Nigerian Football System: Examining Micro-Level Practices against a Global Model for Integrated Development of Mass and Elite Sport

Authors: I. Derek Kaka’an, P. Smolianov, S. Dion, C. Schoen, J. Norberg, C. G. Iortimah

Abstract:

This study examines the current state of football in Nigeria to identify the country's practices, which could be useful internationally, and to determine areas for improvement. Over 200 sources of literature on sport delivery systems in successful sports nations were analyzed to construct a globally applicable model of elite football integrated with mass participation, comprising of the following three levels: macro (socio-economic, cultural, legislative, and organizational), meso (infrastructures, personnel, and services enabling sports programs) and micro level (operations, processes, and methodologies for the development of individual athletes). The model has received scholarly validation and has shown to be a framework for program analysis that is not culturally bound. It has recently been utilized for further understanding such sports systems as US rugby, tennis, soccer, swimming, and volleyball, as well as Dutch and Russian swimming. A questionnaire was developed using the above-mentioned model. Survey questions were validated by 12 experts including academicians, executives from sports governing bodies, football coaches, and administrators. To identify best practices and determine areas for improvement of football in Nigeria, 116 coaches completed the questionnaire. Useful exemplars and possible improvements were further identified through semi-structured discussions with 10 Nigerian football administrators and experts. Finally, a content analysis of the Nigeria Football Federation's website and organizational documentation was conducted. This paper focuses on the micro level of Nigerian football delivery, particularly talent search and development as well as advanced athlete preparation and support. Results suggested that Nigeria could share such progressive practices as the provision of football programs in all schools and full-time coaches paid by governments based on the level of coach education. Nigerian football administrators and coaches could provide better football services affordable for all, where success in mass and elite sports is guided by science focused on athletes' needs. Better implemented could be international best practices such as lifelong guidelines for health and excellence of everyone and integration of fitness tests into player development and ranking as done in best Dutch, English, French, Russian, Spanish, and other European clubs; integration of educational and competitive events for elite and developing athletes as well as fans as done at the 2018 World Cup Russia; and academies with multi-stage athlete nurturing as done by Ajax in Africa as well as Barcelona FC and other top clubs expanding across the world. The methodical integration of these practices into the balanced development of mass and elite football will help contribute to international sports success as well as national health, education, crime control, and social harmony in Nigeria.

Keywords: Football, high performance, mass participation, Nigeria, sport development.

References:

