Posted by By PAUL EREWUBA on
The Nigeria Football Association (NFA) has been described as a disorganised house where several fraudulent activities are perpetrated.
The Nigeria Football Association (NFA) has been described as a disorganised house where several fraudulent activities are perpetrated.
Football agent, Friday Nwankwo Kujah, told Sunday Sunsport in an interview in Lagos that the body was in tatters, pointing out that nothing good comes from there.
Kujah, who is the Nigerian manager to key Super Eagles stars, said the confusion, which has enveloped the football scene, was written all over the Glass House.
"We have pretenders and charlatans masquerading as football administrators in this country. And whenever I think about this issue, I weep in my heart.
"There is a lot of noise about coaching, Nigeria qualifying for Germany 2006 World Cup and all that, but the Glass House has nothing to offer.
"I must confess to you, our problem is not in coaching, rather it is the NFA. If you go to the FA's Glass House for example, you will discover that it is highly disorganised. There are no computers; no functional power generating set, in fact, nothing, to the best of my knowledge is functioning there. A walk to the Glass House would convince you on what I am saying.
"You could imagine in this age of information technology that the NFA's website is not functional, and is never up dated. Just recently, an Italian journalist, while searching for information on their (NFA's) website, discovered a very embarrassing discrepancy in Obafemi Martins' date of birth. While the player's passport has October 28, 1984 as his date of birth, the NFA website said he was born in May 1, 1978. But a close look would reveal to you that the date was Garba Lawal's date of birth. So, how do you reconcile this? It simply means that they do not know anything about Martins' age," Kujah reacted.
"Instead of channeling their efforts towards putting their house in order, they are busy deceiving the country with hiring a foreign coach.
"Let them have a functional website. They should try and use the money meant for paying the would-be foreign coach, if any, to buy computers, employ typesetters and launch a functional website for their office.
"Talking about local coaches, no doubt, the Austin Eguavoen-led coaching team can do the job. They are capable of winning the two remaining World Cup matches against Algeria and Zimbabwe. But the big question is, can the NFA give them free hand to pick players of their choice? We have read of situations where coaches alleged that NFA officials altered their team lists, only to turn back and stab them in the back for non performance. In fact, everything about them smacks of deceit and confusion.
"The Technical Department of the NFA is zero as far as I am concerned. However, if the drafting of Chief Festus Onigbinde and others into the technical crew would help our football, it's a welcome idea, but the line of operation has to be spelt out based on who does what function. And everyone must be made to stick to his or her area of jurisdiction to avoid internal wrangling and sabotage."