NIGERIA MASTERWEB DAILY NEWS

*The Soaring Popularity of Foreign Football Leagues in Nigeria

By Amiru Adamu

Though the first football association was founded in England, the origin of football/soccer could be found in every corner of geography and history. The Chinese Japanese, Italian, Ancient Greek, Persian, Viking and many more played a ball game long before our era. The Chinese played “football” as far back as 3000 years ago. The Ancient Greeks and the Romans used football games to sharpen warriors for battle .In the south and Central America a game called “Tlatchi” once flourished.

International matches were being staged in Great Britain before football had hardly been heard of in Europe. The first was played in 1872 and was contested by England and Scotland. This sudden boom of organized football accompanied by staggering crowds of spectators brought with it certain problems with which other countries were not confronted until much later on. Professionalism was one of them. The first moves in this direction came in 1879, when Darwin, a small club, twice, managed to draw against supposedly invincible old Estonians in the FA cup, before the famous team of London amateurs finally scrapped through to win at the third attempt. Two Darwin players, the Scots john love and Fergus Suter, are reported as being the first ever players to receive remuneration for their football talent. This practice grew rapidly and the football association found itself obliged to legalize professionalism as early as 1885. ( Continues below..... )

The spread of professional football outside of England mainly due to British influence abroad started slow, but it soon gathered momentum and spread rapidly to all parts of the world, Nigeria inclusive. In Nigeria today foreign leagues such as the English premiership, Laliga, Serie A, Champions league and others are witnessing a soaring popularity. Nigerians most especially the youth are following these leagues with religious devotion. One needs only to visit a football viewing center, particularly when big and rival teams such as Barcelona F.C and Real Madrid F.C, are playing to confirm this assertion. This new romance between Nigerians and the foreign leagues is not unconnected to the fact that Nigerians are natural football lovers, and since the local football leagues and even the national team are nothing to write home about, Nigerian football lovers have found a new love in the foreign football clubs who thrill them with their skills of soccer.

Another interesting aspect of this romance is that the football enthusiasts did not limit themselves to viewing and clapping only, they follow up on other issues such as transfer, purchase of players and other related issues concerning their clubs of choice. Enterprising Nigerian youths are also cashing in on the football fever to earn a legitimate living by setting up television viewing centers where football lovers come to watch matches for a fee. For instance, in Lapai road, a suburb of Sokoto, football viewing centers are popular sight to behold with bill boards and notifications of match fixtures with dates and time of each match proudly on display for football enthusiasts. Gate fee actually vary from one viewing center to another, depending on the match being shown. ( Continues below..... )

According to Habib Mohammed, a viewing center operator, the venture is fast becoming a booming business. “In most cases particularly when big and rival teams are playing, we always find it difficult to cope with the population of viewers that come to our center”. “Sometimes, we show between four and five matches during weekends, and by the time we deduct the cost of fuel because the business depends largely on power from generators, we still make a sustainable amount of money at the end of the day, ” he said.

Football fanaticism and hooliganism, that lead to the ban of viewing centers in some states is also a challenge to the viewing center operators. Some fans after watching their clubs loose to a rival club find it difficult to control their selves, a situation that sometimes results to loss of lives and properties due to clashes between rival fans. ( Continues below..... )

This problem according to Habib prompted the establishment of football viewing centers association in most states. These associations have guidelines of operation that are tailored to checkmate hooliganism at the viewing centers.

The romance between Nigerians and the foreign football leagues is at its peak. This should be a challenge to local football clubs and the National team. Football is a thing of national pride in our great country; in addition, there is a huge potential for investment in local leagues considering the number of players and clubs we have perhaps if we reform our local clubs to an acceptable standard, Nigerians might channel some of the love for foreign leagues to the local leagues.

Amiru Adamu is the publisher of Northern Wind Magazine.

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