Fifa must introduce Intercontinental championships

(www.fifa.com)

Imagine Africa versus  Europe, North America, Asia, Oceania, South America or the Middle East in a world cup tournament. Fifa must introduce the Fifa Intercontinental World Cup a year before the Fifa Confederation Cup, making it a year after the Fifa World Cup.

This is the only way that Africa may compete on equal footing and have a fair chance to compete. Of course, CAF will have to improve, and given that Issa Hayatou has been toppled by Ahmed Ahmed, I believe the new broom has proved better already.

Africa always produced world beaters, some justifiably changing allegiance for socio-economic reasons. The best of African players in the world forming a superpower is not a wild dream. It is possible.

For Africa to make its mark, they will have to do this independently, with the Afro identity of African football of flair and artistry. 

One remembers the 1998 France World Cup. To some, it was Africa's World Cup win as once prophesised by Pele -  that an African team would win the Fifa World Cup before the year 2000. The French team had a fair share of players of African origin but France is in Europe.

While the current crop of Africans in the top leagues does not inspire much confidence to the likes of Rabah Majer, Yusuf Fofana, Roger Millar, Lucas Radebe, Bruce Grobelaar, George Weah, Peter Ndlovu, Kalusha Bwalya, Benni McCarthy and Didier Drogba, there is a new crop which includes Riyad Mahrez and Emerick Aubemayeng.

Making it to the Africa 11 would excite both elite players and prospective internationals.

Who makes your Africa 11 today?

2017 Fifa Confederation Cup. The video assistant referee

The International Federation of Football Associations,(FIFA) finally considered the video referee assistant at the top level of the game.

I for one, advocated for this technology, but given what we have seen so far, it is not ayoba, unless of course, a few adjustments can be made.

For starters, one scored a goal and celebrated for lengthy periods and the ball is even centred. Suddenly, the decision to call the ball back comes and kills all that joy.

Equally, one scores a goal, thinks it is ruled unlawful and there is not even a celebration, then suddenly "You have scored". This is bizarre.

The technology must not be abused at any time. The human referee must be let to do his job. The VRA team must always have their story at their finger tips, just in case there is a query.

That is how it works in tennis with Hawk-eye and cricket's DRS. If no one complains and the decision is wrong, tough luck. 

And again, if the incident occurs and there is a complaint, the VRA team have enough time between the captain's approach to the referee and the consultation.

Indeed, we always see slow-motion almost instantly anyways.

Professor Neto Esphezim attacks South African coaches at the SAFCA symposium

I could not believe my eyes when I saw Professor Neto Esphezim, my mentor at the Brazilian Football Academy in Rio de Janeiro in 1999. Together with Carlos Alberto Perreira and Julio Cesar Leal, they formed a formidable team of instructors for the Advanced Diploma on Brazilian Football for Foreign Coaches and Trainers.

Professor Neto humbly introduced himself as an expert of the game with over 60 years of experience working all over the world with associations and Fifa. He has been an instructor of the Fifa since 1978 while sitting in their technical committee.

The Prof allowed for the excited coaches to laugh at the 7-1 before he began a frank address. In a symposium attended by the country’s top coaches from the ABSA Premier League clubs, former Bafana Bafana coaches and junior coaches and legends of the South African game, he began with the state of the Brazilian coaching arrangement.

In their 21 states, with each having an association for the coaches, he explained how their 100 000 registered members obtained police clearances to weed off paedophiles. All coaches worked full-time and earned a minimum of $1,500.00 per month.

He went a level higher to ask how many coaches were in the room. As excited as we were, we raised our hands. He asked who had read a football that day, then that week, month and year. None raised their hands. He barked that loudly with a disappointed voice, how the room was full of imposters.

This was in reference to the Amazulu versus Moroka Swallows match that appalled him.   The biggest problem with that game was the great athleticism and hard running from the very beginning. ‘If you score a goal in the first minute, how do you spend the next 89 running like headless chickens clocking the ball forward like that? When do you breathe and when do you think? Incredible!!’  

Prof Neto authored many books and he informed the audience how he read over 960 football-coaching books in his coaching life. Coaches needed to update their knowledge with changing trends of the game and training methods. ‘You are all nothing.’

He wondered if we could plan and conduct a proper professional training session and even read and analyse the game. H expressed his disgust at what he saw on television. He watched 6 matches during the past week which were fair. He saw something else he never had a clue what it was. He had to ask someone what it was and the answer was that it was ‘soccer’.

That answer proved that he could have never known since he was a football man, and not a soccer man. Already he was addressing the people who coached soccer and not football. The challenge for all to up their game and work professionally was emphasised as the most important aspect for all.

He made this point stronger with an example of single mothers who struggle to make ends meet in poor Brazil. The women prefer lunch boxes for the boys, take them by hand to school, go back to school later to pick them up and head to the football training grounds.

These children feel the need to come daily from training due to their love for the ball. Parents invest money and emotions as these children mean everything to these mothers. However, more often than not, the children drop out of school before even reaching high school to pursue football. What justice is there that these football-loving children end up with coaches who coach them wrongly?

Who would love to bear the conscious of knowing that they have been robbing the children’s future with bad technical and tactical training from inception? The obvious truth is that the human spirit dictates that no effort is spared to equip youngsters with the best ever coaching possible and by the best possible coaches dedicated to the game.

He briefly went through the 2014 Brazil Fifa World Cup Technical Report. African teams played 5 % higher than normal except for Ivory Coast who were below par. Costa Rica and Columbia were 10 % better than normal. The world top nations from Europe and South America played below par.

The African problem remained that of poor mentality and inability to handle pressure. They failed to handle the excitement to qualify to a higher level and collapsed when they needed to be firm. That lack of competence to deal with the pressure of success destroyed the inroads made in technical and tactical improvements.

Chile and The Netherlands were the most productive teams while Algeria and Germany fixture was viewed as the most interesting match of the tournament tactically.    

‘In Brazil, we don’t like football. We are in love with the ball’. He concluded to a huge round of applause.

Are CAF courses worthwhile?

