• The travails of Nigerian professional footballers

By George Aluo

In the last couple of years, one thing that has become a big issue in Nigerian football is the venue where the Super Eagles would host their opponents.

The Eagles have had to criss-cross the country, playing in different cities with no place that can be called the home of the team.

The Eagles have had to play in Abuja, Calabar, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and, of late, the Nest of Champions in Uyo, which is unarguably the best arena in the country today.

While the Eagles are making nomadic trips round the country, other great football-playing nations have permanent venues, where their national teams play.

Our West African neighbour, Republic of Benin, has the Stade de Lamite in Cotonou, where the Squirrels play. Ghana has the ever-ready Ohene Djan Stadium in Accra, although the Ghanaians sometimes move their games to the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi, when they want to further exploit home advantage.

Up North, the Cairo International Stadium in Egypt is the fortress of the Pharaohs. South Africa has the FNB Stadium in Jo’burg, where the final of the South Africa 2010 World Cup was decided.

Outside Africa, the Three Lions of England has the famous Wembley Stadium in London as home. What Wembley is to England is what the equally famous Maracana Stadium is to Brazil. One can go on and on to name the soccer cathedrals of different countries.

In Nigeria, the Abuja National Stadium, which is supposed to be the new soccer shrine of the country has been reduced to a grazing ground, which can only host the game of Polo. The arena, which the country used several billions of naira to construct in 2003 for the COJA 2003 All-Africa games, has since been abandoned like the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos. The only events that now take place daily at the Surulere stadium are isi-ewu and beer-drinking competitions. The drinking joints that dot the stadium are of course the “match venues.”

While the Federal Government-owned national stadia in Abuja and Lagos rot away, various state governments are pumping millions of naira to  “upgrade” the stadia in their domains by replacing the natural grass pitches with artificial turfs, which on television appear very nice.

From Lagos to Kano, down to Enugu, Benin, Ijebu-Ode, Bauchi, Gombe, Makurdi, Katsina and Port Harcourt, the story is the same. Interestingly, despite burning (yes, burning) the millions, virtually none of the arenas can host Super Eagles games.

How come, in spite of having “fine pitches” in all these cities mentioned above, the Eagles still remain, so to speak, homeless?

While the Eagles are homeless, all the clubs featuring in the nation’s domestic scene do not have the problem of where to play. In another two weeks, precisely, on January 14, the nation’s premier league, the NPFL 2018 season, would get underway. The draw was made last week in Kano after the LMC-organised Super Six invitational, which the Morocco-bound CHAN Eagles won.

Going by the Week One pairings, defending champions, Plateau United, would begin their campaign away to Nasarawa United at the Lafia Stadium. Aiteo Cup kings, Akwa United, would be home to Rangers in the star match of the league opener at the Uyo Nest of Champions.

However, unknown to many of the players and coaches, they are plying their trade on killer pitches, which is the real reason foreign-based Super Eagles’ players dread such turfs like the plague.

Daily Sunsports investigations revealed that Super Eagles players, plying their soccer trade in Europe and other parts of the world made it clear to the nation’s soccer governing body, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), that they would not risk life and limb playing on the substandard artificial turfs in the country.

Investigations further revealed that it is easy to get career-threatening injuries on the “China made” brand of artificial turfs in the country. As if that is not enough, experts have revealed that the kind of artificial turfs that dot the country are killer brands that could expose the players and coaches to the dreaded cancer disease because of their toxic nature.

We gathered that the substandard artificial turfs that are being installed in various stadia across the country are rubber products that get heated up to dangerous levels during afternoon games.

Our source further disclosed that the artificial turfs in most of the stadia in Nigeria today are first generation synthetic pitches (1960 and early ’70s technology), which have since been phased out in Europe and other parts of the world, thanks to scientific research findings that proved they were dangerous to the health of players.

Our source, a medical doctor, said this writer should go and google the health implications of playing on first-generation rubber turfs.

“What our players do week in, week out is play on rubber. Those who award the contracts do not care. All they are interested in is lining their pockets. What is happening right now in pitch construction in the country is a big scam that needs to be checked,” he said.

A five-year study comparing artificial turf to grass for football injuries, published in 2004 in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, concluded that there were 15.2 injuries per 10 games played on artificial turf to 13.8 injuries per 10 games played on grass.

When confronted with this fact by Daily Sunsports, a sports facility and stadium construction expert, Ebi Egbe, the CEO of Monimichelle, explained that the problem was not artificial turf per se but the quality of artificial turfs in the country. He argued that FIFA approves matches to be played on artificial turfs that are constructed in such a way that does not harm the players, health-wise.

