Above the Ogoli rhetorics

Now and then, circumstances around the loss of Samuel Okwaraji are reenacted by sudden demise of players during matches. The Super Eagles midfield dynamo collapsed and died in the course of a World Cup Qualifier against Angola on August 12, 1989 at the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos.

An autopsy showed that the 24-year-old had an enlarged heart and high blood pressure. As subsequent deaths before and after Amir Angwe’s on October 29, 1995 confirmed, a culture of poor healthcare in the country is the most obvious factor responsible. The 29 year-old Julius Berger player collapsed and died of a heart attack in a match.

It is no surprise then, that following Ocean Boys FC defender Emmanuel Ogoli’s fatal collapse 39 minutes into a Nigerian Premier League encounter against Niger Tornadoes at the Samson Siasia Stadium in Yenagoa on December 12, nearly everyone has latched on to negligence by club and league officials as the major fault.

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, Aminu Maigari, was unsparing in comment. "If the necessary steps were taken by the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) and Ocean Boys FC," he said, "this young man, Emmanuel Ogoli, would perhaps still be alive today."

There is some credit in Maigari’s position considering poor approach to league matters by clubs and the NPL. Ocean Boys’ failure to weigh the implications of the affected player’s reported slump in previous training sessions is especially damning.

An organised medical setting would have checked the malaise and causative factors, including drugs abuse. Where tests and results truly matter, and where standards are adhered to because comprehensive sanctions trail malpractice, the 21 year-old left back would only have returned to the football pitch after successful treatment or surgery, and certification from relevant medical authorities. As it is, the latest incident indicts Nigerian football management.

Contrary to official insinuation, the standards associated with North African and South African clubs are applicable in Nigeria. NFF’s promise to "look at the situation in the Nigerian National League, the Women’s League and the Amateur League" would not amount to much unless action follows words and the investigative panel of eminent doctors with years of experience in doping and cardiology set up by the football federation truly come up with policies and guidelines for prevention and care of Nigerian footballers.

The NFF cannot, in the meantime, push responsibility to Ocean Boys alone. Greater culpability lies with the federation for its failure, despite a series of Federation of International Football Association (FIFA)’s promptings, to ensure independent football administration and encourage private profit-oriented ownership of football clubs.

Only then would clubs avoid the plague of skewed political appointments, poor funding, misappropriation of resources and deplorable facilities. Players would not stop dying as a result, to be sure, but incidence would become rare as world and European football events support.

Recall that Cameroon and Manchester City stalwart Marc-Vivien Foé, 28, collapsed while playing in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup semi-final between his country and Colombia on June 26, 2003, and died shortly afterward in hospital. A subsequent autopsy revealed the cause of death as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Antonio Puerta of Sevilla also collapsed in an August 2007 match against Getafe and died after several cardiac arrests in hospital while on the continent, Mohamed Abdelwahab of Al Ahly and Egypt collapsed and died of undetected heart defect in a training match a year before.

While still pondering the unsettling sequence, the writer contemplated the career of erstwhile Super Eagles captain Nwankwo Kanu and shuddered. The thought of what might have been had Papilo’s gifted feet not led him from Iwuanyanwu Nationale to Holland’s Ajax Amsterdam and the glorious Atlanta ’96 Olympics en route to fateful diagnosis and heart bypass surgery before five-and-a-half wonder years at Arsenal was simply unbearable.