With Jarcqi Shipanga, Brave Gladiators coach and CAF Instructor

Since the Confederation of African Football decided to follow the global trend of licencing coaches based on the common UEFA pattern, many countries implemented the licensing system and afforded coaches the CAF C, B and A qualifications. I am personally at the beginning of that chain despite the fact that I qualified for some equivalent.

My personal observation, having attended the best in South America and in Europe, is that all the course material is the same. What the system does is to equip coaches with uniform qualification based on the elementary, intermediate and advanced coaching material, most of which matches UEFA and FIFA modules very closely at each level.

What happened before, as I went through all the different level materials meant for the CAF licenses, is that what I taught as Level 1 and 2 was regarded as Level 3 or 4 (Advanced) in some countries and even in the current set-up. Regardless of where one acquires their badges in Africa, there will be a certain degree of understanding of their knowledge, aptitude and understanding, provided they started with the current system.

In attending the courses from the low level, the challenge is the interaction and even the examinations. Does one participate to the best of their knowledge and ability, or stoop low as a novice? Both scenarios have a danger. One does not want to be correctly answering each and every question and arguing the basics that are not necessarily correct at a higher level. That can extremely annoy the instructor big time.

To also take a back seat and let others digest the course material and assimilate all the data can be boring as well as raise question marks about your credibility, because the course directors and instructors have your CV, which they suspect you doctored anyway.

That is not helped by the examination time as the candidates begin to wonder on the requirements at that level. How much details suffices or is inadequate, is a source of another headache when writing the examinations or doing the practicals. The battle is fighting the urge to provide TMI (Too Much Information) yet providing relevant information and coaching.

One common aspect at different stages of learning is in mathematics. One divided by four in lower grades, the answer is; it can’t. At a higher level, things change. This is the dilemma of working at lower levels.

National associations have been asked to run ‘equivalent course’ for those coaches with foreign certificates or extensive prior experience as coaches or players. This noble idea had holes in it. Equivalent course students write examinations, in most cases, it is oral. Missing some bits of class makes a mammoth difference. The answers to their questions include the material from the level of the course of their ‘equivalent’.  

Otherwise, it is great to see the continent trying to bring at par all colleagues, and that parity is aimed at bridging the gap with Europe’s best. CAF Pro is being drafted and should be in line with the UEFA Pro. CAF and UEFA are working on the syllabus and the instructors for these courses.

This is Africa and those responsible for running the courses are less likely to freely help people they think will take their positions. (Who cares about positions?). If you are somewhere out of the ordinary, you will have to hassle big time, but good luck. See you in the next class.

South Africa Football Play-Offs; The Good and the Bad

We posted about the debacle of the African football game a few posts ago. Since, I went to watch the SAB National Championship at the North West University in Mafikeng, an under-21 tournament for players assumed to ply their trades in the South African fourth tier league (3rd Division). The games should be followed by an offseason, then a pre-season for 2014/15 period. One expects the leagues to resume after August 2014.

In the same vein, I tried to make my way to a last Safa Second Division Mpumalanga match featuring Kwazi Football Club and Phiva Young Stars. Phiva needed a draw or a win to clinch the provincial title that will send them to Durban for the play-offs. Winning the SSD play-offs is a ticket to the professional National First Division. Appoll X1 waited eagerly for the outcome as they topped the league. It turns out Kwazi did not turn up and the points were awarded to Phiva, but Appollo still think there is a bone to chew. 

Now, after the end of the season one NFD team has been sold and bought. Siyavutha FC of Mpumalanga changed hands and relocated to KwaZulu Natal. They managed to sign high quality players, hire and fire a coach already. They have the second set of a technical team. This team will compete with Phiva Young Stars, if they win the SSD play-offs. Royal Eagles, as Siyavutha are now known, are in pre-season while the Stars still have to beef up their squad for the NFD with the left overs of all other NFD teams. Then they will have to assemble a technical team and enter into a pre-season and then enter the bigger league.

In all this, where is parity? Is the planning adequate on the part of SAFA in terms of dealing with the SSD fixture that delayed to completion of the league, ABSA Premier Soccer League who have to accept and assimilate the SSD champions into their ranks as the custodians of the National First Division and Phiva Young Stars who still have to get funding, players and coaches for the NFD? Stars do not have much choice in the matter, but it is within their rights to be rendered adequate and proper pre-season preparation.

FIFA claim that they stand for ‘Football Is For All’, that it must be played and enjoyed by all, anywhere anytime, but is it? How many players in your area are registered at each age-group? Who are the responsible people for development? What programmes are in place for youth development and talent identification? If you are unaware or you have no interest in this, you are not a football person.

Regional office and local football association must furnish all regarding;

(1). list of top coaches and which clubs they belong to.
(2). all qualified coaches and their level of qualifications.
(3). regional database of best players in all age groups.
(4). school teachers who coach and their qualifications.
(5). coaching course instructors available and their qualifications and level of instruction.

Besides the database of coaches in all the leagues under the control of the offices, the development programs for 2014/15, courses for coaches, referees, administrators as well as Sports Medicine and the dates needs to be availed for public consumption. One cannot be a football person without the knowledge of structures available in their town and region. The people responsible for each of these should be known and be accessible public figures. Coaches will need to know those responsible for organising and running the courses, and how are the courses are organised.

Questions about the incentive and motivation for players and coaches in youth structures so as to attract competent coaches to coach the youths is essential, as the coaches needs to embrace development plan and implement it. Lower  leagues need enough competent coaches at every level as the Germans and other countries do. The competence of referees in these leagues and the referee development plan cannot be over-emphasised. It is common to overlook the competent Sports Medicine people and most of the time, nothing is done about it.

One can set themselves a target to find out, but the more they try, the harder they can fail. Go to your nearest football office and ask for any football database in Africa or any of the information above. As much as the Federation of International Football Associations preach ‘For the good of the Game’ one gets lucky to have public information public. It could be that it is never available, but either way, the responsible brothers make it classified information. It must be declassified and become public knowledge.

Colonisation ate our core and brainwashed us to abuse authority ignorantly or deliberately. The responsibility of amassing the data and information comes with the obligation to distribute and broadcast the same. Entrusted with public office, the bearers serve the masses for the benefit of the players of the game, coaches, managers, fans and all. The continent misses a system that can be availed to anyone at any time, whatever the reason.

