RACISM: FIFA And UEFA Can Do More

Russian football again has come into focus as issues of racism reared its ugly head during the week after Ghanaian midfielder, Emmanuel Frimpong got his matching orders for making an obscene gesture at a group of fans who apparently racially abused him during a game while playing for his club UFA.

Frimpong who was slapped with a two match ban by the Russian FA (RFU) afterwards, vented his frustration on twitter calling the Russian FA's failure to sanction Spartak Moscow as well a 'joke'. The RFU had claimed that their investigations showed no evidence of any racist abuse against Frimpong. The question now is, is it logical for a player to react in Frimpong's manner if he wasn't provoked?

Zenit St Petersburg manager, Andre Villas Boas, has sort of given a new twist to the debate on racism in football by stating that the racism problem in Russia is at par with what is obtainable in England. Judging from his utterance, it appears that he is not aware of the magnitude of the problem in Russia or he is in denial. Or how else can one explain why throughout his stay in England he never complained of racism? Mind you, that is not to say that there isn't racism in England. What this means is that if England's racism problems are as bad as Russia's, then AVB would have spoken out like he has been forced to do now in Russia. His comments however, are in contradiction to what his star player, Hulk has said.

Hulk has said that he gets racially abused in nearly every game he plays and has learnt to more or less develop a thick skin. Unfortunately, it appears there are more black players like Frimpong who have low tolerance for vitriol than Hulk. Hulk's club, Zenit has sections of fans who have openly come out to say that they don't want black players in their team. According to them, they are not being racist, it's just their tradition. Well, segregation and racism are close relatives if you ask me.

World football governing body, FIFA, has said they will call on the Russian FA to provide details on the incident but it is doubtful if this inquiry will yield the desired results which are stiff sanctions for clubs or fans who are caught racially abusing black players.

UEFA has taken steps to curbing racism with sanctions such as closing stadia or parts of stadia of teams whose fans have chosen not to keep their prejudice to themselves. But football's governing bodies UEFA and FIFA can do more in this regard.

FIFA and UEFA should begin to sanction FAs that fail to clamp down on racist behaviour of clubs' fans within their control so that they will be forced to take the problem of racism seriously. UEFA should also consider having independent observers in stadiums that have a track record of racist chantings so that no FA can claim it lacks evidence.

Merely acknowledging the problem like Russian FA officials love doing is not enough. Turning a blind eye to overt racism is even worse.

Russia which is billed to host the next World Cup in 2018 may not be under any pressure of losing the hosting right of the  World Cup inspite of the corruption scandals rocking FIFA but calls are being made on UEFA to boycott the World Cup. This is not taking into cognisance the fact that African players who are usually the target of racist abuse by Russian and other East European teams can also pull out of the World Cup to spite Russia. 

The Russian FA will do well to take these threats seriously and try to do more than just talking and take firm action in keeping the problem of racism down to the barest minimum within its stadiums.

Loyalty And Respect Are Dying Virtues In Football

We have apparently come to the end of two transfer sagas involving the exit of Real Madrid legend, Iker Casillas, and Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling as Casillas and Sterling are set to sign for FC Porto and Manchester City FC respectively. Sterling was snapped up by City for 49 million pounds while Casillas' deal with Porto is nearing conclusion.

However, the manner in which both players are parting ways with their former employers is a stark reminder of how brutal and ruthless the modern game has become.

Player loyalty is no longer fashionable. It's  all about getting the best deal possible not minding the fact that, had the club not put faith in the player when he was a nobody in the first place, he would not be in a position to hold the club to ransom.

Sadly, the clubs are getting in on the act as well. Clubs use a player and as soon as there is a hint of a decline in performance they discard the player in a heart beat. The years of service and sacrifice by the player is quickly forgotten.

The fans are not left out either. Depending on how messy the transfer of a star player to a rival team or any other team for that matter is, boos and jeers will be unleashed on the player whenever the star player comes to town. In some extreme cases, fans go ahead to issue death threats and even subject the player to all kinds of abuse.

We have seen it already. Peter Cech's move to Arsenal didn't go down well with Chelsea fans despite having the blessing of Roman Abramovich. Cech, after serving Chelsea for 11 years impeccably was branded a snake by disgruntled Chelsea fans and was even sent death threats.

Pray, what was Cech supposed to do? He lost his position due to no fault of his aside that he was on the wrong side of 30. He didn't go about lamenting to the media about the unfairness of Jose Mourinho's decision to place him on the bench as Thibaut Courtois' understudy.

And as he rightly stated, at this stage of his career, he needs to be playing regularly. So, a move to Chelsea's London rivals Arsenal, makes a lot of sense where he would be number 1.

Reports already have it that Raheem Sterling has been issued death threats already and the police are currently investigating the sources.

This is all coming as a result of Sterling's insistence on leaving Liverpool for a team that will be more competitive than Liverpool for titles. However, the manner in which he has rebelled and forced a move is unjustified and so it becomes understandable why Liverpool supporters are upset.

With the benefit of hindsight, it would have made more sense for Sterling to stall in signing a new contract and hand over a transfer request at the end of the season while acting professionally all the while instead of giving that BBC interview during the past season and then skipping out of pre-season training.

At the very worst, Liverpool would have had to sell him without any pressure from him next year when he would have one year left on his contract to the highest bidder. But Sterling as has become the trend in modern day football has acted unprofessionally in order to force a move to another club forgetting how he started out as a Liverpool player.

