THISDAYonline

Since the beginning of this year, the most talked about issue in Nigeria and indeed across the world is the 2002 World Cup which kicked off yesterday after a very impressive ceremony. That the World Cup is the biggest soccer event is a trite saying. Even the International Olympic Committee acknowledges that. FIFA is yet to come to terms with accepting the football event of Olympics. It was just a pure concession when it agreed that Under-23 could participate in any Olympic football with a couple of spaces reserved for members of any country's national team above age 23. That explains why in 1996 when Nigeria lifted the Olympic soccer gold, Daniel Amokachi and Austin Okocha were in the team.

In our own clime, football occupies a pedestal, which cannot be compared with anything else. No matter the disagreement any group may have against another, when it comes to football, everyone is united. It is one logical strand that links everyone and the fulcrum on which national harmony revolves. No other event or issue can have this kind of effect except, perhaps, if Nigeria's territorial integrity is threatened.

Even as football is a game loved by all and much as its governing body worldwide, FIFA would deny, there is a lot of politics in the game. It follows that anything that will uplift the image of any country must have its political variables. When the late General Sani Abacha decreed that the Super Eagles boycott the 1996 Nations Cup held in South Africa for which they were defending champions, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) was rattled. After every move to make the government rescind its decision failed, Nigeria was banned for two years. The boycott was a political move made calculated to hurt South Africa over diplomatic disagreements with Nigeria.

Whatever political undertones inherent in football at the local, national or continental levels is replicated at the global level. This is where Issa Hayatou, the astute Camaroonian football administrator comes in.

In the three or four months preceding May 28, he was in the news worldwide. He had decided to challenge Sepp Blatter, FIFA president for a shot at the presidency. There had been so much allegation of financial management against Blatter. The Pull-Blatter-Down initiative had been championed by Leo Johanson, president of UEFA.

Thus at the Congress held in Seoul, South Korea on Tuesday, Hayatou, pulled only 56 votes against Blatter's 139. Even Johanson that had pushed him to challenge Blatter could not mobilize UEFA member-states to vote for him. Now, he is licking his wounds.

Only very few are interested in Hayatou as a person but the main issue is that challenging Blatter is like one biting the finger that fed him. Since Blatter took over from Jao Havelange as the eighth FIFA president in 1998, he has shown in both words and deeds that he is pro-Africa. Unlike Johanson who is a racist, Blatter is a liberal-minded man who has grown from the ranks in FIFA. Under him, the African slot in the world Cup was increased to five when the championship was enlarged to 32 from 24. Time was when Africa used to have just three representatives. It was not an easy battle increasing the slot for Africa because other continental bodies were equally lobbying to have greater slots even though the arrangement had always been lopsidedly skewed against Africa. Blatter tried to redress an injustice that has existed over the years.

More importantly, the possibility of Africa hosting any FIFA organised tournament was seen as a very remote possibility until the emergence of Blatter. It is true that Nigeria was slated to host the 1995 World Youth Championship (WYC) but for reasons that bordered more on politics than the existence of an epidemic touted at the time, the opportunity was denied us. Is it not instructive that it was after Blatter became FIFA president that Nigeria finally hosted the championship in 1999?

The hosting right of World Cup 2006 provided another opportunity for Africans to see that Blatter has their interests at heart. South Africa and Morocco had indicated their intention to host the championship and Blatter was not averse to the world going to Africa for the first time to watch the World Cup. Even when Nigeria made a feeble attempt at showing interest, Blatter encouraged CAF to ensure that only one African country came forward so as to brighten the continent's chances of winning the hosting right... South Africa became the country adopted by CAF and all other countries queued behind her in support. In Blatter, they found a worthy supporter. That the hosting right later went to Germany was not Blatter's fault. It was democratically decided and Blatter had to bow to the wish of the majority. Even as Africa lost the chance for 2006, he has continuously promised that 2010 is for Africa even it means two countries co-hosting as Japan and South Korea are now doing. Since FIFA was formed on May 21, 1904 with Robert Guerin as pioneer president, no other FIFA president has kept faith with or shown so much commitment for the development of African football than Blatter. The least Africa, led by Hayatou should have done is to support him so that he is not pulled down by the Johansons of this world.

What is the grouse of UEFA against Blatter? Johanson had lost miserably to him in 1998. His racist inclination has alienated him from progressive-minded individuals. And when Blatter started his reforms, which sought to empower hitherto weak continental federations like CAF, Johanson was further alarmed. He carried a campaign of calumny against the FIFA executive in the months preceding voting for the 2006 hosting right. He saw the pro Africa stance of Blatter as a threat to European dominance of football politics and he decided to cut Blatter to size. When the race for the just-concluded election began, he stepped up the campaign against Blatter and even infiltrated Blatter's executive secretariat.

Knowing that he would not win any contest with Blatter, he decided to use Hayatou. And Hayatou succumbed. It is surprising that Hayatou, despite his experience in world football politics, fell easily to the trap. It beats everyone's imagination that Hayatou took Johanson serious. How can somebody who has had no regard for African football or even for Africa, genuinely want a black man to lead a world body like FIFA? Predictably, when it mattered most, he left Hayatou in the lurch and he fell like a pack of cards.

As head of African football, Hayatou has not done badly. He has particularly supported Nigeria in times of need. When Nigeria violated CAF's regulation by pulling out of the 1996 Nations Cup at the last minute, Hayatou ensured that Nigeria did not get the maximum punishment which would have meant missing two editions. Nigeria only missed that of 1998 hosted by Burkina Faso.

When Nigeria was to be disqualified from the soccer event of the 1996 Olympics on account of fielding Aboidun Baruwa, an over-aged player in the qualifying match against Kenya, Hayatou came to Nigeria's defence. If he had not, we would not have been talking about Olympic Soccer Gold.

In 1997, he bent the rule backwards when the Golden Eaglets were to be penalised for NFA officials' failure to bring players' identity cards in the match against Benin Republic in Ibadan. The Benin Republic players and officials all feigned knowledge of English and refused all entreaties to play because they knew they had a case. When the issue was mentioned at the CAF executive meeting and Hayatou provided a safe way for Nigeria, he was accused by other executive committee members of always bending the rule in favour of Nigeria.

Again, in the qualifying match for the 2002 World Cup, Nigeria's chances of scaling through became very slim when Liberia pulled surprises. When the George Opon Weah-led boys failed to qualify they accused Nigeria of bribing Ghana in Nigeria's last match in Porthacourt. Nigeria had beaten Ghana to claim the group's ticket. Rivers State Governor, Dr Peter Odili, in a display of African brotherhood, had publicly announced monetary gift to the Ghanaian team and its officials. When Liberia sought to make an issue out of it, Hayatou again rose to the occasion. He has proved a worthy friend of Nigeria.

But his action in challenging Blatter who has equally proved to be a friend of Africa is a miscalculation. Politically speaking, it means a serious setback for African football. It will not be easy to convince Blatter or anyone for that matter that Africa could be trusted. It is important to note that even Roger Milla, Hayatou's compatriot and world acclaimed footballer did not support him in his quest to contest the FIFA presidency with Blatter. There is nothing wrong with Hayatou wanting to be FIFA president. As one of the vice presidents of the world football governing body, he is eminently qualified. The point is that the timing was wrong.