Before You Blame Eagles' Loss On MKO Pitch

Before You Blame Eagles' Loss On MKO Pitch

By Niyi Busari

Barely hours after the Super Eagles lost 0-1 to the Wild Dogs of Guinea Bissau in the 2023 AFCON qualifier hosted at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, some Executive Members of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) were quoted to blame the Super Eagles' loss on the state of the pitch. Many Nigerians also believed that the pitch was responsible for the loss.

Before blaming the state of the pitch, it is noteworthy that we consider more important factors that led to the home defeat by asking ourselves these questions.

Have we considered whether or not the coach, other officials, and players are being owed? Is Jose Peseiro good enough to take Super Eagles to the promised land?

Was there any State government ready to host the international matches a few days after the gubernatorial elections?

Why is the NFF yet to set up Technical Committee?

Is the Technical Department of the NFF led by Austin Eguavoen well-equipped and good enough to pilot Nigeria football?

CAF during their inspection of Moshood Abiola Stadium Abuja certified the stadium as good enough to host international matches including the CAF Super League where Nigeria's representative Enyimba International is expected to take part. In their report, only two stadia were chosen as the best in Nigeria, Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo, and Moshood Abiola Stadium Abuja. MKO Abiola Stadium was rated higher than Godswill Akpabio Stadium. Before Friday's match, Super Eagles trained four times on the pitch while Guinea Bissau trained once. The Wild Dogs of Guinea Bissau were able to marshal and execute their plans on the same pitch. The Guineans created seven chances while Super Eagles created 17. The same pitch was good enough for Guinea Bissau to hit the target but disallowed Super Eagles from scoring despite creating more chances.

The truth is, Jose Peseiro's game plan failed to break the defense of the visitors.

The President of the NFF was quoted to have said that some players were not committed and as such many not-committed players would be dropped from playing for the national team.

Have we asked ourselves if the NFF is committed to delivering its duties?

Why were the player's owed several match bonuses and allowances? Why were the coaches and officials not paid as when due? Why were the players conveyed on a coaster bus from the hotel to the training ground and back to the hotel for two days? If the players and officials are being owed, do we have the moral right to question their commitment to the national team?

Why were the two stadiums in Birnin Kebbi and Ugborodo, Warri that were supposed to be commissioned in March 2021 remained uncompleted after a huge amount was received from FIFA?

Super Eagles under Jose Peseiro have lost to Mexico (1-2), Ecuador (0-1) Algeria (1-2), Costa Rica (0-2), and Portugal (0-4). All these matches were played on better pitches and not in Abuja. Were these matches lost due to bad pitches too?

Jose Peseiro's tactics should be questioned as his one-year contract expires in two months.

One of the reasons the NFF wanted Super Eagles games to be played outside Abuja is to continue receiving funds from the state government and Federal government for the same purpose (double budgeting). For many years, when Super Eagles were hosted by state governments, budgets were prepared by the NFF, and State governments fulfilled their financial obligations while the same budgets were presented to the Federal Government. Despite these monies, players, officials, airlines, and hotels were owed millions of Naira.

For instance, before the 2022 African Nations Cup in Cameroon, Federal Government paid 100% funds on the budget submitted by the NFF. The funds are meant to execute the Eagle's matches till the final game. The three times African champions were knocked out in the second round by Tunisia but no money was refunded back to FG's purse.

Before Friday's match, NFF had reached out to the State government to host Super Eagles match and an agreement had been reached but the postponement of the Gubernatorial elections which were conducted a few days before the game stalled the plans. So the NFF had no option but to come to Abuja.

Moshood Abiola Stadium was abandoned for so many years before Sunday Dare through his Adopt-A-Pitch Initiative resurrected the edifice. Without government funds, the Stadium was brought back to life and has hosted many international matches.

The FIFA Goal project inside Package B of Moshood Abiola Stadium Abuja was inaugurated in November 2009 during Sani Lulu Abdullahi's reign as NFF President. Due to lack of maintenance, the turf of the pitch where national teams train has worn out. 14 years after, the NFF was unable to maintain the pitch and cannot boast of building any stadium.

The NFF as a matter of urgency should fulfill their financial obligations to the coaches and players, inaugurate the Technical Committee and start working on the completion of stadiums and maintenance of the FIFA Goal project, Abuja.