I read several Technical Master Plans of many countries online. Strong and sound worded, but the materialisation of those remains afar off. The implementation either lacks funds or is entrusted to wrong people whose interests are to protect their offices and positions. Football is a business and bad products must be removed from the production lines and the processes terminated.

The African continent exports footballers overseas. As discussed in other pages, they perform well and become cult heroes in foreign lands, yet that does not translate to any success on the pitch on the motherland. The continent suffers from the natural wealth haemorrhage of the colonial past. That should be bad enough. However, given the football administrations’ international high profile flops, they remain innocent until proven guilty, and who is the jury? Them. Africa will forever remain the world laughing stock.

World Cup - Romario: FIFA 'are taking the p*** in Brazil'

Former Brazil forward Romario has described FIFA as "the real president of Brazil" and said the money spent on stadiums for the 2014 World Cup could have been used to build thousands of new schools.

Romario, who spearheaded Brazil's attack when they won the 1994 World Cup and is now a congressman, said Brazil had spent more than twice as much on hosting the World Cup as Germany did in 2006 and South Africa four years later.

"That is taking the piss," he said in a video posted the web sites of several Brazilian newspapers. "It's taking the piss with our money, with the public's money, it's a lack of respect, a lack of scruples."

Romario, who appeared unshaven and wearing a sleeveless top, said the money spent on stadiums so far was enough to provide "8,000 new schools, 39,000 school buses or 28,000 sports courts in the whole country".

Brazil has been hit by a wave of nationwide protests as it stages the eight-team Confederations Cup, which is considered a dry run for next year's World Cup. The amount of money spent on stadiums is among the protestors' many grievances.

The World Cup will be staged in 12 stadiums, either built from scratch or completely refurbished. Brazil is spending around 28 billion reais (£8.1 billion) on the event.

"The money spent on the Mane Garrincha stadium in Brasilia could be used to build 150,000 houses for low income families," said Romario, who said he was speaking as "Romario the Brazilian" rather than as a footballer or politician.

"But no, we spent 1.5 billion reais on a stadium. Is it beautiful? Yes. Is it practical? Not really. But another thing is that after the Confederations Cup, some things will have to be re-done, because they didn't work out, and a few new things will have to be added for the World Cup."

"The real president of our country is FIFA," he added. "FIFA comes to our country and sets up a state within a state.

"FIFA will make a profit of four billion reais which should provide one billion in tax, but they will not pay anything. They come, set up the circus, they don't spend anything and they take everything with them."
Brazil's Congress has passed a bill which exempts FIFA from paying tax on profits in Brazil. It was one of the conditions FIFA made when Brazil was awarded the right to stage the event.

"Since Brazil was awarded the World Cup in 2007, things have gone off the rails," Romario added.
"The budgets that were made for stadiums, airports and urban mobility were all wrong, and it's the people who pay the bill."

 

(Yahoo! Sport)

Extra-terrestial Lionel Messi breaks records as usual

I have never been inspired by a single event like I have been by the Fifa Ballon d'Or ceremony but I am not sure exactly why. Argentina's Lionel Messi, won the World Player of the Year award incredibly for an unprecedented fourth year running. 

I heard people thinking that the the Barcelona player's 91 goals in one calender year, 2012 though being a record, does not count for much because he won nothing for the Catalans and Argentina. But the story here is that I am an inspired man.

By the time I went tot Brazil over 10 years ago, I had over 6 coaching courses under my belt. I had coached and managed teams in the first, second and third leagues and it was before my 31st birthday.After I cam back with my first international qualification, I had registered two teams and an academy, educated many coaches by the time I was 33.

My former course-mates have taken teams to Africa Cup of Nations, both Charles Mhlauri of Zimbabwe and Stanley Tshosane of Botswana. Farouk Jeyman of Fiji Islands works with Fifa. My coaching students are multi-championship winners across Southern Africa. What I met is people praising me for what I have done.

I have not yet produced. These guys made their mark -  their history. Since the Brazil trip, I have attended over 20 courses, clinics and seminars, mostly as an instructor. Until my recent FA International qualification, being a student again did not appeal much but I realise I have much to learn. I have plenty to achieve.     

It could be how much hard work needs to be done in the game that made me feel inspired. My previous article about Sepp Blatter's comments on racism must have agitated a great deal of what I feel. At the end of the day, it is the effect of the game in many people's lives. It inspires us but we choose how.

I have said and been proven right that Real Madrid and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who was second for the third time since winning the 2008 edition and Barcelona and Spain's Andres Iniesta are the best players in the world. One day, we hope to produce in this worked one player close to Messi.

"It's incredible to win a fourth in a row, amazing," said Messi. "I want to share this with my Barcelona team mates and my Argentina team mates." said Messi who scored 12 goals including his first two international hat-tricks for his country.

If humble people like that do not inspire one, it is interesting to see how else one can plug and suck the juice to carry on and take a further step in life. For the good of the game, I can only hope that sooner or later I will be on that podium for whatever reason. Dreaming? Yes and watch that dream unfold.
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Sepp Blatter offside: What an incentive for racists!!

In a conflict between the hammer and a nail, the fingers can never be good mediators for obvious reasons. And how the solution lies with the behaviour of the nail when hammered, I just don't know.

The recent racism incident of former Portsmouth and Tottenham player, Kevin Prince Boateng saw him lead his team-mates off the pitch during a match at Pro Patria. He was subjected to racist chanting from a section of the home fans and he insisted he would walk off again in any competitive match under similar circumstances. This is the aggrieved man speaking.

However, speaking at a conference in the Middle East, Fifa boss Joseph S. Blatter said Boateng's actions were wrong. Wow. He tried to explain how there must be a "zero tolerance" approach to racism but suggested that clubs should have to forfeit matches if their players force the abandonment of a match, whatever the reason.

"I don't think you can run away, because then the team should have to forfeit the match. This issue is a very touchy subject, but I repeat there is zero tolerance of racism in the stadium, we have to go against that.
"The only solution is to be very harsh with the sanctions (against racism) - and the sanctions must be a deduction of points or something similar."

