By Ikeddy Isiguzo

THE second edition of the AIT Football Awards will hold on Tuesday March 8 in Port Harcourt. The awards are small beginnings that point a direction for us, if only we are willing to recognise the fact that football (and sports) requires different approaches for the attainment of the results we eagerly expect.

Why should we recognise performance with awards?  There may be many answers to the question, but one of the mot important is the ability of awards to engender competition among participants in an event.  The stoppage of the national sports awards is another of the series of  great policies that have been discarded. The last one was in 2003, and 14 empty years stood between it and the previous edition.

AIT is rewarding players, coaches, teams, and the game’s sponsors for their contributions in keeping the game running. The idea is that those recognised will do more, those who have not keyed in will start and give the current champions a stiff fight.

The competitiveness will create better environment for the game. Even  players will have something to play for, an honour to attain and it will motivate them to better performances.

My favourite awards are for the young players because of the potential the awards bear for the future of our football.

They can also serve the dual purpose of cutting down on  the number of age cheats. In the absence of credible data for that type of exercise, dependency on school records could help judge age.

I only hope that the NFA sees how age cheats have ruined our football and take school competitions more serious by using products of those competitions in appropriate international engagements.

My prayers are that in the next few years, we can see winners of the young player awards progress in their careers and make resounding impact on the game. Their testimony could be the impetus that game requires to recover.

Obama Waste
ONE of the most insightful suggestions that I have heard about the disgrace that the Obama Tournament has brought to Nigeria is the one from Mumuni Alo that the officials who approved the jamboree for the Eagles should be punished. He was specific on the punishments.

He wants them to return the estacodes they were paid and be suspended from making foreign trips for some months. I would have suggested a year.

The anger that greeted the latest disgrace of the national team is fully understandable. There have been debates for months about Nigeria participating in the competition billed for Dallas. Some openly said there was no competition.

As the drama unfolded, messages were dispatched from the official websites of the football authorities in Mexico and Panama, stating they had withdrawn from the competition. They cited unclear signals from the organisers.

The Nigeria Football Association was not interested in any promptings about the competition being cancelled or delayed.  Nigeria was the only team that arrived for a non-tournament and team officials are expressing surprise at the waste of public funds that the NFA ensured.

If you were expecting outrage at higher quarters, you should be wondering at the silence. I think is another indication of the irrelevance of sports to the authorities. It should truly frighten anyone who appreciates the implications. It simply means that the NFA can do as it pleases without anyone asking it to account for its actions.

The elections are closing in and all politicians are more concerned about getting another chance at power than any disgrace the national team suffers. When I warned that if the NFA got away with the illegal change of its name that it would strive for more impunity, it seemed I was raising a false alarm.

I align with Alo’s suggested sanctions. The type of competence that took the Eagles to the United States, where there was no match planned for them, is not one that should be left unpunished.

Welcome Bash
BASH Ali was not going to keep quiet while in Libya as the turmoil in the country raged. The story of his adventure should find a space in the book of ambitions. With a vision to be the oldest man to win a world heavyweight boxing title, Bash left for Libya, expecting  sponsorship from Mummar Gadaffi, since nobody was listening to him.

At least that is his account of how he got to Libya, where he was stranded and only returned thanks to the aircraft the Federal Government provided.

The Libyan leg of the North Africa unrest came early enough not to put more pressure on CAF. Suppose the Africa U-20 Championship had started before the unrest? The point about riots is that we do not know who could be caught in them.

Welcome Bash, you are alive to live our dreams.

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