Posted by By BEN MEMULETIWON on
Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) Executive member, Dr. Amos Adamu, has dampened any hope of reprieve for Nigeria's Ladan Bosso, who was recently hammered by the world football governing body for his unguided racial comment on the English referee that handled Nigeria-Chile match in the last World Youth Championship in Canada.
...Adamu goes hard on Bosso, Singabele
...says they must pay the price of indiscipline
Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) Executive member, Dr. Amos Adamu, has dampened any hope of reprieve for Nigeria's Ladan Bosso, who was recently hammered by the world football governing body for his unguided racial comment on the English referee that handled Nigeria-Chile match in the last World Youth Championship in Canada.
Adamu says the erring coach must carry his cross alone by paying the one million naira fine, and staying off football for the next four months.
Some football commentators had appealed to the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) to come to Bosso's rescue by paying the fine on his behalf, but the director general in the National Sports Commission (NSC) told Daily Sunsport in Ibadan during the weekend that paying the fine for Bosso would signal a bad precedence.
"Why must the NFA pay the fine for him?" Dr. Adamu asked rhetorically. "That will be setting a bad precedence by the NFA. If the FA defrays the fine, and then another Nigerian coach could, one day, walk onto the pitch and slap match officials for making wrong judgements. He can even curse the referee's father and mother, believing that he has a Father Christmas NFA that would pay whatever fine FIFA or CAF may slam on him.
"Let Bosso pay the fine so that other Nigerian coaches and even players would learn from his example. How can a coach, a national team coach for that matter, make such terrible racial taunt when everybody knows how serious FIFA is at stamping racism out of football? Because you are a coach does not mean you could open your mouth without control. Let him pay his fine from his estacode, match bonuses and camp allowance. If he pays the fine from the money realised from his sweat, he won't make such a mistake next time. Paying the fine may be so painful but let him serve as scapegoat to others."
Dr. Adamu also believes that suspended NFA member, Dr. Peter Singabele should be made to carry his cross to the end, adding that the rules of the game must be respected, no matter whose ox is gored.
"Nigeria is a funny country," he said. "Somebody has done something wrong and he's being punished, but every Nigerian keeps begging that he should not be punished. That's rubbish." Moreover, Adamu says the man has not even shown any remorse. If he wants to be pardoned, let him make a public apology to the board.
"We must start to obey the rules as stipulated by FIFA. If everybody obeys the rules, most of the wranglings in the NFA should not have arisen in the first place, but everybody feels he's above the law. I want peace in the football house but peace can only come when the rules are obeyed.
"Look at what happened to Farrah Addo of Somalia. He was so powerful in his country, just as he was also waxing stronger in the continental football fraternity.
There was no way a football decision in Africa would be made without Farrah Addo's input. But what was his offence? Addo insulted FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, and all what he has achieved as a football administrator went down the drain. His career took a nose-dive and today, Addo has no say in football matters either in Somalia, his country, Africa or at FIFA. His career has absolutely ended like the morning dew."
Also speaking on yet another burning issue - appointment of referees for league matches in Nigeria - which may tear the NFA and the Nigeria Football League (NFL) apart in the days ahead, Dr. Adamu said both parties should respect what FIFA rules say about referees' appointment.
"If both of them obey the rules, this issue would not create any problem for them. The rules were made by FIFA, not Nigeria. Let us do things here as it is done in other countries of the world. We should not make Nigeria the laughing stock in the comity of footballing nations.
"The NFA is the custodian of football in Nigeria, while the NFL is a creation of the FA. So, both parties must respect the rule."
How it's done in England
Referees are an integral part of football. Without them, the game, whether played by the country's top teams or by Sunday morning park footballers, would be very different to the one played by over 2 million people each week.
The FA plays a vital role in ensuring that football gets the match officials it deserves. The Refereeing Department at Soho Square is responsible for the appointment of officials to matches in all FA competitions (the FA Premier League, Football League and Conference are responsible for appointments to their own competitions). All referees are registered with county football associations through whom The FA works closely to recruit and train referees and match officials.
Demand for referees continue to grow - over 7,000 new referee candidates were recruited, trained on FA courses and qualified in the last year. The FA runs a comprehensive range of courses for Referee Instructors, who are responsible for training courses run by county football associations. Referee Assessors courses, also run by the FA, are held nationally, while the International Course for Referee Instructors, attended by all FIFA confederations, is held every other year.
The Refereeing Department also assists with the arrangements for English officials appointed to matches abroad at international or club level, and acts as liaison to foreign referees appointed to officiate at England internationals. As well as the appointment and recruitment of officials, the Referees Committee (the council committee, which oversees the work of the department) also deals with matters arising under the Regulations for the Registration and Control of Referees in England. It appoints Boards of Appeal relating to those regulations, makes recommendations to the FA Council concerning alterations to the laws of the game and recommends to FIFA which referees should be placed on the International Panel.
Any changes in the laws of the game, which are recommended by the Refereeing Department (for example, the use of technological aids by referees) must go before the International Football Association Board. The Board meets annually - normally in February - and comprises eight members: four representing FIFA and four representing the British Football Associations (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales). The new laws for each season come into force on July 1 and all the county football associations in England are sent details of any amendments by The FA's Refereeing Department.
But can the Nigerian Referees Association be trusted in the appointment and discipline of referees? Your guess is as good as mine.