Qatar 2022: Agony Of A Nigerian Sports Journalist
‘ WITH two of our ‘ generals’ going to cover the World Cup in Brazil, I am sure our readers won’t miss any gist from the Super Eagles’ camp. Please, tell our players to stay focus and close their eyes to those dangerous Samba girls. Also convey my message to coach Stephen Keshi that Nigerians back home want good results. I wish you the best of luck.’
Those were the farewell message by the former Editor of The Guardian, Mr. Joel Dafinone, as I stepped out of the newsroom to commence my journey to the South American country for the coverage of Brazil 2014 World Cup.
Then, Mr. Dafinone was one of the biggest supporters of the Super Eagles. His love for the team increased after Keshi and ‘ the gang’ took Africa by storm in 2013, winning the AFCON title for the third time for Nigeria in South Africa.
It was my third experience covering the World Cup at the senior level, having covered two with the Super Falcons at China 2007 and Germany 2011.
Before my departure from Lagos, our Sports Editor, Christian Okpara, and dozens of Sports Editors from other newspapers, radio and television stations had already landed in Sao Paulo waiting for the kickoff of the World Cup.
Then, media houses were always awash with adverts and other promotions from different corporate organisations in the countdown to the Mundial. The corporate bodies dangled various sums of money to foot the bills of journalists to the World Cup in return for media mileage through adverts and other deliverables.
On the other hand, Keshi and some key players of the Super Eagles had their hands full, getting endorsement from different corporate organisations. Everybody wanted to associate with the team.
Brazil is massive in landscape. From Sao Paulo to Cuiba, Curitiba and Brasilia, the ‘ two generals’ from the Rutam House made Brazil 2014 World Cup a memorable tournament for the readers back home.
Super Eagles journey ended in the city of Brasilia, where they lost to France, but as a journalist, I had to continue with my coverage of the World Cup in honour of the agreement we had with our sponsor.
The tradition continued at Canada 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada, which I covered through corporate sponsorship.
At Russia 2018, The Guardian had the ‘ two generals’ in the forefront to bring exciting stories from the Super
Eagles camp to our readers. That was also made possible through sponsorship packages from various corporate organisations.
That was when the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF), led then by Amaju Pinnick, had not allowed pride and personal ambition to overshadow all daily operations.
That was when Pinnick still consulted experts far and wide before taking final decisions on some crucial issues affecting the nation’s football.
That was when the Super Eagles still had solid wings to fly, haven picked the World Cup ticket with three matches still left in the African qualifying series.