The danger of prosecuting matches by road has come to
the fore again after the recent attack on the Pillars team. Goal takes a
look at look at some of the hazards and solutions
On Thursday, players and officials of Kano Pillars were involved in an armed robbery attack during their 918km road trip to honour their Match Day One NPFL tie in Owerri against Heartland. They were at the receiving end of the bandits’ brutality which left five players injured.
The biggest risk of travelling by road for many clubs is the danger of being waylaid by the men of the underworld. Pillars were victims on Thursday but many other clubs have fallen victim and have only kept mute because they were able to meander their way out of such turmoil. Some may still be attacked tomorrow.
A while ago, a top Heartland official told this writer that they have had near misses with armed robbers on their way to honour league matches. He said they had to devise means to ensure that they leave for games as early as possible and also to break their journey into two or three stops as the case may be, so that they will get to the venue of their games during daytime when armed robbers are less potent.
Besides armed robbery attacks, there is also the danger of being held up in traffic gridlock thereby getting to the venue of the games fatigued because of the long trip.
Clubs that travel long hours before getting to their destination always have the readymade answer for their failure though they know they will still ply the road for their next games.
Accidents and mechanical faults are other reasons that show that the gains associated with road trips are inconsequential if weighed side by side with the danger connected with it. Many clubs have had their trips truncated and also re-ordered because of auto crashes or mechanical faults that take hours to fix.
ABS FC of Ilorin once had such experience in an away game when they were in the top flight and the club’s general manager, Alloy Chukwuemeka said it was a very nasty scenario.
In August 2013, Kano Pillars also had their technical crew members involved in an accident with former head coach Mohammed Babaganaru sustaining head injuries while Abdu Maikaba and others had other forms of injuries.
In February 2014, Sunshine Stars also suffered an accident which left their team bus in tatters and players psychologically harrassed.
Accidents too many | The remains of the Sunshine Stars bus
WAY OUT
Institution of Insurance Policy for Players and Staff There is no work without its risks and it is best to make concrete provisions ahead of time for the hazard that comes with it so as not to be taken unawares. We know that football is fraught with so many risks part of which is the injuries sustained both on and off the pitch. Both are inevitable and in that regard the institution of insurance policy for the players and staff is an ida whose time has come.
Last season we heard about the innovation from the League Management Company (LMC) with the support from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that the two bodies are in talks with an insurance firm for the premier league. Nothing has been heard of the talks since it was made available to the media and it is best that the LMC approach the said insurance firm again so that Nigerian players that suffer damages in the process of their job are well taken care of.
Partnership With Airline Operators
Most premier league clubs are owned by state governments except Ifeanyi Ubah United FC and Giwa FC. While the state governments have different pacts with airline operators, there is nothing wrong if such is extended to the round leather game. The untold hardship players and go through in the course of travelling by road cannot be exhausted and the owners of various clubs have the responsibility to cater for those under their care.
It will only take the state governors to liaise with the different airline operators with regards to distant trips. They should make it their responsibility to airlift players to distant engagements. Even though it may prove to be more costly than when players are plying the roads, it will have a positive impact on the image of the league and the players will be fresh for league matches.
In concluding, we shouldn’t wait until deaths are recorded before we take the welfare of players seriously. They are the major actors in the game and without them professional league cannot be run. Let all those at the helm of affairs be alive to their responsibilities and ensure that players are made happy because a stitch in time, as they say, saves nine.
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