Like all football players, Fifa is their home and Blatter their father. What Blatter is advising his children is to stand up tight and upright when the train approaches and never run away. What advise! I gave the football boss the benefit of the doubt with his 'handshake' story, but now, this is totally out of line.

Racial abuse is extremely traumatic and the reaction of the victims cannot be pre-programmed. It is one thing to deal with the racists and yet another to advise the victims on how to react. It is not the black players who are a problem and they are not the solution. They will never be part of the solution unless they banned to play.

Blatter misfired big time on this one. Leave the black players alone and deal with racists. This should be the focus of action by whoever runs the game anywhere. It does not matter how the victims behave. They must not be abused to start with. I agree that under all circumstances, the black players are responsible for their behaviour and actions in racial abuse cases, but they committed no wrong by being exposed to the elements.

How Fifa and Blatter could begin to say an abused player should have or should not have done is tantamount to condoning the racist acts while telling the world of the 'zero tolerance' to racism. It is bitterly disappointing that this is all that can be said and done.

Trying to elaborate on the moral of his argument, he said teams would lose points or forfeit the matches for causing abandonment. Who would be the cause of abandonment in such cases? The teams with black players would lose an abused players and be disjointed by the racist behaviour of other teams' supporters and fans, and then forfeit the match for that reason. What happens to the offending clubs? What an incentive for racists!!

The concern for Fifa should be the solution to the root cause, to ensure it does not happen. It sounds like calling white people to like black people. While they must, they do not have to. All they must do is to keep it to themselves, especially in stadia. Actually, some abusive team supporters have black players at their clubs. They cease to see these stars as black because they slave for the clubs.

Clubs that exhibit the hatred of blacks must be the ones to bear the brunt and wrath of the law and rules, not the victims, not the behaved and law abiding clubs and teams. No matter the excitement, I think the issue will be reported as having been taken out of context elsewhere soon, but either way, the position of the Fifa President is a careless one big time.



   

Maybe there is something wrong with me

I take it as misinformation or just pure malice that one can wake in the morning and tell me that Jose Mourinho will coach a national team. It damages me if they go on to say that the national team will be England. To even think Pep Guardiola can replace the Italian, Fabio Capello, who resigned just before his biggest assignment besides the FIFA World Cup, is an insult to the English. Maybe it is just me.

The English have interests to guard at this moment in time. The few capable people have to be approached and signed. There is no way a hyper-active Mourinho can miss the weekly action of club football for the once in a blue moon national team football. Guardiola would take it but his experience and style is as English as the Indian sari.

That is not to say we can trust the FA, but then,assuming the Barcelona gaffer is an honest man I assume him to be, the speculation is a waste of cyber space and a global warming contributor given the origins of the wasted printed paper on which the story appeared.

The FA has since indicated waiting for the EPL season to end before making a decision. That sounds more sober given Harry Redknapp will have time to assist. The speculation of him being approached catastrophically derailed Spurs off the title rail and Manchester United and City have feasted on the mishap. Thanks to Arsenal.

Elsewhere, FIFA reports that in 2011, £1.9 billion was spent on international transfer fees of players. The cash does not include transfers between domestic clubs. What portion of this figure comes to you? You are in the wrong job.

1500 Brazilian players were involved in international transfers contribution 13 per cent of the total amount. You must remember that registered professional players from the Samba countries exceed total populations of Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho and many other countries combined.

The average basic annual salary for a footballer is £153,815, giving me some home work to do. I need to upgrade my CV and hopefully soon, I will hit that mark. Let's see who gets there first between and you.

The average transfer fee is just under £1m, not a bad figure if you have an academy and look forward to market your products. Given the cost of Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Arguero, you observe there were very low figures paid out for the majority of players. 

The system that tracks all this, was set up FIFA. They are pursuing 700 procedures against clubs and associations who have breached the rules. This is best in that smaller schools and teams that produced players who get transferred before their 23rd birthday will get due reward for the football education from the football shacks. 

I pray for the arrest and jailing of dubious and fraudulent agents. Forget about Pep and Jose coaching England. 

FIFA must seriously look at this.

Have you ever calculated the cost of going to a football match? The trouble of organising transport, cost of calling friends to with, stress of anticipation, the beverages and the cost of the tickets. After all the sweat and cheers of all day, you suffer the tears of a loss or draw without witnessing a single goal. That is in the Major Soccer League they ensured there is a winner at the end of each match by penalty shootout. Fans need goals to cheer

Hopefully, I will be writing a book soon,  but meantime, I am thinking; How does FIFA come to the conclusion that there is more attack now in football as 'encouraged' by FIFA than we had a few World Cups back? The world football governing body are claimants that they enforce laws in a manner that encourages scores. They have said they will always give doubt to attacking players so that fans have a lot of moments to cheer about.

There has been nothing to suggest this is a philosophy the referees are encouraged to practise. Rather bizarre, there is this chorus of goal-line video technology cases seen at the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup, basically a result of negative officiating. A lot of offside calls were wrong. Tons of disallowed goals were the order of matches. Final analysis, there were few goals in this tournament than the previous tournaments. Verdict: witch-hunting. What a waste of our time.

I have called for 'no offside ' for anyone outside the penalty area. Actually, goalkeepers are having it both ways. They use both hands and feet. Feet should never be used by a goalkeeper, unless he is dispatching a ball he caught, but not even for a free-kick or a goal-kick. With this in force, do you know how many goals we could see? Take a good guess. Furthermore, it should be a serious offence for the goalkeeper to catch a cross. They must stay glued on the line.

There is serious need to modify the goal posts. The increase of the upright post height by half a metre, the width of the goal-mouth by a metre is just a few. International matches have to be played at the biggest possible size of the pitch.

There is an issue with yellow cards. A guy gets 2 yellow cards in a match and he is out. IFAB should be more universal by stipulating that any team conceding 3 yellow cards should take off a single player.

It is crazy to have a team like Holland, in which almost every player is cautioned and they remain unpunished. There is no fair play to protect the victims. A team that has a second player red-carded in the same match will also lose the goalkeeper simultaneously. Actually, the extra players should be chosen by the opposing team.

