Giving the beautiful game a “pretty” bad name — whither African football?
This post is a reflection of my article on “the good, bad and ugly side” of professional football in Africa. Let’s reconsider these — good, bad and the ugly — in turn.
First, on the good side, the contribution of African players to the European premier leagues has been reported my conference presentation dating back to 2008, including the specific case of “foreign players” (notably of African descent and/ or nationality) in the English Premier League.
Second, on the bad side, the management of African football teams is rather appalling from the suspension handed down by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) — while FIFA looks on in silence — to the Togolese team for pulling out of the recently concluded African Nations Cup after being brutally attacked in the border town of Cabinda (Angola) to the sack of the Nigerian coach, as well as the entire team and management of the Benin side both on account of “poor performances”.
Third, and from the ugly side, the current “state of anarchy” and the “politically charged hatred between two North African giants Egypt and Algeria” who met about four times in four months amidst violence — does not bode well for “African Football”.
The question — posed back then, lingers on following the rivalry, and violence, between two West African football power houses (i.e., Ghana and Nigeria) on the voyage to FIFA 2022 in Qatar (aka Qatar 2022)— Dear Africa, “is this beautiful game called football still deserving of such a bad name …?”
Originally published at https://journals.co.za.
