Onochie Anibeze
1 December 2008
Kojo Williams long started the campaign to sanitise the Nigerian league. He decried the poor standards and set about to change things when he became the Nigeria Football Association Chairman.
He set up a body to embark on inspection of league venues with the intention to drop some that did not meet his standards. But Kojo did not stay long in office to see his vision through in Nigerian football. After reading our stories on the corruption in the Nigerian league, Kojo called yesterday to add his voice this way:
"I have been reading your campaign against corruption in the league. Well, it's been on for a long time. Our league is like Buka football. It is Ala-mala football. It is a disaster. It is the biggest joke in African football. Investigate and know if I'm wrong. But you can't say that you don't know this. Bribing referees has become a tradition. But that is just one aspect of the league. I saw Victor Ikpeba the other day and he was bitterly complaining about the standard of the game.
He said that the matches he saw were awful and that the players lacked tact in their runs. The pitches are terrible, referees are terrible, the play so substandard that televising it puts Nigeria to shame. When you watch our league on television you will wonder where we are coming from. It is a disgrace. They have destroyed our league. Anybody that sees our league and joins it did not know what he saw. It is the biggest joke in African football. It pains because we have the potential to run a better league. How can club chairmen be members of the league board?
We have to change everything. Even Globacom that puts so much money on the league is not asking questions. They are not doing what they should be doing and I don't know if they appreciate the standard of the league. I am not happy with Globacom for not insisting on high standards. To whom much is given, much is expected That should be their slogan to those running the league."
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