There was a rule that 3 consecutive corner-kicks led to a penalty. That rule must come back. It must stipulate 2 and not 3 this time. Additionally, if a goalkeeper punches the ball twice in a row, the referee should award a penalty.

Finally, no substitutions in the last 15 minutes of the game shall be allowed.

How to become a coach

One is only considered a coach after successful completion of training provided by a competent trainer provided by FIFA, CAF or other confederations, football associations or the structures under their auspices. An example of structures that can provide training is the Olympic Solidarity Committee, but still, it is basically a FIFA program. Let us start from the beginning. Entry requirements will differ from association to association, but for beginners' courses, anyone can enroll. Normally, you need to know how to read and write. Your playing history counts for nothing. I must say to many association and their Premier Leagues, coaches education ranks last and is never a requirement to be employed in that capacity.

You may be required to pay fees depending on the association. Where there is a coaches association, they are responsible for organising the course, i.e. dates and venues. They will be responsible for providing instructors. The fees you pay go towards venue rental, paying the instructor’s fees, transport, food accommodation and entertainment, course material as in photocopying, hand-outs, administration and that association has to make profit for its general operations.

The coaches association will advertise, which is another expense, and get all participants names and their payments. Courses are usually rated from Level 1 to Level 4, where Level 1 is entry-level. Some, as it was in earlier days, will have Preparatory/Preliminary, Intermediate and Advanced Levels. As an entry-level coach, you will be expected to be able to demonstrate basic technique to players.

The time frame ranges from 7 to 14 days from Level 1 up. Prices differ from association to association, course to course and from time to time. You will be required to write an examination at the end of each course and do a practical which are divided into two parts; your own performance of a certain technique as you would demonstrate to your team and the actual coaching of a group of players. These players can be your course mates or a group of players provided by course coordinators. Here you will be tested for your understanding of the subject, ability to handle players, organisation, time keeping and the like.

In the theory examination, you will be tested on the whole course material. It is imperative that you get tested on the Laws of the Game. This will usually be done by a referees’ instructor who will give you a test which referees do. At this level, the material may be level-friendly and the marking a little generous. It becomes serious business when you do higher levels. At higher levels, failing the Laws of the Game will cost you a certificate.

A lot of these will depend on the standards of the examining authorities and all this information is very general. Basic first aid and sports medicine are part of the curriculum from Level 1. A qualified Sports Medicine doctor will teach and examine trainees on the subject.

Level 1 will basically cover the proper football language like is defining technique, tactics, skill, conditioning and demonstration of these. It will cover basic performance of these and how to coach them. Higher levels will require advanced knowledge of the human biology like the locomotor systems, dietary needs and respiration as well as human behaviour.

Level 2 is a more serious result oriented program that may take as much time but more detail about planning training sessions and handling players is emphasised. There is a shift to physical conditioning and detailed technique training.

Level 3 is longer, harder and more demanding mentally and physically. Tactics are the leading topic as well as conditioning. Match analysis and game observation are top of the agenda. Sometimes student coaches will be required to go to matches with specific tasks to do and look out for and given assignments and home works. They may be required to do a class presentation.

At level 4, there may be a requirement that you have access to coaching 11 versus 11 teams as you will be given assignments and be required to give feedback from time to time and an instructor will visit you several times before you get certificated. Theoretically, technique, tactics, physical conditioning, dressing room management, data collection and Laws of the Game become very important.

You may be asked to do the football business side and marketing. At all levels, psychology is taught, starting very basic and becoming extremely important at Level 4. Sometimes there is a requirement to do media relations. There are a lot of other important things to learn and depending on the available instructors and personnel, the order of importance of topics may vary.

I must say that many football associations allow the existence and operation of a football coaches association. According to FIFA, only the football association is answerable for the game and its structures as the custodians of the game. It is then up to coaches to organise themselves as an association under the mother bodies.

FIFA will provide instructors and pay for them for programs like the FUTURO courses. Associations have the responsibility to request for these. Trainees are usually encouraged to attend in their own political territories but it is not a rule. Usually, it would be a free course with a few goodies for attendants, but associations get extra activities on the programs that require payment.

The same goes for the International Solidarity Committee training. The IOC will usually target youth coaches and school teachers. There may be special courses that can be organised from time to time but all FIFA does is wait for association to apply or request.

Sometimes specialist courses are organised. This can be goalkeeper training courses, youth training for players below 10 and so forth. There can be refresher seminars that are target specific. It can be a single subject seminar covering tactics only. It can be even be further divided into topics like 'Defending corner kicks', 'Attacking from wings' and 'Winning the ball in Midfield'.

For qualified coaches, an attachment with big clubs that have experienced coaches, this can be a worthwhile experience. It helps cement all the theory learnt and boosts the confidence especially if one has never been in a situation to coach. This does not substitute the moment of truth when you are by yourself and 40 players are waiting to hear what you have to say and show. It can be very scary but it is very normal.

CAF just started to have proper certification system that is in line with the UEFA licensing, a few years back. As expected, they have done a lot of work in North and West Africa. Both UEFA and CAF adopted the C, B and A Licensing system. After the UEFA A License, there is a Pro License. These are however done by individual associations under the authority of UEFA. CAF still runs the courses and Lesotho and Botswana had C and B License course this year.

I may have omitted a few other things as I am taking all this from my head. I encourage you to search for your information on the net, though from my experience, it is not readily available. Associations usually do not advertise for these courses and you will know about them when they are done. Good luck.

EXTRA TIME with Vusumuzi Mourinho Ndlovu - Is FIFA shifting goalposts

Naturalisation is taking centre stage mostly in Europe but much to my surprise FIFA seems to be the catalyst on this deed.

If this trend is anything to go by, then there is certainly a method to ensure that you never hit a dry spell talent-wise because you can always import players you may need for particular positions.

Article 18 of FIFA’s Laws reads: Any player who is a naturalised citizen of a country by virtue of that country’s laws shall be eligible to play for that national or representative team of that country. FIFA does not care if a nation grants citizenship on basis of parentage, regardless of place of birth. If a player is deemed citizen under a particular country’s law, he is eligible to play for that country.