“I agree that there is a problem in the country with most of the artificial pitches and that problem is that of quality. Most of the artificial turfs we have in Nigeria are nothing but pure rubber. Of course, that is why Eagles can’t play in Kano, Enugu, Port Harcourt, name it.”

Egbe stressed that his company, Monimichelle, does not touch the “rubber synthetic turfs.”

He said: “We don’t construct rubber synthetic turf. I don’t touch it because I know the health implications for the players. As a FIFA match agent, I also know FIFA won’t endorse her matches to be played on such turfs. What my company does is geo-technology pitches that are constructed with coconut fibre and cork. The ball behaviour on such a pitch is the same with that of natural grass. It is a technology that passed FIFA tests because the world soccer governing body values the health of players. Pitches that are constructed with coconut fibre and cork are as cool as that of natural grass on a sunny day. But go and feel the turf in Enugu, Ibadan, Lagos and Kano in the afternoon before a match, then you will know that our home-based players are playing under a hellish atmosphere.”

Egbe stressed that his outfit was at the moment constructing two pitches in Yenagoa and Aba. He insisted that, when completed, even the Super Eagles won’t say they can’t play there: “What we are doing at the Samson Siasia Stadium and the Enyimba Stadium in Aba are geo-tech pitches. I can put my money on the fact that the NFF can take Eagles games there without the players raising an eyebrow. The only challenge the stadia would face is that of the capacity and not the turf.”

Ex-international, Waidi Akanni, who bared his mind on the nature of synthetic pitches in the country, equally raised the alarm, insisting that the lives of the present generation of home-based players were being endangered. He said the “shine shine” synthetic pitches in the country do not meet international standards, even as he called on the various state governments to stop constructing pitches that could only ruin the life of players.

“The one in Agege, do you call that a pitch? You can see that the players can hardly move on it. Playing there is like playing five-a-aside football. More importantly, the pitches are not good for the health of the players. As a person that played the game, I know the implications. When you play on rubber, your knees are gone. By the time these players playing there now retire, at 40 and above, their knees can no longer carry them. They would develop ‘K-leg’ the moment they quit the game, simply because they played on very hard surfaces. Beyond the injury factor, science has proven that the brand of synthetic pitches we have right now in the country are dangerous to health. Our players are playing on rubber, which is toxic,” Akanni said.

He blamed government officials, who are more interested in making money than doing quality jobs, for the mess.

“You can imagine, we have artificial turfs everywhere and yet Eagles can only play in Uyo. It speaks volumes,” Akanni stated, even as he advocated a return to natural grass pitches.

“If we can’t go for world-class artificial turfs that meet FIFA standards, then my take is that we should go back to natural grass. The health of our players is what we are talking about here and this, to me, is more important than winning matches or smiling to the bank with monies made from the construction of substandard pitches.”

Another ex-international, Austin Eguavoen, who captained the Super Eagles and later coached the Super team, noted that it was good the artificial turf issue was being brought to the fore. Eguavoen disclosed that, as coach of Sunshine Stars of Akure and Gombe United, he felt sorry for his players when they played on the Akure and Gombe artificial turfs, no thanks to the poor quality of the turfs.

He urged those administering the game and the government to stop the trend of constructing substandard artificial turfs.

In his words: “In Nigeria, it is generally believed that artificial turfs are not good for football but that notion is not totally correct. What is wrong is the quality of artificial turfs we have in the different stadia across the country. It is quite unfortunate that our administrators go for the substandard ones and they ruin the players’ careers. We must be concerned about the actors, that is, the players, the weather conditions and all that, before settling for a synthetic surface.

“Our administrators must not put money first without considering the health of the players. Those who manufacture these synthetic turfs are on a daily basis improving on them, but what we have in the country are first generation synthetic pitches that have since been phased out in other countries based on research findings, we must go along with the trend.

“As I said earlier, some seasons back, I was with Gombe United and later Sunshine Stars of Akure. Both teams played on artificial turf and I always pitied my boys because of the hot weather.

“On my part, as a player, I actually enjoyed playing on the artificial pitch when I was playing for Torpedo Moscow FC in Russia and what we had in Russia was not the kind of rubber pitches you have in Akure and Gombe.”

“Who says the Super Eagles will not be willing to play on artificial turf in Nigeria, if it is of good standard as required by FIFA?” Eguaveon queried.

Eguaveon’s teammate in the national team, Nduka Ugbade, also condemned the artificial turfs, declaring that they endanger the career and lifespan of the players.

According to him, oftentimes, the turfs force the officials during league matches to call for a water break for the players to ease the heat.

