Sports - Nigeria's football revival
Ebo Quansah
After two glorious victories over Ghana's two national teams, Nigerian are now certain that the flying Green Eagles have come of age and that time is not far when Nigeria will climb to the rostrums as the best footballing nation on the continent.
Already there is a feeling of optimism throughout the country that the Green Eagles will capture the African cup of Nations trophy in Abidjan to fulfil the aspiration of countrymen who have given so much towards the redirection of Nigerian football after the 1982 African cup fiasco in Libya.
That Nigerian soccer is on the rise is as a fact as the sun will rise from the East. Victories over Togo, Morocco and Ghana in crucial away engagements are reason enough to applaud the feat of coach Onigbinde and his squad.
Ironically, this was a year that began with no hope of any reliable national team in Nigeria.
Public criticism following the Green Eagles dismal performance in the 1982 African cup of Nations during which they lost the African cup led to the dissolution of the team, and the dismissal of the men directing affairs at the NFA secretariat.
Team rebuilding did not get any meaningful take off as a NFA select side that was to form the nucleus of the green eagles drew with a Ghanaian club side, great Olympics, then on tour of Nigeria.
Followers of the game labelled the attempt a failure. To add insult to injury, Ghana's Black Stars sent the Eagles packing home from Addis Ababa with a 1-0 defeat in the finals of the Economic Commission for Africa championship finals in Addis Ababa.
Participation in the South Korean invitational tournament ended disastrously for the Eagles.
On the team's return Nigerians demanded immediate disbandment of the Eagles but in perseverance, coach Onigbinde and his squad strove.
After days and nights of toil, the fruits have started yielding. Three victories on the trot against Togo in Lome, Morocco in Rabat andGhana in Accra are only the first signals of major things to come. Already the junior squad, the Flying Eagles sit on top of West Africa having won the Shagari Cup for junior ECOWAS supremacy.
The chronology of events on the soccer front has raised hopes in many that Nigeria is well on the way for recognition in African and world soccer. But whether these successes are signs of greater things to follow or a flash in the pan is what is not immediately discernible.
Eagles for Los Angeles
The Nigerian Green Eagles have qualified for a place in the 1984 Olympic Games Soccer tournament in Los Angeles.They scored an impressive 2-1 away win over four times African champions, the Black Stars in their second leg final elimination contest at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The victory gives the Nigerian national side their sixth victory in 20 outings with their bitterest rivals in international football. The first leg engagement in Lagos, ended goalless.
Nigeria will have 14 instead of the traditional 12 clubs in the first division when the country's next football season opens in February next year.
This follows the Nigeria Football Association's decision to promote four clubs from the second division to replace two demoted teams from the first division.
Teams moving to the primary division of Nigerian soccer are Moshood Abiola F.C., Niger Tornadoes, First Bank and the Nigerian Electricity and Power authority (NEPA).
On the demotion list are former challenge cup holders Stationery Stores who were just pardoned by the NFA after a long suspension and Housing football club of Akure.
As many as 20 clubs will battle in the second division for two promotional places to the second division.
Transfer Fees Up
With effect from the next football season, poaching of players in Ghana will cost 50 per cent more.A statement by the Ghana Football Association the ruling body on Ghana football said any club poaching a player of the Ghanaian national team, the Black Stars will pay C150,000 towards transfer instead of C100,000.
A player featuring for the junior national team, the Black Meteors will attract a fee of C112,500 instead of 75,000. In the case of first division players, training fees have been fixed at 75,000 each while a player moving from his second division club will attract C52,200 in terms of transfer fees.
A statement by the GFA said these measures have been taken to deter what it called "indiscriminate and destructive players" by certain clubs.
It said since Ghanaian players are basically amateurs, they should be free to choose the clubs they wish to play but such freedom should go with adequate compensation for clubs that spend their time and money nurturing them to stardom.
A top West German boxing expert Mr Helmut Ranze has conducted a two week special coaching clinics for Ghanaian amateur boxing coaches.