Players with dual nationality, who had already played for a country’s national team at junior levels were only allowed to switch loyalties until the age of 21. The age limit has been removed but players who have played for the senior national team are barred from switching.

Recently, Brazilian born Internationale Milan midfielder Thiago Motta fired in a winner for Italy’s European championships qualifier against Slovenia. With less than 5 years playing or living in Italy, Motta got the Italian citizenship because of his grandfather who was an Italian.

However, Motta’s case baffles in that he has 2 senior caps with Brazil. Having played for their U-17, he played for Brazil at the 2003 CONCACAF GOLD CUP. Due to the fact that the Selecao was participating in the FIFA Confederations Cup, Brazil sent an U-23 team to represent them at the GOLD CUP. Motta was part of that U-23 team that that played as a senior national team.

The Azzuri capitalised on Dunga’s reluctance to select Motta for Brazil and hooked him up. They probably dangled a sweet juicy carrot in front of him. Who knows? With the absence of Andrea Pirlo, Motta may form a formidable partnership with Danielle de Rossi in the engine room. Cesare Prandelli, the Azzuri coach recently said, “Motta has maintained the Brazilian technique and acquired a European mentality.

As to how Motta plays for Italy after playing for Brazil remains a puzzle that can only be solved by the Zurich based Sepp Blatter led federation.

FIFA, money, grass and roots

  
FIFA President, Joseph Blatter has offered to resign in 2014 if re-elected. In other words, he must be re-elected at all costs in June 2011. Less serious is the fact that if not re-elected, he will not quit. Then, there must be another no fly zone declared until he goes.

Talking about costs, FIFA Secretary General, Jerome Valcke announced on Monday in Johannesburg, South Africa, that due to a very successful South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup, member associations in Africa will pocket US$800, 000 bonus each from the federation and a further annual US$250, 000 development grant.

He explained how good business it was doing business in the jungle of Africa, calling it 'a huge success from all fronts' and 'was not the financial failure that some people claimed it would be.' It is a welcome gesture to see the money being planted back to African football development.

It is traditional that the money will be channelled towards the development of football at grassroots level. The issue here will be the channelling. Usually it gets tunnelled in bottomless pits and develops into 'insufficient funds' projects that turn into white elephants. These elephants should actually be termed black since they are the Dark Continent species.

In the process, there is always great desire to fund football development from grassroots by African associations. Usually, there is no grass to see here. Football is always done on rock-hard surfaces. Villages and academies have been claimed to be 'on schedule' being developed. I think this is where the trick is. They are always at root level.

FIFA has done a great job in getting this money into capable hands, as you and I would blow it away overnight buying football equipment. We would probably get rooted into projects that generate interest among the youth too quickly due to lack of red-tape, but then, you need roots to establish a very strong base for any foundation, like building a house on a rock and not sand.

Could Sepp be trying to buy Africa votes here, or Valcke fancies himself a successor in the FIFA presidency?

The rot of the Beautiful Game, courtesy of UEFA

Barcelona beat Arsenal because they were a better team. The referee messed up not only his job, but the livelihood of several grown-up men with families and a couple of teenagers. It may have been a genuine mistake, but how many times does football survive fatalities like this?

A couple of finals ago, UEFA showed how rotten they were in preferring Barcelona to Chelsea for revenue purposes. Didier Drogba was eventually fined and suspended for politely putting his humble opinion across.

In the transfer window, you remember how Howard Webb was not ‘available for sale by Manchester United’. A few people have cried foul on how lenient United are treated by the FA.

The rot is not only manufactured in the FA and UEFA offices as many can testify. England has been diplomatic in trying to explain how they lost the bid to Russia to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Questions are still being sought about the strength of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup bid. Some think that the winning bids guaranteed the President a life-time of fortune.

FIFA courts controversy with chilling accuracy. Their top officials were ready to sell their votes for hosting the World Cups like dried fruit in an African market. At the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup, the ‘no-goal’ by Frank Lampard was the climax of their blunders. The Cameroon 2-1 defeat to England in Italia ’90 was one pure conspiracy. There are many.

They are not alone. CAF own other football associations which are football dinosaurs. They do not to pull off any antics anymore to qualify them for African Nations Cup or the World Cups. It will not be surprising if qualifier matches are cancelled altogether. The only reason they are actually still being played is that they provide further level playing ground for looting funds. Syndicates have to make money.   

The CAF Presidency is a full-time career and there is no successor born yet. Zimbabwe was supposed to host the 1998 AFCON Cup. It was whiskered off to the north. Only South Africa hosted the Cup until the 2010 Edition in 2010. It will be a long time before the region sees another. The North and West has hosted and won everything besides South Africa who hosted and won the 1990 version. African Player of the Year awards are the domain of French speaking nationals.

Where is the beautiful game of football going? A gentleman like Arsene Wenger will not let his honest opinion to protect his character. Jose Mourinho has been labeled ‘loud mouthed’. These guys will find it hard to be honoured for the way they revolutionised the game. One day, they will tell all.

Coming to Arsenal, they dig their own grave anyways. It is not once or twice, but almost always that when they matters in their own hands, they give away the initiative. That is the mentality of boys. The Gunners cannot be old boys anymore. If they cannot be men enough, Wenger should wield the axe and chances are that the boys may mature ‘footballically’ if the manager himself is axed.

These players and Wenger have been involved in a perennial and sterile relationship for a long time to necessitate external fertilisation or surgery. If you read me correctly, that change must happen whether the Gunners bag both the league title and the FA Cup or are empty handed at the end of this season. It may a revolution his troops are fighting but without hearing any gunshots, how are we to know?

Shappa Buccaneer

Football is coming home. South Africa will the 2017 African Nations Cup tournament, after hosting the successful 2010 FIFA World Cup and still hope to host 2014 FIFA World Club Championship as well as the FIFA U-20 Youth and FIFA Women U-20 tournaments. Bidding is one thing and hosting, another.

The real deal is that Orlando Pirates are the top team in the ABSA Premier League after a 2-0 victory over Free State Stars at Botshabelo Stadium.The Happy People were made happy by speedy Tlou Segolela in the first half. Andile Jali scored the second late in the second half.

