Friday, 11th February, 2022

DAILY ANALYST
Friday, 11th February, 2022 Page 11
Sports
drop out of top 10 in Africa
Ademola Lookman is
no longer eligible to
represent England at
international level
after Fifa granted
his switch to the Nigeria senior
national team.
Lookman was born in London
but qualified to represent
the Super Eagles through his
parents.
The Leicester City forward
played for England at U19, U20
and U21 levels. Notably, he was
part of the European team’s
squad that won the 2017 Fifa
U20 World Cup staged in South
Korea.
In that tournament, he contributed
three goals including
a brace in the Three Lions’ 2-1
triumph over Costa Rica in the
Round of 16.
In January 2020, Lookman
put in place requirements to
switch his international commitment
to the Super Eagles.
“Lookman has applied for the
switch and all the documents
are in order,” former technical
assistant Tunde Adelakun told
media, as per AOI.
“It’s a positive step forward
when he made his commitment
to Nigeria and we are just waiting
for a Fifa clearance.
“Once the go-ahead is sorted,
it will be up to coach Gernot
Rohr to decide if his club performance
would earn him a call-up.
“He’s one of three former England
youth players we’ve filed
for but they are all aware of the
Lookman set for
caveat. All the players were told
that they can only earn a place
in the squad by playing regular
club football.”
He was initially listed for the
2021 Africa Cup of Nations but
could not represent the West Africans
as Fifa had not sanctioned
the request at the time.
Nigeria Football Federation
reacted to questions raised by
fans due to his omission from
the final 28-man squad heading
to Cameroon.
“The Nigeria Football Federation
has stated categorically that
Ademola Lookman of Leicester
City FC of England has not yet
been cleared by world football
body, Fifa to represent Nigeria at
international level. The process
for his switch is ongoing,” read a
statement from NFF.
“It is therefore incorrect for
any medium to claim that interim
head coach, Austin Eguavoen
is the one who axed the player
from Nigeria’s final list of 28 for
the Africa Cup of Nations Cameroon
2021.
“However, his name was included
in the initial provisional
list with the belief that the process
would have been completed
before the commencement of
Afcon.”
This development is a
massive boost to Augustine
Eguavoen’s men ahead of next
month's 2022 Fifa World Cup
qualification play-off against
Ghana.
Ghana has dropped
nine places to 61st
in the latest FIFA
Rankings.
This comes after
the team’s horror showing at the
2021 AFCON in Cameroon, where
Ghana finished bottom of their
The Ghana Football
Association (GFA) has
released a statement
detailing the functions
of a Technical Director
following the confusion that
heralded the naming of a Technical
Advisor for the Black Stars.
Former Newcastle and Brighton
manager, Chris Hughton
was confirmed as the national
team’s technical advisor ahead
of the Stars’ World Cup Qualifier
against Nigeria in March following
days of speculation.
Borussia Dortmund assistant
coach, Otto Addo was also named
the head coach for the twolegged
tie and will be assisted by
George Boateng and Mas-Ud Didi
Dramani.
Hughton’s appointment has,
however, been questioned, given
the presence of the Technical
Director of the GFA, Bernhard
Lippert.
Former Black Stars International,
Augustine Arhinful,
has already called on the GFA
to clarify the roles of the newly
constituted Black Stars technical
committee.
“They have to explain to us
so we will know what the situation
is,” he said
“If you tell me the GFA have
a Technical Director in Lippert
and a Technical Advisor in Chris
Hughton, and then a head coach
and his assistants, then it should
be made clear to us.”
It is a sentiment shared by
many Ghanaians on social media
who have questioned whether
group with just one point from
their three games.
This is the lowest Ghana has
ranked in 18 years.
The latest development also
means Ghana has dropped out
of the top 10 in Africa, with
Cameroon and Burkina Faso
Hughton’s appointment might be
redundant.
Apparently, in a bid to address
the confusion, the GFA released
a list of the roles of the Technical
Director, “as stated by FIFA.”
“The Technical Director heads
the Technical Directorate of the
Football Association performs the
following functions:
- He formulates guidelines,
strategies and policies for
the training and the technical
development of coaches of Ghana
football,
- He provides advice to
the Executive Council on coaching
and technical development
matters in general
- He may be called to
supervise national football team
coaches if need be
- He is responsible for the
overtaking the Black Stars.
Senegal, Morocco, Nigeria,
Egypt, Tunisia, Cameroon, Algeria,
Mali, Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina
Faso make up the top 10 in Africa.
Belgium, Brazil, France,
Argentina and England occupy
the top 5 spots in the world.
strategy, development and technical
direction of the Technical
Directorate,
- He is responsible for the
preparation and implementation
of technical programmes at the
grassroots, juvenile, and National
Teams thereby preparing football
coaches and footballers for the
future
- He is required to build
the capacity of the of Technical
Directorate of the Association
that will include but not limited
to the following departments;
Coach Education, Referee Education,
Talent Identification, Performance
Analysis, Technical Studies
and Video Analysis, Health
and Nutrition, Sports Psychology,
Strength and Conditioning and
Sports Medicine.