Casillas' scenario at Madrid is the direct opposite of  that of Sterling's at Liverpool. After serving Real Madrid for 25 years, 8 of which was at youth level, he is being practically forced out of the club with 2 years left on his contract. 

The fans again were also involved in his forced exit out of the club. He was jeered and booed many times by sections of Madrid fans through out the course of last season. This was no way to treat a hero and captain of the club. A player who has won 5 La Liga titles and 3 Champions league trophies with Madrid.

But his running battle with Florentino Perez, who often has the final say when he has disputes with club icons, was one that would only end this way because of his rapid decline in form. Make no mistake, Casillas is still a decent goalie, but he deserves better than this.

Reports have it that, the official Real Madrid twitter account unfollowed Iker Casillas a few hours after it was announced that he would be joining FC Porto. As insignificant as this seems, it speaks volumes about the lack of respect the Real Madrid establishment has for Iker Casillas.

The only reason the Casillas situation has been ugly is because money is involved. Casillas has been widely reported to have  insisted that a full compensation for the termination of his contract be paid before  he moves on. Madrid's reluctance to do so is what has made this transfer saga stink.

Now, a compromise has been reached in these 2 case scenarios. Casillas can now say his goodbyes and enter a new phase of his career with FC Porto while Sterling now has his 'dream move' to Manchester City. He now has his chance to challenge for trophies at a 'big club' and of course, make more money than he would have ever dreamed of. 

Fair to say however, that loyalty and respect is a dying attitude and value between clubs, players and fans in present day football because of the allure of monetary gain and glory.

After Keshi's Controversial Exit, Who Should Replace Him?

The axe which had been dangling over the head of Stephen Keshi for a while finally landed on him over the weekend when the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced that they were parting company with him due to a 'lack of commitment' on his part to attain the objectives of the Federation as was set out when he was employed.

It was plain the marriage between Keshi and the NFF was one of convenience and as soon as they felt he was dispensable, they cut him loose. The constant battles between Keshi and the NFF was one that turned into a circus show. We should not be surprised though, if there is another twist in the drama as things continue to unravel.

There are hints that Keshi could go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to challenge his sacking. If he wins, he could be forced back into a job where his services are no longer wanted. What it means is that the frosty relationship between both parties could get more nasty as the NFF could seek to do all it can to undermine the Big Boss while carrying out his duties.

It is weird though, that barely 3 months of taking charge of the Super Eagles, a disciplinary committee has been able to get enough facts to reach a conclusion that Keshi was not committed to his job and thus, recommend his sack. 

What led the NFF to set up this committee? Or was it in place already before news broke that Keshi's name turned up in a list of candidates applying for the Ivory Coast job? And if it was set up after the news broke, then shouldn't we be suspicious that he is being fired for perceived disloyalty to the NFF rather than for lack of commitment?

Anyone with half a brain knows that the time frame with which Keshi has been in charge since he was re-appointed as Super Eagles Coach in April is not enough to reach such a conclusion since there was no major act of misconduct on Keshi's part. Apparently, Keshi's misdemeanours in the last African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers have been revisited and Keshi, without the protection of the powers that be in the Presidency any longer may have suffered some form of payback.

Have we heard the last of this NFF-Keshi  saga? Don't bet on it.

Meanwhile, the NFF quickly announced the appointment of Shaibu Amodu as interim coach pending the appointment of a permanent replacement for Keshi. The next set of AFCON qualifiers come up in September. Nigeria will be taking on Tanzania away from home. Knowing the NFF's antecedents, a permanent replacement for Keshi will not be coming any time soon.

Who are the potential suitors to replace Stephen Keshi on a permanent basis? We should note however, that Nigeria at this point in time lacks top coaches with the clout of Keshi. We do have a few we can recycle however.

The logical replacement for Keshi may be one of Daniel Amokachi, Augustine Eguavoen, Christian Chukwu, Sunday Oliseh or Samson Siasia. With the exception of Oliseh, all have had stints with the Super Eagles as manager with varying degrees of failure and success. Siasia is in charge of the Olympic team currently and might not wish to have any distractions as he would want to prepare adequately and focus on qualifying for the  Olympics in Rio next year. Unless of course, the NFF elect to 'promote' him.

Amokachi was Keshi's assistant in the glory days of Keshi's reign and could be one of the favourites for the job. However, apart from being Keshi's assistant, It's difficult to see what Amokachi brings to the table. Could be more of the same from the Keshi era. A more of the same we hardly need.

Christian Chukwu and Augustine Eguavoen failed to take the Super Eagles to new heights after leading the Super Eagles to creditable bronze medals at the  AFCON finals in 2004 and 2006 respectively. 

Chukwu was sacked for failing to lead Nigeria to the World Cup finals in Germany in 2006 while Eguavoen who was Chukwu's replacement, although led Nigeria to third place at the AFCON finals in 2006, was also fired after a string of poor results after taking over from Berti Vogts who was shown the exit door for over seeing one of Nigeria's most dismal performances in AFCON finals history.

Sunday Oliseh could be the breath of fresh air Nigeria football needs but his inexperience at this level could prove costly even though he has a UEFA Pro licence. Nigeria cannot afford to miss out on another AFCON tournament for a consecutive time. 

Will the NFF be willing to take a gamble on Oliseh as recent reports suggest? Or will they go for a foreign manager as Bonfrere Jo advised? Whatever their decision is, they need to get this right so that we can move on. We don't play Egypt until next year. It's more than enough time for them to sort out this mess.