The Ben Johnson Story
Remember Ben Johnson? Former 100 meter world record holder and Olympic champion who was stripped of his Olympic gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics after testing positive for anabolic steroids. The guy who brought the word “stanozolol” into everyday vocabulary…yeah – THAT guy. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/oct/05/ben-johnson-drugs-olympics Well he’s back, he is about to release his autobiography….and [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Spain are World Champs, but Congrats to South Africa for a Successful World Cup
Now that the World Cup has ended, I expected lots of patronising and negative comments highlighting every single problem or thing that did not go according to plan. However, I want to say a great big CONGRATULATIONS to South Africa for hosting this marvellous World Cup. Here’s a good piece in the Guardian about the [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 3 so far )Match Fixing Suspicions and Nigeria’s Super Eagles at the World Cup
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8805137.stm Big news if this is confirmed. Apparently FIFA received warnings that Nigeria was vulnerable to match fixing during the World Cup. *Suspicions about betting patterns were reported. *There are allegations that members of Nigeria’s team came forward to claim that their team “was vulnerable to manipulation”. *A German journalist named Christian Bergmann received a [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 3 so far )Nigerian Government Reverses Football Ban Amid Pressure from FIFA
Thank goodness sanity prevailed. After banning its football team from international football for 2 years, Nigeria’s government has reversed its decision. FIFA gave the government a 48 hour ultimatum to reverse the decision or face expulsion from FIFA. Thank goodness the government saw the light and lifted this mad decision that would have done irreparable [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )President Goodluck Jonathan Suspends Super Eagles for 2 Years, NFF Dissolved
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has suspended the national football team (the “Super Eagles”) from international football for two years. This was in response to Nigeria’s poor showing at the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa where Nigeria were eliminated in the first round – getting only one point after losing to Argentina and Greece, [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 10 so far )2010 FIFA World Cup – South Africa -v- France: A Nation Awakes
My writing has largely been about Nigeria’s matches at the World Cup. In my preoccupation (and depression!) with Nigeria, I’ve neglected to inform you about my other (largely positive) experiences in South Africa. I attended the FIFA fanfest in Durban this week to watch the South Africa -v- France match. To be honest watching that [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )Flags and Big Butts: Nigeria Crash out of World Cup
Puke and Projectile Vomiting After being eliminated, South Africans were anxiously supporting Nigeria. On my way to the stadium, Cameroon and South African fans got on my bus wearing Bafana Bafana and Lions shirts and were cheering on Nigeria. A South African woman in front of me came with her daughter who chatted with, and [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 3 so far )Greece -v- Nigeria in Bloemfontein – A Tale of Two Average Teams
Off to Bloemfontein – Orange Free State FIFA were right to recommend that fans take a scenic drive to Bloemfontein. The scenery is wonderful along the 395km route from Johannesburg. Driving to the Orange Free State allowed me to see large chunks of the South African countryside and to make some casual observations: *There were [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 5 so far )2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa – Are African Teams Underachieving?
The great Brazilian Edson Arantes de Nascimento (“Pele”) once predicted that an African team would win the World Cup before the year 2000. Pele’s prediction is now 10 years overdue. The furthest African teams have managed to get in the World Cup is the quarter-finals (Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002). Pele’s prediction was [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Football, Girls and Vuvuzelas: Africa’s First World Cup – South Africa 2010
Welcome to South Africa This is normally a history and politics blog. However I decided to talk about the one thing that is currently on everyone’s lips: THE WORLD CUP! I am in South Africa to see the first ever World Cup on African soil. I hope the tournament will be a great success and [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 5 so far )
