Having watched the African football landscape for about thirty years, I have seen the ascent and decline of many national teams in the continent. Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast have dominated the African football scene during my lifetime. Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast have probably been the most dominant. However, these countries have suffered significant decline in their recent footballing fortunes. Egypt and Cameroon, for examples, did not even qualify for the current African Nations Cup! Observing the precipitous decline of once popular football nations make me wonder about what might explain such sudden fall. While there might probably be other reasons, my initial hunch, developed through observation of these countries, is that the fall in their footballing fortunes is directly tied to political uncertainty and misrule. One can observe this especially in the North African countries that failed to advance to the second round of the current African Nations Cup. Ivory Coast, with probably the most formidable team in Africa, has consistently failed to perform well since the country descended into chaos after Felix Houphouet-Boigny. Cameroon began doing well in the 1980s when the misrule of Paul Biya had not taken effect. The acceleration of Paul Biya's misrule has made the football nation to be a shadow of its former self. The North African countries have seen a decline in their footballing prowess due in part to the Arab Spring.
The countries that seem to be doing well now are those that seem to have some semblance of order. Someone may want to test this hypothesis in a more scientific fashion to see where it leads. The question to be addressed is this: what role does political and economic order play in enhancing the staying power of a dominant footballing nation? A country like Burkina Faso, which is now in the final of the African Nations Cup, may be one of the challenges to this hypothesis. Its economy is bad and it is suffocating under the murderous dictatorship of Blaise Compaore. However, what can we say about the fact that Egyptian football thrived under the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak? Why are countries such as Nigeria and Ghana doing relatively well now?
The countries that seem to be doing well now are those that seem to have some semblance of order. Someone may want to test this hypothesis in a more scientific fashion to see where it leads. The question to be addressed is this: what role does political and economic order play in enhancing the staying power of a dominant footballing nation? A country like Burkina Faso, which is now in the final of the African Nations Cup, may be one of the challenges to this hypothesis. Its economy is bad and it is suffocating under the murderous dictatorship of Blaise Compaore. However, what can we say about the fact that Egyptian football thrived under the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak? Why are countries such as Nigeria and Ghana doing relatively well now?
1 comment:
Sincerely your analysis does not make sense. It is just a matter of coincidence. What will you say about Brazil, Argentina, and Britain just to name these few? Their football too is declining. Look for reasons elsewhere not in politics.
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