Football Conspiracies

Some are trying to forget it. Others try to recapitulate the memory of the two games. I, on the other hand, find it rather hard and disheartening to bring back the atmosphere of the last match, as the day captured hearts and minds all over the country.

T-shirts and related adornments sold like never before. People from all walks of life, young and old, men and women, girls and boys, Christians and Muslims, were caught by the overwhelming promise.

Football became the major preoccupation of almost everybody. Sports journalists and the football fans of reputable clubs, such as St. George and Ethiopian Coffee, seemed to join their creative forces and sing new songs together. Song writers were surprising the football crazy audience by writing new pieces and having them passed over to their audiences.

On the day the match was played in Nigeria, Addis Abeba and its sister cities and towns were supporting and jubilating. Of course, the match was being transmitted live on TV, through local and international channels.

Quite a number of fans supporting the Ethiopian squad – the Walyas – had flown to Calabar, Nigeria, where the match was to be held. This was not only to show their loyalty by standing besides the team, but also to reveal that they are brotherly people of Nigeria and pay due respect to their hospitality. Winning the hearts of people is what really counts more than the result on the field, which can sometimes be manipulated by a couple of rookies.

The first leg match, held here in Addis Abeba about a month ago, had drawn mounting speculations and ‘guesstimates’. A greater number of fans speculated confidently that the Walyas would beat the Super Eagles and have their tickets to Brazil. The way the Walyas played on the field had given  a glimmer of hope that the forthcoming game would be bright. More and more people joined this speculative wagon.

But, there were a few others who thought differently. They said the chance for the Super Eagles to go to Brazil was almost a foregone conclusion, especially when the referee closed his eyes as striker Saladin Said’s shot clearly crossed the goal line.

What reason could there be to ignore that hardly fought for goal?

Opinions vary. A few people would choose to stretch their theories to the doors of the international football watchdog – FIFA. This world organisation wants the World Cup games to be held in Brazil to be watched by as many spectators as possible. Television advertisers will only buy airtimes during which teams with big names like the Super Eagles of Nigeria play. The Walyas cannot stand on an equal level with the Nigerians to fetch marketable time.

Unfortunately, for the Nigerians, one might say, the Ethiopian squad turned out to be a real force to be reckoned with. Their ball passing capabilities, as energy consuming as it may have been, was stunning the Super Eagles. Ball possession was well over 65pc.

If these young men were left to fight only here in Addis Abeba, victory was almost certainly in the hands of Ethiopians. Who would allow that to happen though? Of course not the referee who is under the influence of FIFA, both in terms of sphere of status and financial return.

That may have led those people to suspect that denying the genuine goal could be an insidious manipulation, which is only a part of the big airtime market. The penalty given to the Super Eagles in Nigeria under the pretext of a handball, simply pushed the screw of suspect even deeper. Nigeria won the game, but FIFA lost its name and fame, at least speculatively.

The game, however, was not a total loss for the Ethiopian football fans and the enterprising businessmen and women. This school of thought could be extended to include some political parties, which try to make the best out of a bad situation.

The state media has been giving almost full coverage to the qualification process, so much so that football seemed to be high on the social agenda and was aired in all the local languages transmitted throughout the country. Other pertinent issues were almost sidelined, at least temporarily. Everyone had nothing else to breath in and out, but football.

Mourning folks after funeral ceremonies, those “tej bet” regulars who sometimes were short of thoughts and hence words, barbers languishing over their paraphernalia feeling sleepy, shoe-shining boys and even the roaming vendors in the streets of Addis Abeba and other places changed views and news about the same subject – football. The articles sold and purchased were nothing but football related.

Football is not an advent in Ethiopia. The country was one of the founders of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) at a time when most African states, including Nigeria, were not yet free from the yolk of colonialism. But that kind of seniority in the field of football has no place.

Sport, in general, and football in particular, is a social engagement that creates a mentally and physically healthy society. Football is getting more and more popular among youngsters all over the world.

What is shown only for 90 minutes on the football field does a lot more than world leaders assembled to lecture the world for a long period of time could hope for. For example, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho are far better accepted by the people of African countries that their own political loaders. Football is becoming s strong public force in the world.

Incidentally, many of our sports journalists in the state media seem to trespass their professional domain and feel presumptions only because they happen to hold the megaphone or camera. The modality is meant to be an instrument used to pass messages to the public. But we instead have to listen to wishful thoughts of the journalists themselves –  thoughts or perhaps useful ideas they think that the concerned officials have no idea on.

Planning for the oncoming period, for example, is raised by these journalists over and over again to the extent of boredom, as if the football officials have never known about it before. These things ought to be known by every listener. A reporter should at least know which modality to use for which audience.

Regardless, however, football seems to be witnessing a revival in this land of ours, unlike any time in the recent history books. Keeping this momentum is what is required.


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