Amiesimaka, Golden Eaglets and age cheats
By Justin Akpovi-Esade
WHEN world football body, FIFA, introduced the MRI test shortly before the start of the ongoing U-17 championship in Nigeria, the country, among all other participating countries, appeared worse hit by the news. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) among other country's football bodies appeared the most worked up about the somewhat 'bad news'. The nation's football body made so much fuss about the MRI test that one began to think, the scheme was targeted at Nigeria only, perhaps to hamper our chances of retaining the cup we won two years ago by the Yemi Tella-led Eaglets.
After series of MRI tests in Nigeria and Qatar conducted on the selected Eaglets in camp, most of them were dropped and finally, the NFF gleefully announced to the nation that the players they had in camp were boys, and that the men had been weeded out.
So, it came as a rude shock to all when Adokiye Amiesimaka, a former Super Eagles (then Green Eagles) player, a lawyer and former Rivers State Commissioner for Justice, claimed that the Golden Eaglets' captain, Fortune Chukwudi is about 25 years old. Adokiye alleged that Chukwudi is at least nine years older than he says he is, saying the player has no business playing in the current FIFA U-17 World Cup.
His argument was based on the fact that he knew the Eaglet's Captain some seven years ago when he claimed he was 18 years. Hear Adokiye: "In the 2002/2003 season, I was chairman of Sharks Football Club of Port Harcourt," Adokiye wrote in a national newspaper.
"I decided to have a feeder team of fresh school leavers not older than 20 years.
"As the feeder team concept was relatively new and because I had my own ideas about how a team at that level should be handled, I also doubled as its coach.
"One of my key players then is the current captain of our so-called Under 17 Golden Eaglets. By his own admission at that time, that is seven years ago, he was 18 years old.
"Remember the Magnetic Resonance Imaging, MRI, test that disqualified a greater percentage of players in our previous team as over aged, thereby decimating that team? MRI or not, his football history is common knowledge.
"If we are not utterly irresponsible, how can he be eligible for this tournament when he is not less than 25 years old now?" Adokiye revealed.
He continued: "I really wonder whether the MRI test was done on each and every one of the players. If, indeed, a thorough exercise was conducted, then FIFA must review the procedure.
"For the avoidance of doubt, it is not only Nigeria that should be the focus of FIFA's attention, but every participating country in the tournament should also be carefully scrutinised." Hurray, a new Gani is born in the person of Adokiye Amiesimaka!
But before one examines the motive behind Adokiye's new-found fearless disposition to 'national issues', let us first look at the history of the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria. There has never been a time that Nigeria fielded the right boys (age wise) in any of these cadet competitions, that was why we have been winning most of these events without breaking any sweat. Look at the captain of the 1985 Eaglets, Nduka Ugbade now and draw your conclusion if he was actually 16 or 17 years when he lifted the trophy. Was Wilson Oruma within the age bracket when he was captain of the 1993 Eaglets?
It is common knowledge in the football industry that a player has real age and 'football age', and Adokiye who has played football all his adult life cannot feign ignorance of that fact. This brings to the fore his motives for making his earth moving 'revelation' at this stage of the tournament.
Nigeria is a country where fraud or fraudulent practices are considered normal, so as far as I am concerned, Adokiye was not saying something new. If he was a major player in NFF of today or a member of the Local Organising Committee, LOC, he would not be saying all these; so scratch him properly and find out his anger towards the system he has been part of since he left active football. In a country where all our leaders are cheats, what else do you expect? Is NFF not part of the thieving gang? A place where $200,000 flew from the window and till date, no scent of it has been found..., what else will they do that will shock you?
Adokiye is pursuing an agenda, I smell a vendetta action in all this. It is like, "Now, that you people did not deem it fit to invite me...(not even the LOC membership etc), let me jolt you with this joker I have". Like what someone said, why did he wait till now to reveal what he knew? Was the Chukwudi boy just appointed the captain of the Eaglets? The team was named over a month ago, was Adokiye not in the country all this while? Or did he just recognise the boy-man as the same person in his Sharks cadet team seven years ago?
Yes, Adokiye is a patriotic Nigerian and he deserves some commendation for his Gani-like outspokenness, but if he was a member of the LOC, will he say anything against it?
- Akpovi-Esade lives in Lagos
