have descended into a farce.

The situation was just not acceptable and it was right regardless of the opinions of other team players to send such a perpetrator of reprehensible behaviour home in disgrace and ignominy.

Treasonable is the word

The decision of the team to refuse to train plumbed the depths of juvenile obduracy bordering on treasonable by reason of the bringing the name of the fatherland into disrepute which should be punished once their tenure in this World Cup is over.

Not one of those players should ever wear the colours of France again as an example to others who might be tempted to treat the call to national duty with levity. It should be a salutary lesson to every player called to play for country anywhere else in the world – the French must lead in the instilling of proper discipline in national teams as an example and template for the future.

Bad conduct deserves no rewards

The greater providence in this matter should be that no success should emanate from this behaviour allowing for them to proceed to the next round, this kind of saga cannot dominate the headlines to the detriment of better behaved and performing teams at this World Cup.

With the already known change of coach should be the clean sweep of the stink of this delinquency and even though now they have returned to training and stated they are playing for honour, it smacks of hubris and cant to even pretend to virtue after atrocious conduct and rank immaturity presaging a pall of irresponsibility and bad example.

They can only be deserving of one honour in France and it should be the Légion d'honte. Shame, on all of them.

Luc Montagnier takes the Nobel Prize for isolating HIV

It is Nobel week

This week is Nobel Prize week and the first one has already been named for Physiology or Medicine 2008 [1].

In what can only be the recognition of peers and retribution of the gods, one name stuck out in the list of winners, the prize is shared by three persons, but for me, the name I can remember is Luc Montagnier.

What causes AIDS?

Professor Luc Montagnier [2] was a pioneer at the world renowned Pasteur Institute [3] in Paris whose work has been acknowledged and feted in the search for the causative agent of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

Just like the arms race between the West and the Soviet Union, there was a virus race between America and France to isolate the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

As history would have it, there was an acrimonious dispute about who first isolated HIV and the reckoning that now accepts that it was first isolated by the French but the glory was snatched away with a rushed announcement by the Americans under the genius abilities of Dr. Robert C. Gallo [4].

The work of others

Now, this is not to discount [5] the ground-breaking work of Dr. Gallo because Prof. Montagnier discovered the virus and Dr. Gallo showed that the virus caused the disease, he also went on to create a blood test which has a shared patent between the French and the Americans.

Laughing last

But today, for all the work and in recognition of a man who at times looked wronged, was once frustrated and trumped by the ascendancy of publicity over the once respectable endeavour of scientific research for the good of humanity; he takes the prize, just a quarter of it, but the Nobel Prize is the Nobel Prize whatever the share. Some might record this event as controversial and did I forget to mention that Professor Luc Montagnier sharesone half og the prize with Françoise Barré-Sinoussi [6], a lady, with whom he shares the work for which he is honoured.

Congratulations! Professor Montagnier and thank you very much.

Sources

[1] The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008

[2] Luc Montagnier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[3] Pasteur Institute - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[4] Robert Gallo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[5] The sound and fury of HIV - US News and World Report

Luc Montagnier – From Internet FAQ Archives

Robert C. Gallo – From Internet FAQ Archives