By MARTINS OLOJA

AS the FIFA World Cup 2022 will be rounded off today in Qatar, I would like us in Nigeria to have some introspection on the pretext that Morocco has done Africa proud by reaching the semi-final for the first time in the history of the beautiful game. As we celebrate with Morocco, let’s focus on the lessons from the tiny oil and gas producing country that has used a whopping $220 billion dollars to play host to a FIFA World Cup without borrowing a dime. It is so convenient to adopt Morocco as the most beautiful bride in Africa now. But I want us to learn from a construct that Morocco is an African country and so doesn’t represent Africa. It only fills part of the quota allocated to Africa. Let’s concentrate on why we are not the example that Africa should be too. But before getting to the brass tacks, let’s refresh memories of readers who may not have been following the beautiful game.

The World Cup is the biggest international soccer tournament in the world. The WC is also the most watched sporting event in the world. Thirty-two teams compete to be crowned World Cup winners every four years (though there has been talk of hosting the World Cup every other year by FIFA president Gianni Infantino).

The World Cup that will end today in Qatar is the first World Cup in the Middle East. Qatar beat out the United States, South Korea, Japan and Australia to win the bid in 2010, which was awarded by Sepp Blatter-led FIFA.

Meanwhile, this is the first World Cup to be played during our winter months, and that is to beat the heat of June and July that Qatar experiences and avoid the potential health risks of playing in such extreme heat.

Air conditioning in the stadiums: To combat the heat, though it figures to be fairly comfortable during the tournament, the stadiums at the 2022 FIFA World Cup have air conditioning system, among other unique features.

Western media had harped copiously on the controversies around the tournament in Qatar. They drummed up issues with migrant workers, slavery allegations and deaths, developments that could have diminished the quality of infrastructure for the $220 billion worth of event. Before takeoff, Amnesty International and other rights groups had called for $440 million to compensate migrant workers, matching the prize money of the winning team. Sticking with human rights, promoting same-sex relationships is illegal in Qatar, which has caused several boycotts from LGBTQIA supporters. There have been bidding corruption allegations and ex-players such as Philipp Lahm (Germany) boycotted the whole thing.

Drinking alcohol in public, as well as being drunk in public, is illegal in Qatar. The G-7 countries and their liberal counterparts thought they could arm-twist the Qatari authorities into condoning drinking alcohol inside the stadium. They couldn’t. They reiterated: You can face a six-month prison sentence or be fined as much as $850 if you flout the law. Stadiums have never been allowed to sell alcohol during the matches. However, fan zones were set up around the country allowing fans to have a drink in designated areas. Qatar World Cup chief Nasser Al Khater confirmed that there would be designated areas for drunken fans to be able to sober up too.

The oil-rich Qatar There are eight different venues for the tournament in five different host cities. They are as follows:

• Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail

(80,000 capacity)

• Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor

(60,000 capacity)

• Stadium 974 in Doha (40,000 capacity)

• Al Thumama Stadium in Doha

(40,000 capacity)

• Khalifa International Stadium in Al

Rayyan (45,416 capacity)

• Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan

(45,350 capacity)

• Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan

(44,740 capacity)

• Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah

(40,000 capacity)

No one should lambast Nigeria for non-qualification this time. South Africa too is missing. What is more, Italy, of all countries in Europe aren’t in Qatar. They have shockingly failed to qualify for the last two World Cups. They were upset by North Macedonia at home in March and are once again spectators.

Even some of the world’s best footballers players aren’t there. France’s Karim Benzema, Ballon d’Or holder and Sadio Mane of Senegal, second best in the world have been sidelined by injury. Benzema can feature briefly in today’s final, anyway. Even Manchester City’s new striker, Hurricane Erling Haaland couldn’t make it. His Norwegian side finished third behind Turkey and the Netherlands in their respective group in the UEFA qualifiers.

How big is Qatar compared to past hosts? Qatar is ranked 164th in area and 148th in population when it comes to the world’s sovereign states. The United States is about 849 times bigger than Qatar. The U.S. state of Connecticut is the closest comparison to the size of Qatar, and even then Connecticut is 8 per cent larger than the host nation and with a higher population (1.1 million more people who live in Connecticut). The population of Qatar is 2.9 million.

All over Africa, the town talk has been on this theme: Morocco’s outstanding performance at the about-to-end Qatar 2022 has made the world to focus on African football, and it has significantly demonstrated to the rest of the Africa the value of proper planning and investments. Most analysts are saying that the success story is as a result of Morocco’s decade-long football development plan.

Specifically, four years ago, Sunday Oliseh, former Nigeria’s Super Eagles coach, predicted that the Moroccan team could reach the World Cup semi-finals if they planned well to have a FIFA accredited functional facilities, quality organisational preparation, sponsorship, sufficient financial investment.

