Osasu Obayiuwana Archives - Page 4 of 5 - Inside World Football

Osasu Obayiuwana: Egypt takes another uncertain turn

As the ‘cradle of civilisation’ remains trapped in the maelstrom of another political crisis, following the removal of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, from office last Wednesday, football – yet to recover from the consequences of the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak – has been sucker-punched yet again.

With just one round of the regular national championship left to play, before the start of the decisive four-team title play-off involving Ahly,

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Osasu Obayiuwana: Will Cameroon’s woes ever end?

Whilst amusing – even outrageous – events provide much-needed cannon fodder for writing interesting commentary, my unhappiness with the pervasive absence of astute management across the African game, whose administrators appear to be falling even further behind their global peers, often leaves me in a depressed mood.

And the ever unfolding diary of (mal)administration, in Cameroonian football, rudely reminds me that the continent’s leading nations continue to revel in their nasty old habits.

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Osasu Obayiuwana: Discovering the art of defending

Whilst working on the BBC’s telecast of the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations, occasionally sharing work space with ‘Match of the Day’ pundits, I couldn’t help but ask Gary Lineker, the former England striker, a nagging question I had – about his memories of that Italia ’90 World Cup quarter-final tie against Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions.

For anyone who watched that nail-biting tie in Naples, 23 years ago, the two penalties Lineker subsequently converted,

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Osasu Obayiuwana: Between self-interest, mammon and country

Dealing with the tough demands of earning one’s crust, as a professional in top flight European club football, whilst serving one’s country – regarded as a sacred duty, by compatriots, during World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers – has always been a high-wire balancing act for players.

Unlike their European counterparts, who can normally reach any part of their continent within a few hours and return to their clubs rather quickly,

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Osasu Obayiuwana: Of talent, opportunity and global business sense

Michael Emenalo is, without question, one of European football’s interesting oddities.

As the technical director of English Premiership side Chelsea, where he undoubtedly has the listening ear of billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, the Nigerian belongs to the exclusive club of Africans who’ve transcended their club careers into positions of power in the game’s corridors.

Pape Diouf, the Senegalese who started out as a journalist and player’s agent in France, eventually becoming the president of French club Olympique Marseille and Finidi George,

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Osasu Obayiuwana: A symphony of equivocation

Since Sepp Blatter’s intriguing statement, at the last Asian Football Confederation (AFC) elective congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that 2015, the year he promised to bid adieu to the FIFA presidency, will mark the “last term, not of office, but of the reform [of football governance],” the cat has, without question, been set amongst the speculating pigeons.

Surely the 77-year-old, who will be on the cusp of becoming an octogenarian, by world football’s next elective congress,

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Osasu Obayiuwana: Is ‘reform’ forgotten in Africa?

As the fraternity’s mandarins descend upon the picturesque Island of Mauritius, for the supposedly decisive FIFA congress, where ‘reform’ and ‘improving the quality of governance’ are the catch-phrases of choice, it is poignant to remember – for those who are conveniently beginning to forget – that the scandal over the award of World Cup hosting rights, for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, played a key role in igniting the ‘change’ process in the first place.

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Osasu Obayiuwana: Can the Lions rediscover their teeth?

Cameroon certainly broke new frontiers, as the first African side, in 1990, to reach the World Cup quarter-finals – a barrier that no other team has gone past – as well as making the most appearances by the continent (six) at the finals tournament.

But the Indomitable Lions are a shadow of their moniker at the moment.

With the failure of the four-time African champions to qualify for the last two Cup of Nations in succession,

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Osasu Obayiuwana: Has CAF’s ‘season of vengeance’ begun?

I have wondered, since March, after Issa Hayatou secured an unprecedented seventh term as Confederation of African Football (CAF) president in Morocco – with the ‘luxury’ of having no opponent to challenge him – when retribution will be visited upon those who challenged the controversial changes to the election rules, which made the Cameroonian’s continued stay in power a mere formality.

CAF’s disciplinary committee eloquently answered my nagging question, by handing a six-month ban and a $10,000 fine to Musa Bility,

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Osasu Obayiuwana: Football, racism and me…

I had initially planned to do a piece on the parlous state of Cameroonian football, after the humiliating failure of the not-so-Indomitable Lions, four-time champions of the continent, to qualify for the last two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

But, when a nosey-parker journalist – me, in this case – ends up in the news, rather than being in the preferred position of reporting it, one is left with no choice than to make the proverbial lemonade out of lemons.

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Osasu Obayiuwana: What is talent without character?

After watching this pint-sized Uruguayan, on a bitterly cold winter’s night, at Johannesburg’s Soccer City, blatantly cheat his way to the 2010 World Cup semi-final, in front of nearly 90,000 witnesses, as well as have the temerity to subsequently gloat about his act of theft, I have found it very hard to have any regard for Luis Suarez.

And so do many people around the African continent, especially folks that come from Ghana.

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Osasu Obayiuwana: Nigerian football? It’s a mad, mad world…

As just one of two men in the 56-year history of the Africa Cup of Nations to win the trophy as a player and a manager – the late Egyptian legend Mahmoud El-Gohary being the other – you would assume Nigeria’s Stephen Keshi has earned some well-deserved job security.

But, as mind-boggling as it may sound, the man who managed the Super Eagles to the trophy in Johannesburg might be forced, by a series of bizarre circumstances,

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Osasu Obayiuwana: Good governance requires good information

Two years ago, whilst at the Championship of African Nations (CHAN) tournament in Khartoum, Sudan, I bumped into a FIFA official, often tasked with the duty of firefighting governance problems in various national associations across the world.

When we sat down, for a frank conversation about the challenges of improving football administration in Africa, I made it clear that better methods need to be devised by FIFA, in order to ensure that good governance is prevalent amongst the continent’s national associations.

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Osasu Obayiuwana: Realpolitik is the cog in FIFA’s reform wheel

Anyone seeking revolutionary change to the way in which FIFA does its business would certainly be underwhelmed with the changes to be proposed at next month’s congress in Mauritius.

As the stone-cold reality continues to sink in, that key suggestions of the IGC, led by Professor Mark Pieth, are not going to be implemented in the way originally proposed – a roadmap which well-meaning people within the fraternity keenly support – it is time to acknowledge that the harsh,

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Osasu Obayiuwana: Who will untie the Qatari knot?

Whether the Gulf state of Qatar likes it or not, the recurring question of its suitability for hosting the 2022 World Cup is an issue that will just not disappear into the Arabian sunset.

That’s evident from the robust end to the press conference that followed FIFA’s executive committee meeting, in Zurich, last Thursday.

And it’s not just because of the serious allegations of corruption in the bidding process, resurrected by the recent “Qatargate”