Kaizer Chiefs had a comfortable 3-1 win courtesy of Siphiwe Tshabalala who scored twice, after having spent days overseas hunting for English football contracts. Chiefs moved to 2^nd behind The Sea Robbers with this win over Maritzburg United at the FNB Stadium.

Do not bet on Tevez going to Man U, he is heading back home

Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs are squeezing hard the back of Mamelodi Sundowns in the ABSA Premiership after victories over winless Moroka Swallows and Bidvest Wits respectively over this weekend. Pirates put 2 past the Birds with Teko Modise on song and Knowledge Musona punished the Students with a low free-kick. Nyasha Mushekwi made sure the Mimwana Phezulu remained on top with a solitary strike that kept Sundowns clear at the top.

TP Mazembe seemed overwhelmed by the occasion withdrawing into a cocoon in which they were buried by Inter Milan in the FIFA Club World Cup final in Abu Dhabi. The Africans took too much caution in their approach and their attack was even more lethargic for a team that have an excellent scoring record in the Cup.

The midfield was ever erratic in throwing away possession easily and the defence was ever in tatters, leaving too much spaces between personnel. The finishing was so pathetic that even without the goalkeeper, it is hard to say where the goals would come from. The team lost all cohesion and compactness and were over reliant on the long balls and distance shooting that would make rugby penalty takers a little jealous. Inter scored 3 beautiful goals and the win ensured Samuel Eto'o has won all club football accolades in his fantastic career. Better still, he scored one of the goals in the final to ice the act.

Carlos Tevez will play for Manchester United in the next life. To expect Sir Alex Ferguson to take him back after he left throwing sinks and kitchen tables at every one and everything in sight, is to grossly underestimate the ego of the best manager in the history of the game. I am not a fan of SAF but surely, at his worst, he will not accept Tevez for free even to make him an 11th player in a crisis where he needs numbers against arch rivals Man City.

It is hard to see how he will leave Manchester City to start with and surely, not many will be keen to have a problem child who does know what he wants. Spurs would do with his skills but they do not have the kitty for his appetite. Spanish clubs may fancy their luck aside Chelsea and the Italians. My bet is, if he leaves City, he may as well head back home. He made far too much for his expectation and it is confusing him.

TP Mazembe, as I said before, are the real deal

My ink has not even dried on the blog concerning how much of a revelation Democratic of the Republic of Congo and African champions, TP Mazembe are in playing textbook football. They have made history becoming the first African team to reach the FIFA Club World  Cup final after a stunning 2-0 victory over Internacional of Argentina, 2006 Champions, at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.

TP Mazembe are purely men at work 24/7. They graft tirelessly for each other. Fear does not exist to them and they can not be intimidated at all. Mulota Kabangu scored a beautiful goal for a 53rd minute lead, followed by a Dioko Kaluyituka wonder goal with 5 minutes of play remaining. TP beat 1-0 Mexican side Pachucha 1-0 in the quarter-finals in a hungry lion-like manner. It was a performance that would give one confidence that one day soon, Africa will lift the FIFA World Cup.

As we speak, one more win, in their next official match will see them crowned the champions of the world. No team outside the UEFA and CONMEBOL federations have ever reached the Club World Cup final before. Their passage was not an easy one. Internacionale threatened to tear them apart with some Barcelona type of football, but the Africans put their best foot forward, refusing to be bossed around like a slave and holding their heads high with a disciplined performance.

The South Americans wanted a piece of the Congolese as early as the 12th minute and several good saves from goalkeeper Muteba Kidiaba kept them in the match despite efforts from Sobis, headers from Tinga and Indio in the 18th and 20th minutes. TP resorted to route one football, evading dealing with the more slick and creative midfield of the former champions who wanted to become first 2-time champions.

It was a reminder to the rest of Africa, that football is not based on colour or geographical location. Southern African teams like Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, Highlanders, Dynamos, Power Dynamos, Nkana Red Devils and Kabwe Warriors, to name a few, better take a leaf from the solid performance of Mazembe, especially on the tactics of how to wear your opponents down without giving much away. It is always a case of forgetting who you are playing, casting away all doubt and playing 200% with heart.

Shibobo for shibobo, tsamaya for tsamaya, mpama for mpama, there is no equal to Southern African talent. There is however a big psychological gap as you go up north and west. Southerners generally, unfortunately, feel inferior to the northerners and westerners. TP Mazembe have torn those form books and are now basically world beaters. They have the least pressure going into the unexpected final with nothing to lose and I wouldn't bet on them losing. I must agree that winning it will be a big feat, but not impossible. VIVA AFRICA!

A lesson for teams like Highlanders, very free

There has been a few unfortunate or fortunate cases depending on the verdicts and point of view you may elect to suit yourself, in matters that have since been dubbed Asiagate by the Press of a certain nation of diamonds.

Unfortunate because of the immoral acts and hence the banning of leading individuals in betting scandals from football and the fall in the rankings of Zimbabwe in FIFA standings. Yet, fortunate enough for those who made the quick bloody buck and are still smiling at the dirty dollar power. Another name for it is, 'easy money'.

African champions, TP Mazembe were also investigated for Far East betting scandals. There may be a case for them to answer, but I will tell you something. TP can play ball. They were a revelation, at least to me, when they beat Mexican champions at the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi. The team is a well oiled machine with tremendous potential.

Of note, is their pace. The accelerate and maintain an attacking momentum consistently. The passing accuracy is a joy to watch. The length and weight of the ball is always superb. Then there is the ball control to match. It is one synonymous with great players of old. Highlanders had players like Makheyi Nyathi and Benjamin Nkonjera. Team-mates always referred to these guys as magnetic to the ball.

The team is extremely competitive and fights for each other. The confidence rubs off the other players and as the match wears on, the cohesion improves the mentality of the team. The sorry state was the finishing in front of goal. Nonetheless, teams like Highlanders have a lot to learn because they are in the same mould. They must compete at the same level. They still have to arrive at the mini league stage and that is exactly what it takes to get there, and it is not magic.

I wish to get your comments if you watched the same match.

