The ban on Coach Salisu Yusuf
By THE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), last Wednesday, banned Super Eagles’ chief coach, Salisu Yusuf, from all football-related activities for one year. The federation took this decision following the adoption of a report by its Committee on Ethics and Fair Play which considered its complaint and the coach’s defence of a video documentary in which he was allegedly seen accepting $1,000 bribe from an undercover reporter, Ghanaian Aremeyaw Anas, who posed as a player’s agent. In addition to the ban, the coach was ordered to pay a fine of $5,000 to the federation within three months.
Given the circumstances of the case, it is indeed difficult to fault the NFF’s decision. The Committee on Ethics and Fair Play, chaired by Nuhu Ribadu, established that the bribe received was purportedly on behalf of players Osas Okoro and Rabiu Ali, to facilitate their inclusion in the list of players for the 2018 Championship for African Nations (CHAN) in Morocco. The committee found that it was not an error of judgment on the part of the coach but a conscious and deliberate decision to accept the cash gift, even though the evidence before it did not establish that his conduct influenced the choice of the two players. Ironically, according to the Eagles’ manager, Gernet Rohr, the players were already in the team.
There can be no doubting the fact Coach Salisu’s action, widely published on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), had a damaging effect on the reputation and integrity of Nigerian football. Of a truth, the coach had a bounden duty to conduct himself more professionally and in line with the NFF’s Code of Conduct. As Nigerians are well aware, over the years, the issues of favouritism and corruption have tended to blight Nigerian football. On many ocasions, coaches of the various national teams have been accused of collecting bribes from certain players or their agents in order to give such players the opportunity to represent the country in major tournaments. Truth be told, the often less than satisfactory performances of the national teams, due in large part to the coaches’ decision to field apparently unfit and mediocre players, arose from the kind of sharp practices in which coach Salisu has been unfortunately implicated.
We commend the NFF for this very timely and correct decision. All other things being equal, it should go a long way in taming the monster of sleaze in the country’s football. Indeed, we urge the federation to beam its searchlight on the local leagues with a view to weeding out all the individuals who have made the leagues uncompetitive and unappealing to a large majority of Nigerians through sharp practices. It is for instance a well-known fact that home teams hardly lose matches in the leagues. This is one of the reasons football-loving Nigerians have turned their attention to the European leagues.
Without prejudice to the fact that Coach Salisu can approach the NFF Appeals Committee, we find his conduct utterly reprehensible. Through his indiscretion, he has cast a blight on his otherwise distinguished career as a coach and on his services to the country, and it can only be hoped that he has learnt the appropriate lessons. It is time coaches and even the players themselves realised that, as the old saying goes, honesty is the best policy. Representing the country in tournaments is desirable and achievable without sleaze. Indeed, if you bribe your way into a team, can you also bribe your way into silverware?
The bribery and corruption that pervade every facet of the national life can only be curbed when offenders are given their just deserts without prejudice to extraneous factors. It is hoped that the example set by the NFF in this case will become a given in every facet of the national life.
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