Nigeria 2009: Championship bedeviled with poor spectatorship

To the shock of FIFA, the World football organizing body and many others who are used to how competitions of such magnitude are organized and passionately attended by fans without any prompting, Nigeria 2009 is poorly attended such that states hosting matches of the championship now bribe fans with free tickets for the yawning spaces […]

To the shock of FIFA, the World football organizing body and many others who are used to how competitions of such magnitude are organized and passionately attended by fans without any prompting, Nigeria 2009 is poorly attended such that states hosting matches of the championship now bribe fans with free tickets for the yawning spaces in the stadia to be filled. This is a development that has sent tongues wagging. It is unprecedented abuse of FIFA competitions and discerning minds are asking series of questions because according to them tax payers money is being misapplied.

It is imperative to recall that about two years ago, when Nigeria secured the hosting right to stage the 13th Under-17 World Cup, the celebration amongst the Nigerian football family was palpable and reached a crescendo when the presidential commitment was giving in support of the hosting of the biennial cadet championship.

Not only were the fans preparing to have the World coming down to Nigeria to treat football fans the world over to good doses of football artistry, they were looking forward to seeing their darling Golden Eaglets lift for the fourth time the cup which they won in Korea.

At a point in time when the federal government attempted to opt out of the hosting of the championship as a result of inflation of contract by the Local Organizing Committed (LOC), Nigerians fans were more than angry with the government, who had no option but to change gear by accepting to continue with the hosting plan, after the budget had been pruned down to about N9 billion.

However, the enthusiasm with which Nigerians were expecting the global championship started reducing when other national teams (Super Eagles, Flying Eagles, Super Falcons, Falconets and others) started turning in very appalling results left, right and centre.

The number of spectators who spared their time to watch the Super Eagles in the World Cup/Nations Cup qualifying match against the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia was very much unprecedented in the anal of this country. It is an understatement to say that the Abuja National Stadium was filled beyond its capacity. But the result of the match left a very bitter taste in the mouth of most Nigerians, some of those who are still yet to come to terms with the fact that Eagles struggled to get a point in the match.

From then, football spectatorship in Abuja has never remained the same. In the encounter between the Super Eagles and the Mambas of Mozambique, which ended in 1-0 in favour of the Eagles, the number of spectator could be counted on the fingers of one’s hands. Not only did they not go there en masse, those who were at the stadium were there to either boo the players, their handlers and the national anthem or to support the visitors.

The transfer of aggression of fan to the Golden Eaglets was expected, but not with the anger that followed it. While some have attributed the apathy of football fans to the poor result recorded recently by the Super Eagles and the Flying Eagles, others attribute it to poor mobilization on the part of the committee charged with the responsibility of bringing fans to the stadium.

Former Gombe State football association chairman, Ahmed Gara Gombe apportioned the largest chunk of the blame to the Mobilization Committee of the Abuja Sub-seat, saying the committee’s performance is anything but commendable.

According to the football administrator, up to the time that the championship commenced, very few Nigerians were aware of such a huge football event. “There was hardly any part of the Capital City that you went few weeks before the championship commenced that you would see signs that Nigeria was very serious about the hosting of the championship.

“Few weeks ago when I landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, there was hardly anything to show that we were ready to host the world. I only saw something that looked like a cardboard paper attached to a chair with the aid of a cello-tape, welcoming the World to Abuja for the championship. Was that a sign of seriousness on the part of the LOC?

Apparently angered by the poor performance of the LOC, Confederation of African Football (CAF) Media Coordinator, Paul Bassey, described the whole championship as poorly handled by the LOC, saying he has never seen where a championship of such magnitude receives poor handling like Nigeria.

“I am just short of words to describe the whole thing. It is not only poor spectatorship alone that is poorly handled; almost everything about the championship is far from my expectation. I am a Media Coordinator to CAF and have witnessed many huge football championships; but I have to say that things are not handled the way we have handled it in Nigeria,” he bewailed.

In his own reaction, former NFA scribe, Sani Toro, described the performance of the mobilization committee as very discouraging, saying they have failed in their assignment to mobilize Nigerians to the various stadia. He particularly berated the Abuja Sub-seat for failing to bring Abuja residents and its environs to the stadium.

“How can a sub seat be proud that many of the seats were empty during the opening ceremony of such a fiesta? They should have gone to the Minister of FCT for him to buy off all the tickets as was the case in some centres like Lagos, Kano and Kaduna. This would have gone a long way to bring more people to come to watch.

“They should have gone round the Area Councils to encourage the council chairmen to buy some of these tickets and distribute to the people. I know that Nigerians are very passionate about the game, and they would always go to any length to support their team with good atmosphere,” he remarked.

 Even as there may be no serious security challenges as declared by AIG, Mohammed Abubakar, Chairman of Security Sub-Committee of Nigeria 2009, when the FCT administration came to the rescue of the Abuja Sub-seat by purchasing tickets and distributing them to the fans to encourage them to watch the Golden Eaglets match against the Honduras, the stadium was still a shadow of what it was in the match between the Eagles and Tunisia.

Poor treatment from the police and difficulties in transportation to and fro the Abuja National Stadium being experienced by the fans have not accounted for poor spectatorship, which the matches played in Abuja so far have witnessed. This was the position of most of the fans interviewed.

 “When Tunisia came here, despite all the difficulties involved in watching matches in the main bowl of the Abuja National Stadium, fans still came from every parts of the country to cheer the Super Eagles up.  I have to say that the poor spectatorship has to do with poor mobilization and terrible results posted by all our national teams of late,” Abdullahi Tanko, a football enthusiast opined.

What is happening in Abuja is a similar to what is being witnessed at the other centres even as the other venues have fewer seats to fill. It can therefore be said that even if the organizers of the championship are spending sleepless nights to stage a hitch free tournament, the problem of poor spectatorship is daily staring them in the face and as long as the situation refuses to change, Nigeria 2009 may go down in history as FIFA’s most poorly attended Championship.