Rules to Safeguard Footballers

On Saturday, September 7, 2024, I felt taller. For once, I again felt taller than my brother Julius Agwu, my name’s sake and twin brother from another mother. And taller than Kirk Franklin and Kevin Hart, other members of our esteem club, where giants dare, including my darling Eddie Murphy.

My excitement was not borne out of a new appointment by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Neither was it a fallout of a lottery win. Rather, it was our dear Super Eagles exceptional performance against the Cheetahs of Benin Republic in the 2025 African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign. It was a revenge match after a series of disappointing results including   bashing by Benin in a World Cup qualifier in June,2023 where we lost by two goals to one.

There was anxiety at the Godswill Akpabio stadium in Uyo,the Akwa Ibom state capital. However, the introduction of Victor Osimhen in the second half lifted our attack that had the likes of Atalanta forward, Ademola Lukman. The game was marked by exceptional individual performances and collective display of strength that showcased the Super Eagles’ readiness to take their pound of flesh on the Cheetah of Benin.

That victory reminded me of the performances of my favorite Premiership team, Arsenal. Our joy and excitement, was however short-lived and punctuated with what some observers have dubbed lack- luster performance against the Rwanda team waiting to be devoured by our overrated team. As we look forward to other qualifying matches, our hope is that our team is currently dubbed a team without character; a win today, a draw and another draw and losses reignites what once made us the fifth best team in the world after the FIFA 1994 world cup hosted by the United States of America.

Before I bore you with my sadness and joy orchestrated by our own Super Eagles, please permit me to remind you that this piece is a continuation of last week’s piece which x-rayed the tragedies that has become the singsong of our football clubs that need to be checked.

Please if you did not read through the first piece, I will advise that you spare time to look through my hurriedly put together piece which captured some of the major incidents that urgently calls for immediate action by the concerned authorities.

Today, I intend to single out the critical issues involved in the captured cases which range from insecurity issues and avoidable road traffic crashes. Like I said, it is about deaths on the roads involving footballers and football teams.

The first incident we looked at was the August 24,2024 involving Heartland Football club which ultimately claimed the life of their coach. The incident like I told you occurred occurred at Ummunna, near Okigwe, Imo State. The report claimed the team were travelling in three vehicles.

The question to ponder first is the level of training in convoy driving for drivers of Football Associations. A trip from Owerri to Abakaliki is by my estimation a short and safe journey because of the distance. For a crash which occurred around 4pm, I am at a loss at how and why one of the vehicles crashed onto a parked vehicle. Was the driver sleeping or fatigued or was the road bad? If you recall, a statement released said,  that  the crash occurred, when ‘’in an attempt to avoid a collision with an oncoming vehicle, one of the Heartland vehicles crashed into a carelessly parked car that was involved in another crash. It was however reported that the impact of the crash caused a sudden shock to the coach, Christain Obi who was unconscious with a slight injury to his right leg upon evacuation from the badly affected part of the bus.

Why was the accidented vehicle not towed by the relevant Agency until this crash. Why did the driver fail to properly park the vehicles to avert this kind of incident. What has happened to the driver of the parked vehicle? Was there a medical team? Was there an ambulance attached to the football team that was travelling from one state to another? Do these teams travel with a medical team and standard ambulance? What efforts are made by State FAs. Was this particular crash due to death traps or bad driving or even failure to use   standard vehicles with appropriate safety.

Remember I equally looked into the crash which occurred on March 18,2021 involving Eyimba Football club Youth team on its way back to Aba from a tournament in Imo State.There was also another   involving Wikki Tourist. The club bus, it reported, was reduced to fire and steel on February 16,2021 when it caught fire along the Jos-Bauchi highway while on their way to Uyo,Akwa Ibom state capital for a week ten league match against Dakkada FC of Uyo. The cause of this mishap was tyre as, “one of the back tyres came off in motion and the rim and silencer ignited the fire on the road due to the contact.” What was the state of the bus? What level of maintenance goes into these buses? What safety precautions are put in place before the journey and during the journey. Do they travel with fire extinguishers? Do State FAs have safety officers whose duty is to ascertain the safety state of vehicle and driver.

I hope you still recall the February 20,2021 incident involving Adamawa Utd FC who were attacked by bandits along the Benin-Lagos highways on their way to honor a weekend match against MFM FC. I know the current state of insecurity and government efforts to redress the situation but why travel by road to Lagos. were there other safer options for players and officials. Was there security backup

The case involving the Lagos Landladies on February 23,2021 is worrying. The report noted that FC Robo, a Nigerian Women Football League side, was attacked by gunmen along Ijebu-Ode Road, Ogun State on their way   to Agbor, Delta State for their week seven match against Delta Queen. This borders on insecurity and the question of security plans put in place to ensure safety comes to mind.

On March 12,2021, a head-on collision involving Akwa United was reported. The clubs bus according to report crashed in Enugu after a head-on collision with a truck enroute Kaduna to honor their week fifteen match against Jigawa Golden stars. A player and two officials sustained injuries.The time of the crash was not reported. Neither the nature of the collision. Was the vehicle stationary or not.The questions raised equally applies to this incident.

The Ekiti United Football club while returning from their training session crashed while returning to Ado from Ikere. The crash was a lone crash. No death was recorded. Only injuries. The crash was said to have been caused by slippery roads caused by rain.

I strongly believe that a post mortem on all these crashes needs to be done and a review of the standard operating procedure put in place by the various State Football Associations. Our footballers’ lives matter. Therefore, the relevant Agencies and the Football Authorities should do the needful to save lives. Standard buses for short distance travel, or by air for longer distances as well as by   train are recommended. Safety must be a priority.