“The ball also moves faster on the artificial pitch than on natural grass and the players suffer more. The players get blisters playing on these pitches and would require special boots to be a bit comfortable playing on it. Truth be told, the quality of the artificial pitches in the country is worrisome. Most of the pitches are of no standard and it is the players that suffer it,” h said.

Super Falcons and Dalian Quanjian FC of China striker, Asisat Oshoala, told Daily Sunsports that her worry was the health implication on her colleagues who play here in Nigeria. According to her, playing on substandard artificial turf endangers the life of players, as most of them would end up having issues with their spinal cord sooner than later.

“Playing on the kind of artificial turfs we have back home is a no-go area for me. It is very bad for professional players,” she said.

Former national U-23 football defender, Adeyinka Adedeji, said it was unfortunate that the country has embraced the construction of artificial turfs without getting it right.

“Players of most Nigerian clubs train twice daily and play their matches on synthetic. No doubt, this is damaging to the body, but what can the players do?” the former Shooting Stars player queried.

Ken Anugweje, a professor of Sports Medicine at the University of Port Harcourt, confirmed to Daily Sunsports that playing on artificial turf was not good for home-based players, as they would be prone to career-threatening knee and ankle injuries.

“The main drawback of the artificial turfs we have in the country is the physical injury such turfs inflict on the players. It is easy for players to pick up knee and ankle injuries playing on artificial turf, especially the species of synthetic pitches we have in the country. This is why the English Premier League banned it. Apart from Britain, artificial turf is no longer permitted in most leagues of the world. Queens Park Rangers was the last club in England that played on artificial turf before it was banned over 10 years ago,” Anugweje said.

He was, however, quick to point out that there were some regions of the world, including Nigeria, where growing natural grass was difficult.

“In a place like Jos, Nigeria, it would be difficult to grow and maintain grass. In that case, artificial turf that is close to natural grass can be put in place. FIFA allows artificial turfs that are not toxic and such artificial turfs are close to natural grass,” Anugweje said.

Dr. Peter Singabele, a former board member of the NFF and incumbent member of the CAF medical committee, told Daily Sunsports that research has proven the fact that certain kinds of synthetic turfs were not good for the health of players. He pointed out that substandard synthetic pitches emit much heat.

“The biggest problem is that of heat. When you play on a substandard synthetic pitch, you are playing on a surface that emits so much heat and of course it is not good for the players, health wise. The players equally sustain joint and ankle injuries that are career-threatening. This is why the Eagles avoid the synthetic pitches here in Nigeria when they come home to play. CAF and FIFA is phasing out such pitches on medical grounds and I think we shouldn’t be constructing artificial turfs that can’t meet CAF and FIFA standards, especially when such pitches are harmful to the actors.

“In CAF, the health of players is given priority. The first seminar I attended in Cairo in October this year, as a member of CAF medical team, focused on protecting the players. The theme of the seminar was ‘Protecting the actors (players).’ We are following up that with another seminar during the Morocco 2018 CHAN. My take is that, if we can’t maintain natural grass, we should go for artificial turfs that meet CAF and FIFA standards. It doesn’t make sense constructing pitches that our boys from Europe would avoid like a plague, only for the home lads to play there week in, week out,” he said.

Notably, Rangers’ striker, Ifeanyi Egwim, twisted his knee in a match against El-Kanemi at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium two seasons ago. Egwim has since not recovered from the injury, which experts believed he picked up because of the nature of the Enugu stadium turf.

Beyond the health hazard of playing on the “rubber turfs,” some of the coaches handling NPFL sides have also cried out over the hard nature of the pitches. Akwa United coach, Abdul Maikaba, had, after leading his side to win the final of the Aiteo Cup game against Niger Tornadoes, slammed the NFF for taking the final to the Agege Stadium.

“This stadium (Agege pitch) almost cost us this cup. My boys couldn’t play here because of the pitch. The pitch is too hard and the ball behaviour is bad. You can’t move on it and this is why we struggled in this final against Tornadoes. You can see the kind of pitch we have in Uyo, you can’t compare it with this,” Maikaba told Daily Sun after the match, which his side managed to win on penalties after full time ended goalless.

Apparently not comfortable with the Agege experience, the management of Akwa United now plan to construct artificial turf at the Uyo Township Stadium. But would they go for the FIFA-approved artificial turf or settle for the “China rubber”?

Paul Bassey, chairman of the club, said they would go for something of quality that won’t fall below FIFA standard.

“My commissioner is the one handling the project, he has been to Turkey because of this project. We know what to do. We won’t have a world-class arena at the Nest of Champions only to have what Eagles can’t use as training ground at the Township Stadium. We will go for the best,” Bassey said.