Hello and welcome. Today we examine what’s happened to football in the Lake Chad region and what we can do about it.

All Nigerians love football.
The country has about 100-million active football fans, according to a report in the 2019 edition of PopularSide produced by GreenHunter Sports International.

Gianni Infantino, the president of the Federation International of Football Association (FIFA), speaking at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Awards on February 2018, described Nigeria as a country with an unquantified passion and love for football.
Despite the massive support, football remains the most underdeveloped sector in Nigeria for many reasons, including government interference and corruption.

Football in the Lake Chad region, in particular, has suffered from major setbacks.

Recently, the Chadian National Football team, was suspended indefinitely by FIFA with an immediate effect because of claims of outside interference. In March this year, name name, Chad’s youth and sports minister, dissolved the Chadian National Football Federation.

This resulted in the Confederation of African Football disqualifying Nigeria from the final two rounds of qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations.

FIFA said it had suspended the Chadian Football Federation because of the government’s decision to withdraw the powers delegated to the federation and it seized control of the federation’s premises.

Similarly, in October 2010, FIFA had suspended the Nigerian soccer governing body for government interference, which prevented the country from taking part in qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Our guests are:
1) Balarabe Musa a member of the Borno State Sports Council and chairman of the Borno State Football Coaches’ Association;
2) Suleiman Maina a football writer and analyst from Abbakama International.