FIFA goal-line video technology and common football misconception

Football usually takes a different view on a few issues of a general nature when compared to other ball sports. Rugby union as a matter of rule, can elevate a team-mate in a line up to snatch the ball away. That will be ungentlemanly conduct referred to as unsporting behaviour. Still on rugby, it is common for penalties to be taken with medical personnel still treating players on the field. The list goes on.

With Super diski, the most controversial rule and the most contentious is the off-side rule that keeps evolving to make it simpler and easier to understand. The simplicity makes the whole thing more complex, given the official fail to apply the basics correctly. FIFA asks referees to always give the attacking players  the benefit of the doubt in all cases. You would expect more 'off-side' goals to be scored, but contrary, genuine ones get ruled as illegitimate. This goes for a few cases as well, but strikers diving have made it worse for attackers to be trusted.

Actually, there is one issue in football that gets misunderstood by the usually vocal but less informed. The role of a captain. In cricket and rugby, these have powers and make very vital decisions and defends their people. The football captain role is more ceremonial than in these sports. His role is limited to communication channels outside the field. On the pitch, he only tosses and is expected to talk to his coach to relay messages to the team.

The skipper has no right whatsoever to challenge the referee, his assistants or their decisions. If he does so, he must be cautioned and shown a yellow card. He has no authority to defend any player in his team against the referee. None. To the referee, he is an ordinary someone like the rest. The officials will deal with him just to simply issues and relay messages instead of addressing the whole team. If you thought the captain is the lawyer for players treated unfairly, visit FIFA.com and google the laws of the game.

While there, just check out something funny about FIFA's stance on the goal-line video technology. It was announced that they will give it a good thought and look only at the aspect limited on whether the ball crosses the line or not. They will be doing this to leave much of the game at the exposure of the human element that we want removed to start with. FIFA also say these methods slow down the game, but it is the players mobbing the officials and the 2 officials consulting that takes much more time and still get the decisions wrong.

With so many appeals in each match, surely using technology to look solely at the ball crossing the line and nothing else, is a waste of time in itself as well as resources, given the cost, convenience and maintenance of the equipment is for those cases occur once in a blue moon at each stadium while other contentious decisions rob good teams of their hard work results.

Really, how many times do teams have a Frank Lampard no goal case in ordinary leagues and matches? Yet so many goals are wrongly disallowed as offside or whatever. Worse, penalty appeals are turned down and teams suffer the bad decisions.

What exactly is wrong with our clever selves?

Today America votes. It takes one Republican president 8 years to destroy US, and Americans think it will take one Democratic president 2 years to repair the damage. They over-rate Obama. I guess it's the same as if it takes 8 monkeys to cross the Atlantic ocean 2 nights, then 2 monkeys will take 8 nights. The good thing is that dolphins don't have to vote. They would reason that the Republicans brought USA to its knees, hence it will take the Republicans to lift the US out. Elephants would really remember who got them there and they would not tolerate the small of whoever is responsible for their demise. There is this animal whose memory is so short it cannot count to 4. After hitting 3, it draws a blank. Which of the animals will vote today? That is why I am not a politician. I just don't get these things. Anyway...

Football is not divorced from politics. Nigerians got their feet tangled in the sport and FIFA banned them from international competition. It was always the desire of the government to see the national association stops the participation in football until the Nigerian Football Association house was in order. A few issues were thrown in and then it seems like after some manipulation somewhere, FIFA lifted the ban and Nigerian football will continue to nose-dive down. I can confirm they are not dealing with the far east betting syndicates. I urge you not to put your money on that one.

The Zimbabwe Warriors' coach, Tom Saintfeit will be keeping his fingers crossed hoping to hear the out-come of his work-permit application outcome next week. Given the relationship of this guy with a convicted criminal who threw matches, it is hoped he is clean. His appointment coincided with investigation of that national association bosses into the betting scandals with the Malaysian guys. Saintfeit has to work magic if he gets his permit. If he doesn't, I guess he will be earning his monies as he is the current employee of the association. His players are tainted with syndicate dollars and at least the government has promised not to interfere or prosecute the guilty ones. This makes me think that Zimbabwe and Nigeria should exchange governments. Africa is indeed a very interesting place and this may happen in a matter of hours.

The one time weird story that kept the impatient South Africans almost toyitoying was the appointment of their national coach after the 2010 FIFA World Cup. When the national association hired the $250 000 per month earning Carlos Alberto Parreira, they asked him to set up structures and recommendation to develop the game as a lasting legacy. He was to recruit and nurture one local coach to take over after he was gone. When he left, SAFA were going to interview candidates for the national team job. They have not implemented any of the the Brazilians recommendations that included junior league for under 19 players, reserve team league or even the quota of foreign players. The truth is that South Africa will hire someone sometime and ask him for recommendations and he will tell them the story they do not want to hear and then he will be fired. Now that Pitso Mosimane is the boss, usually that guy comes in as an unsolicited 'advisor' who eventually operates as a smooth criminal to 'hit' a coup.

The story is more or less in Botswana, where coach Stanley Tshosane has made a minor country into an overnight giant after the Zebras made Tunisia and Togo bite the dust in the 2012 AFCON qualifiers. Zimbabwe tasted the same dust in a friendly. Tshosane's job security is as safe as the gold bar covered by half a layer of a domestic spider's web. I guess they also want Tom Saintfeit, in which case, since he is lodging in their backyard, they can ask him to coach at night while his work permit is being sorted out.

My point actually, was the fact that Madinda Ndlovu will coach the Warriors in a friendly in Maputo soon. Ndlovu was given charge with Norman Mapeza the last time the national team was on duty. Ben Moyo delivered the message to the players that Mapeza will assist Ndlovu. As if the Belgian's departure after the immigration people showed him the border gate, the national association came back to tell the players how much a lier Moyo was. He addressed the players to say that the 2 coaches were in the government of national unity under a global football agreement. The confused players could not even see where the goals were on match day.

At this point, since it is just a friendly against Mozambique, Ndlovu is the coach and the bosses are still to come and tell players the match for money or that Saintfeit has come and will be assistant to Madinda. Do not rule out a foreign assistant coach. Crazier things have happened, and more are coming.