Nigeria not ready! FIFA condemn preparation for U-17 World Cup

Shock waves of embarrassment greeted the world football ruling body, FIFA’s verdict, when head of delegation, Jack Warner, yesterday, said that Nigeria was not ready to host the Under-17 World Cup.

According to the FIFA head of inspection, Nigeria might lose the right to host the championship if facilities in other four cities already picked among the six for the event were not properly upgraded.

A FIFA Inspection Committee had in recent time toured around the various cities bidding for the right to host the event and had reported that only two cities – Lagos and Abuja were ready to host the championship.

The build up to the tournament has witnessed delays and difficulties at various cities. However, the organisers were given another one month to ensure they got well prepared for the event scheduled to take place in October. And if no improvement is made after the period of grace, FIFA might announce an unnamed country, which is already on standby to step in.

Nigeria formally withdrew from holding the tournament at one stage after the government said hosting the event was not her priority. They were however persuaded to rescind their decision after the intervention of FIFA and CAF.

The FIFA Inspection Committee, lead by the body’s Vice President, Warner, revealed that the alternative hosts, who are outside Africa, had already been on standby for the past nine months.
FIFA had picked Lagos, Calabar, Abuja, Kano, Enugu and Ijebu-Ode as host cities for the event. Warner said that Bauchi and Kaduna were dropped, while approval for Warri as the seventh host city was still tentative.

He told a large gathering of local and international journalists, as well as top football officials that his team were disappointed by the state of non-preparedness of some candidates in providing the needed facilities for the football event.
Warner, who looked quite pained as he spoke, said it was unfortunate that the promise given by Nigeria’s Vice President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan early in the year that all the facilities would be ready by the time they arrive for the just concluded inspection was not fulfilled as concerning what the team saw on ground.

The FIFA official said it was also unfortunate that the past first five months of 2009 had been wasted by the lack of seriousness exhibited by the governments of some states bidding for the hosting rights.
He commended Lagos and Enugu states for working tirelessly to provide world-class facilities for the event, and urged stakeholders in other states where the candidate cities are located to find out from Governor Babatunde Fashola how his administration was able to meet FIFA’s standards.

Warner said the state of things in many of the candidate-cities showed that Nigeria was not ready to host the tournament. He, however, added that the country would be given 30 days from date to get the facilities in Ijebu-Ode, Kano, Enugu and Calabar ready or the country would lose the hosting right to another country by the time the FIFA team visit next in July.

Warner stated that in spite of the violence in the Niger Delta, Warri still stood a chance to be a host city if government could make concrete assurances that they would provide adequate security for the visitors during the tournament.
He advised Nigerian leaders to live up to their responsibilities and advised the lagging cities to work an put their facilities in order.
He also commended the governments of Bauchi and Kaduna states for making efforts in preparing for the competition.