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Senegal, Korea
and USA send a message
-European and South American Domination of Football Under Serious Challenge
The NEWS
June 20, 2002
Posted to the web June 21, 2002
By Willis D. Knuckles, Jr.
Monrovia
By their performance during the on-going FIFA World Cup, teams from Africa,
Asia and Central/South America have sent a clear message to anyone who is
listening: that the era of the domination of world football by European and
South America countries is under serious challenge and probably coming to an
end.
Senegal, South Korea and the United States have led the way in the uprising
of the "new breed", eliminating such giants as France, Argentina and Italy,
rated numbers one, joint two (with Brazil) and four, respectively, in the
last FIFA rankings published May 2nd and before the World Cup.
Even some of the teams which were eliminated early- Nigeria, Cameroon, South
Africa and Japan- put up performances of which we can be proud.
I still remember the day in June 1974 when we cried all over Africa when our
continental champs and lone World Cup representative, Zaire, were trounced
9-1 by Yugoslavia during the World Cup in Germany. And Zaire was truly a
good team, but only by our standards. That is history now.
When practically all the African delegates combined forces with South
America and most of Asia that same June 1974 in Germany to elect Brazil's
Joao Havelenge as FIFA President over a European candidate after decades of
European domination, in return for a promise of development assistance for
African countries, little did we know at that Congress what impact our
support for Havelenge would have for African and third world football.
For twenty-four years, Havelenge poured assistance on us in the form of
coaches, seminars for referees, administrators, sports doctors, etc., and
did the same for other developing countries. His chosen successor, Sepp
Blatter, has continued with an even more meaningful program, giving out of
World Cup revenues a minimum of US$250,000 per year to all 203 member
associations of FIFA, and in many cases, including Liberia, much, more.
Regrettably and embarrassingly, it was an African, Mr.
Issa Hayatou of Cameroon, who allowed himself to be used in a failed
European revenge campaign against Blatter's re-election, a challenge which
Blatter soundly defeated at the recent FIFA Congress.
What this FIFA assistance has done is to enable developing football
countries to organize credible programs which have turned out good players
like products out of factories, who then, ironically, are sold to leagues in
the very same European countries they now seek to dethrone when they return
home to play for their national teams.
Starting with Salif "Domingo" Keita (Mali), Eusebio (Mozambique/Portugal),
Ibrahim Sunday (Ghana) and Laurent Pokou (Cote d'Ivoire) in the 60's and
70's Africa has produced some of the biggest names on the European scene-
Abedi (Ghana), Weah (Liberia), Kanu and Okocha (Nigeria)-- to name just a
few of the hundreds who have gone to play in Europe.
Today, there are nine African countries among the top 52 in the world-
Cameroon, Senegal, Tunisia, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Cote
d'Ivoire and Ghana- second only to Europe (23), with South America (7), and
of Central America (6) following closely.
Unfortunately, we in Liberia have not benefitted from his football
revolution because our program have been consistent, we have lacked
facilities and incentives, and suffered from inadequate support from
successive governments, from President Barclay's time to now.
Our administration of the game has been characterized over five decades by
sports officials squabbling over turf, mainly national team control, and
other petty issues such as per diem, trips, team selection, etc, etc.
Today, we hardly have two players playing in serious European leagues- the
real training ground for national teams; and there seems to be no immediate
replacement after Weah and his crowd because our league has been either
inconsistent or below standard.
Maybe the glory and pride that Senegal and others have brought to their
governments and countries, and indeed to all Africans, will hopefully
inspire the rest of the continent to follow their examples.
As the competition now enters another stage, it is no longer wishful
thinking to expect that Senegal, South Korea and the United States,
representing the developing football nations, could advance to the semi
finals and maybe beyond.
All hail Africa! All hail developing football! All Hail Havelenge and
Blatter!
Editor's note:
Mr. Knuckles is a former Secretary General and
Vice Chairman of the LFA and former Deputy Minister for Youth & Sports. He
is presently in private business.
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