Deafening noise from the stadia

• Published date: 21 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

The deafening noise from different NPFL match venues at dusk showed clearly that with the right political will to change corrupt tendencies, the people know how to celebrate what is good and admonish what is inappropriate. It should be obvious to the older order that they killed the joy of Nigerians across the country with poor knowledge and understanding of how to run the domestic game to make it attractive to both the fans and intending sponsors. The lesson to learn for those who have had favourable results at away venues is that a time would come in the abridged league's fixtures when they would either be beaten at home by their visitors or held to pulsating draws. When such unfavourable results happen they should be prepared to take the defeats on their chins. They should remind their fans that there are three likely results in a football game - win, draw, or loss. And the best any team can achieve per game is one of the three aforementioned outcomes.

With four away victories, four drawn games and a miserly two victories at home, a new dawn beckons which should soon rub off on all our national teams. So, what did the IMC do differently and how long would this impressionable feeling last in our soccer polity such that Nigerians can take their families to watch football matches as we see in other climes where the game is played to look beautiful simply because they adhere strictly to the rules and regulations of the game.

The change we are celebrating arose from the administrative decision by IMC men to insist on the sponsor to pay monies meant for referees' upkeep and indemnities are paid directly into their accounts and not into the accounts of the match commissioners. OF course, these referees are not kids. What the IMC needs to do is to publish the names of the match officials days before the game like they do in civilised climes where the game is played with pomp and ceremony.

The IMC should strive to reduce the contact between match referees and club officials by insisting that no club pays for anything the match officials do, so that we can sustain these exciting times when ill-prepared teams are beaten without complaints anywhere in the country. Efforts should be made to task the State FAs of where games are played to provide the vehicles that drive the referees around the cities and to the stadium to reduce any form of unholy romance with club officials which could affect their performances on the pitch. The best form of security in any game is...