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Africa |
SPORT
The 17th World Cup competition showed Senegal to be among the «greats» in football,
and confirmed Africa’s place on the world sporting stage«For a long time, it had been suggested that with regard to major sporting competitions such as the Olympic Games, World Cups and championships in every discipline, the main thing was to participate. That really meant, reading between the lines: “We know you don’t really have the necessary qualities, but it’s not all that important; you can always come along and get some lessons”. Now, ever since Cameroon twelve years ago beat Argentina at the beginning of the 1990 World Cup, we know that all can compete on equal terms and with an even chance of success. But why can’t the aims be the same for all? It’s clear that the main thing is no longer simply to participate. The main thing is to win.»
Professionalism
The above commentary comes from the pen of our fellow journalist, Alain Juste Coly, and appeared in the Dakar daily, Le Soleil. His remarks followed Senegal’s victory over the reigning champion, France, in the World Cup opening match. It’s all the more true following the achievement of the «Lions of Téranga», Senegal’s national team who won a number of games and progressed rapidly during the recent football World Cup. They just failed to reach the semi-final where they would have come up against Brazil.
The Senegalese footballers’ success confirms the fact that Africa has some excellent sporting personalities, who can make a great showing at high level competitions. Africans have claimed a number of titles in many disciplines, especially those involving individual performances — athletics, wrestling, boxing, judo, karate. Likewise on an intellectual level — in draughts, scrabble, chess. In collective disciplines, they are showing evidence of the same. Following the 1990 World Cup, Cameroon won the gold medal in football at the year 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
Before the recent World Cup, Senegal wasn’t highly rated. But what happened? The Lions of Téranga participated for the first time in the final stages of this competition, thus proving it’s got one of the best teams in the world both in quality and energy of play, and by the masterly way in which it imposed its style of football on its adversaries. Even more, it brought an added touch of freshness and spontaneity to the game.
But basically there was a sense of professionalism. Almost to a man, the Senegalese team was made up of players coming from European first divisions. (As was the case for most of the African teams who reached the final stages of the competition.)
Mistakes to be avoided
It’s true that Senegal was the only one of the five African nations to go through to the second round after drawing with Uruguay (1-1), twice world champions, and Denmark (3-3) and beating Sweden (2-1); they then came up against Turkey who beat them (1-0) in extra time. It must be said that the other four teams of the African continent also acquitted themselves well with good results, in particular South Africa and also, to some extent, Nigeria, who found themselves in a difficult group and were eliminated along with Argentine in the first round.
As for Cameroon, they drew with Ireland (1-1) before being beaten 2-0 by Germany. The Cameroonian team had a frightful journey to the World Cup rendezvous — something a national team engaged in a competition at this level could well have done without. The team only arrived at the place they were due to play, five days before the start of the competition and this, after a 40-hour flight preceded by a lot of negotiations concerning bonuses to be paid to the players. This is unacceptable at such a sporting level.
It is these kind of mistakes which significantly impede the progress of African sport. To this we must add the thoughtless sacking of trainers, hidden personal quarrels among sports federations, interference by club managers in team training and of politicians in the sporting domain. All these contribute to hindering the development of sport in Africa.
The «business» of sport and responsibilities
Professionalism in sport means that young people can now be counted among the world sporting elite. Professionalism also generates lucrative industrial and small craft activities: Balls, jerseys, judo and karate gear, nets, javelins, hammers, rackets, etc. And what is to prevent the opening of sports-study training centres with a section on professional training including Workshops of a practical nature in different fields?
African teams now have commercial value and from now on this must be wisely exploited, both on the playing field and in the board rooms. Because of this, we can understand why Cameroon’s Issa Hayatou, president of the Confederation of African Football, was seeking to become the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA)’s president. However, he was pipped at the post on 29 May by the incumbent candidate, the Swiss Sepp Blatter, who won a final four-year mandate. The reason for Hayatou’s defeat was not so much his incompetence, as behind-the-scenes diplomatic and political «pre-arrangement». However, Hayatou is now in the pole position for the job in 2006, despite the obvious efforts of the Frenchman Michel Platini and the German Franz Beckenbauer to get the job. He would thus join the Senegalese Lamine Diack who is president of the International Federation of Amateur Athletics (FIAA) and Abdoulaye Seye, president of the International Federation of Amateur Basketball (FIBA).
A strong signal
Africa must take positive action when faced with such challenges in the world of sport. Senegal’s «Lions of Téranga» have led the way. The Lions have «proved that the superiority complex the West has had for a long time with regard to Africa, is once and for all ended,» writes Badara Diouf in Le Soleil. And he concludes: «From now on, in all areas, you’ll have to reckon with Africa.»
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