In the interview, the oracle now a member of FIFA study group in Qatar, Sunday Oliseh remarked, “If the Moroccan team has the same facilities the Japanese have to prepare for the World Cup, Morocco will get to the semi-finals; If they have the same financial investments that they put into this team, “Morocco will get to the same semi-finals; If they have the same quality of organisation, preparation years before the World Cup that they have, sponsorship that they have, they will get to the semi-finals. Those are the things that are keeping the African teams down”. According to the Nigerian observer, true to the prediction, Morocco’s progress at the Qatar 2022 World Cup performance can be attributed to:

• Investment in Football. The King of Morocco invests yearly in football and has also created a superior football academy. Apart from South Africa, no country has as much investment as Morocco in football.

• The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) focused on Grassroots football and a sustainable funnel of footballing talents.

• A national football academy was set up, while Moroccan talents in the diaspora were unearthed via a network of scouts around the world.

• The coach and his team of brave footballers had a hard work preparation.

As we have been saying, the 2022 FIFA World Cup is the best tournament Africa has ever participated in. For the first time in Africa’s history, Morocco played a World Cup semi-final against France after defeating Portugal 1-0 in the quarterfinal.

The Atlas Lions of Morrocco had topped Group F, finishing ahead of Belgium, Croatia and Canada, to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition. They then overcame 2010 champions Spain in the round of 16 stage, beating them 3-0 in a penalty shootout.

They clashed with defending champions France in Doha’s Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday, December 14, and lost with a 2-0 goal line.

Speaking ahead of the semi-final clash against defending champions France, Oliseh called this the greatest tournament for the Africa as each team that represented the continent won at least a game. “As far as Africa is concerned, this is the greatest tournament my (Africa) continent has ever had, not only because we have an African and an Arab nation in the semi-finals for the first time, but because every African team that has come here has won one game at least,” Oliseh said in a FIFA Technical Study Group press conference.

In the words of Oliseh: “Look, we’ve had great players play in the European League. In fact, we are the ones and the South Americans and Europeans; we are the ones that have made football in the Champions League what it is. The variety, the beauty that comes with it, you know and now the Arab world has joined in, which is also great’.

The World Cup heroes from Africa: What is more painful for Africa, Benzema, the current Ballon d’Or holder, is of Algerian origin, though he plays for France; the runner-up, Sadio Mane is an African (Senegal and Bayern Munich). The fifth person in that pecking order is Mohamed Salah, an African (Egypt and Liverpool). The sixth person, Kylian Mbappe, a likely candidate for 2023 Ballon d’Or (PSG and France) is originally a Cameroonian. Oliseh is right but let’s absorb this stark reality before we promote a lie that the Moroccan Team is an African Team. What is happening to Oliseh’s country, Nigeria? Why is Nigeria, FIFA once predicted could be the first World Cup Winner in Africa? Let’s reflect on this treatise a friend just forwarded to me:

‘Morocco has done Africa proud. Arrant nonsense! They invested heavily in their national team and trained hard for years to produce a high quality, confident and highly motivated squad able to take on the best teams in the world.

They went to Qatar as Morocco not as Africa. Other teams in Africa went to Qatar to represent their countries. They wore their countries’ colours. None registered as Africa team. In fact, there is no slot for Africa team. But trust Nigerians, we are now claiming victory for Africa which includes Nigeria.

The truth is that we are the disappointment and shame of Africa. We have risen beyond this before. We have gone to the world Cup several times in our history. Today we have crashed to ground zero…

When we were rising we called our team Super Eagles not Africa team.

We want to claim and share the glory of a determined country, which concentrated on raising an excellent team. They invested, we diverted funds to our pockets. The glory must go to them. It is their victory and Africa is only proud of them. It is not the victory of Africa….’

Yes, the Atlas Lions made history on Wednesday, December 14, 2022 when they became the first African team to contest a World Cup semi-final. Led by the Paris-born manager Walid Regragui, a side made up of homegrown stars including the dashing midfielder Azzedine Ounahi and barnstorming striker Youssef En-Nesyri, and players drawn from the country’s wide diaspora, such as Hakim Ziyech and Achraf Hakimi, squarely faced the world champions, France. As everyone has been saying, their success is no accident. What can Nigeria, the giant of Africa learn? We have heard that Moroccan leader has been investing in infrastructure and that is why their superstructure has been quite fruitful. How interested have Nigerian leaders been in sports development since 1999? Is the Nigerian Sports and Youth Development Minister a square peg in a square hole? Is the Nigeria Football Federation President today the right person to lead the Federation? Are they the best that can take Nigeria to break another jinx in Africa in 2026? Why are the Oliseh, et al, not in charge of the NFF and other leadership cadres? Mediocrity is mediocrity. You can’t celebrate mediocrity at home and depend on the God of miracles to break global records. You need the right people to get the right result. That is what Morocco has shown as the official No. 4 in the world now. (The Guardian)

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