New Era

Whilst many a scribe think of themselves as experts in dovetailing their thoughts into written lingo, notably when the Queen's tongue is at stake â€" yours truly is at a loss to find a suitable description for the draconian decision by CAF to impose a ban on the grieving Togolese football team.

The tragic withdrawal of Togo was not of her own making but through the senseless gun attack on their unsuspecting travelling entourage that had catastrophic consequences for any further interest they might have had in the continental showpiece.

Knowing the usual maneuvers of my learned African brothers, had such a decision been taken by the World's football governing body FIFA, dozens of accusations would have been levelled against our pale-skinned colleagues that such an act was racially motivated, unpatriotic, un-African and all sorts of crap.

Truth be told, any human being with a decent amount of that little grey substance tucked between their ears would have done exactly what the Togolese government did to withdraw their team from the tournament â€" given the lame excuses advanced by the tournament organizers in the aftermath of the horrific shooting on the Togolese team bus that left two members of their technical staff dead and one player seriously wounded.

As much as we are guided by rules and regulations â€" for heaven's sake! These so-called sacred rules are man-made and certainly not cast in stone.

Yours truly is not advocating for bylaws to be broken and adjusted at the slightest provocation but simply appeals to law custodians to create space for commonsense to prevail.

The harsh resolution by Africa's football controlling body CAF to slap a ban on Togo has left a not-exactly-pleasant odour in the tail. That decision was basically motivated by financial connotations resulting from a loss of revenue through television and other related broadcasting deals.

So, this once again brings us to the boiling debate as to whether football bosses really have the best interest of the beautiful game at heart whilst having their eyes firmly fixed on the vast inflow of moolah that has become the trademark of football in the modern era.

Yours truly honestly believes CAF took a risky leap in the dark and need to revisit their decision.

Is the West African dominance coming to an end?

Surely, the Egyptian football team loaded with locally based footballers made history by becoming the first ever African nation to win Africa's flagship football tournament three times in a row.

For starters, how on earth do we expect a football powerhouse such as the Super Eagles of Nigeria to win if the playing personnel have developed a tendency of putting money ahead of national pride?.

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