Sports politics has been a big subject of concern and it’s getting more intense in recent times. The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBF) has been in crises of various proportions for over four years and it became worse as there was no election held a few months back. The female basketball league which failed to take place last year due to COVID-19 will not hold again this year because of infighting in the house of basketball.

We observed that football politics was at its highest ebb at the recently held Ballon d’Or event where Paris Saint- Germain’s Lionel Messi emerged the World’s Player of the Year 2021. No one is in doubt of the skills and natural talents of Messi but grabbing this award ahead of other notable and younger players leaves much to be desired.

At the end of the day, Messi fans will scream about voting as justification for his choice but it is clear those casting the votes too did not look at the merits but the pedigree of Messi. He only won the Copa America; while Chelsea’s Jorginho won the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea and the European Championship with Italy. Kylian Mbappe of PSG won the domestic title in France and with Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema won the UEFA Nations League with France only to finish 9th and 4th respectively after the voting process – is this a true reflection of their prowess in the game?

Absolutely no! Politics reigned supreme. Nigeria’s quest to feature at the Qatar 2022 World Cup is also hanging in the balance due to the politics of the game. CAF said the draw for the play-off qualifiers will be held on December 18 but only last week the continental football body postponed the draw till January. And so far, Nigeria is in 5th position, the very last spot for the CAF seeding list for the playoffs and with no prospect of any match till the January 9 AFCON kickoff date.

Currently taking part in the Arab Cup, Egypt has been presented with the golden opportunity of pushing Nigeria out of the list and down to the sixth position as the Super Eagles have neither a competitive nor friendly match to garner points ahead of the top four teams of Senegal, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia are well secured from possible toppling. Algeria, Morocco and Algeria have added chances of consolidating rankings positions on account of having matches in the Arab Cup.

If Nigeria loses its fifth position, Eagles will have to face any of the five top ranked teams and play the decisive second leg away from home. Nigeria will thus be walking a tight rope to make Qatar 2022. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), ahead of the CAF General Assembly, ought to have either pressed for an early draw or proposed that the ranking obtained as at the time the 10 African teams qualified for the final playoffs should be used.

This is another power of politics which the NFF is not looking at and might cost Nigeria dearly especially now that the Eagles are not as vibrant as before. Politics at any level or sphere of human endeavour is a very strong and dangerous weapon.

It is dangerous because it is not in all cases that votes are cast based on merits of getting the best person to occupy a position but it could be as a result of respective relationship with the person, inducement here and there, manipulation by officials or even power play by government at state or centre level. This cuts across various countries all over the world and in all continents.

Of course, it can still be broken down but politics remains the same even in our various homes, the elements of politics are prevalent. Sports politics is even more severe because when you look at many leaders of various federations not all of them played the game but they are now at the apex position administering the sport. The Nigerian example that comes to mind is that of Chief Segun Odegbami, a former international of high repute, who for many years offered to run the country’s football by following the electoral process. He never made it and was consumed by the system and defeated by people unknown in the country for the game in any way.

At continental stage, we also recall that Nigeria’s Dr. Amos Adamu competed with Ghana football legend, Abedi Pele Ayew, for a seat in the executive committee of the Confederation of Africa Football and nobody gave Adamu a chance to win because of the image of Abedi Pele, who also boasted before the elections that he was up against a nobody from Nigeria.

The results of the poll showed that playing the game was different from the politics of the game. The Qatar 2022 ticket is still hanging in the balance and the NFF must not take things for granted. It is better to stay among the Top five seeded teams and play the final leg of the play offs at home but otherwise will be a tough call for the federation and the team. With politics in the air, the NFF must double its efforts to play the politics and also ensure the country’s flag is hoisted at the Mundial next year.

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