uard. (2015). Eaglets are Champions. Win FIFA U-17 World cup again. Retrieved from https://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/braking-news-golden-eaglets-win-again/
[2] Poli, R., Besson, R., & Ravenel, L. (2018). Football Analytics. The CIES Football Observatory 2018 season. CIES Football Observatory, 35, 1-2.
[3] Green, C. (2005). Building sport programs to optimize athlete recruitment, retention, and transition: Toward a normative theory of sport development, journal of sport management, 19, 233–253.
[4] Omo-Osagie, p. (2014, November 22). Developing a Coaching Policy for Nigerian Football. Goal. Available at: http://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/4082/comment/2014/11/22/6325401/developing-a-coaching-policy-for-nigerian-football.
[5] Ogunleye-Bello, A. (2015, June 19). Failure: The attribute of Nigerian Coaches. Post Nigeria. available at: http://www.post-nigeria.com/failure-the-attribute-of-nigerian-coaches-by-aderonke-ogunleye-bello/.
[6] Ajom, J. (2017, 23rd August.). Nigeria sport: Falling standards, result of leadership vacuum. Vanguard. Available at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/08/nigeria-sportfalling-standards-result-leadership-vacuum/.
[7] Yazid, L.I. (2014). Sport development; The Nigerian way: A review. International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health. 1(4): 20-24
[8] Odegbami, S. (2017, 8th April). The ‘death’ of grassroots sports in Nigeria. The Guardian. Available at: https://guardian.ng/sport/the-death-of-grassroots-sports-in-nigeria/.
[9] Alimi, T. (2017, February 19th). NIS: National Institute for Scandal (Sports). The nation. Available at: http://thenationonlineng.net/nisnational-institute-scandal-sports/.
[10] BBC (2018, April 9). Finidi George say education dey important for football. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/sport-43690707P. Smolianov & D. H. Zakus, “Integrated development of mass and high-performance sport: A global model. Olympic reform” In Proc. A ten-year review conference, Toronto Canada, 2009a.
[11] Yazid, L.I. (2014). Sport development; The Nigerian way: A review. International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health. 1(4): 20-24
[12] John-Mensah, O. (2017, December 6). Dalung indicts officials of aiding doping among athletes. Daily trust. Available at: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/dalung-indicts-officials-of-aiding-doping-among-athletes.html.
[13] Smolianov, P., & Zakus, D. H. (2008). Exploring high performance management in Olympic sport with reference to practices in the former USSR and Russia. The international journal of sport management, 9(2), 206–232.
[14] Smolianov, P., & Zakus, D. H. (2009a), Integrated development of mass and high-performance sport: A global model. Olympic reform, A ten-year review conference, Toronto, May 19th, Canada.
[15] Smolianov, P., & Zakus, D. H. (2009b). Olympic training centers as part of sport development and mass participation–a case of Moscow, USSR, 17th conference of the European association for sport management, Amsterdam. September 5th, Netherlands.
[16] Sparvero, E., Chalip, L., & Green, B. C. (2008). United States. In B. Houlihan & M. Green (Eds.), Comparative elite sport development: Systems, structures and public policy, Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann, pp. 242–270.
[17] Green, M., & Houlihan, B. (2005). Elite sport development: Policy learning and political priorities. London: Routledge.
[18] De Bosscher, V., De Knop, P., Van Bottenburg, M., & Shibli, S. (2006), A conceptual framework for analyzing sports policy factors leading to international sporting success. European sport management quarterly, 6(2), 185–215.
[19] De Bosscher, V., Shibli, S., Van Bottenburg, M., De Knop, P., & Truyens, J. (2010). Developing a method for comparing the elite sport systems and policies of nations: A mixed research methods approach. Journal of sport management, 24, 567–600.
[20] Williams, A.M. & Reilly, T. (2000). Talent identification and development in soccer. Journal of Sports Sciences, 18, 657-667.
[21] DIT elite sport initiatives. (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://www.dit.ie/media/admissions/documents/FOR%20WEB%20DIT%20Athlete%20Support%20Programme.pdf.
[22] Riordan, J. (1980). Sport in soviet society: Development of sport and physical education in Russia and the USSR. Cambridge university press, Cambridge.
[23] Shneidman, N. N. (1978). The Soviet Road to Olympus: Theory and Practice of Soviet Physical Culture and Sport. Toronto, Canada: The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
[24] Smolianov, P., D. Zakus, and J. Gallo. (2014). Sport development in the United States: High performance and mass participation. London: Routledge.
[25] Baumann, A. (2002). Developing sustained high-performance services and systems that have quality outcomes. In 12th commonwealth AQ3 international sport conference. Association of commonwealth universities. Manchester, pp. 62–71.
[26] Digel, H. (2002). Resources for world class performances in sport: A comparison of different systems of top level sport policy. Institute national du sport expertise in elite sport 2nd international days of sport sciences. Paris, 12th November. France. pp. 46–49. 21.
[27] Green, M., & Oakley, B. (2001). Elite sport development systems and playing to win: Uniformity and diversity in international approaches. Leisure studies, 20, 247–267.
[28] Smolianov, P., Sheehan, J., Fritz, E., Cruz, D., Dion, S., Benton, R., Carl, P., McMahon, S. (2016). Comparing the practices of US swimming against a global model for integrated development of mass and high-performance sport. Journal of Sports Management and Commercialization, 7(3-4), 1-23.
[29] Schoen, C., MarcAurele, C., & Smolianov, P. (2016, July). Comparing practices of US ice hockey against a global model for integrated development of mass and high-performance sport. Poster presented at 21st annual congress of the European college of sport science in Vienna, center for sport science and university sports, University of Vienna, Austria.J. Riordan, Sport, Politics and Communism, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1991.
[30] Hopkinson, M., Smolianov, P., Dion, S., Schoen, C., Norberg, J., & Bouncher, C. (2018). Comparing Practices of US Volleyball Systems against a Global Model for Integrated Development of Mass and High-Performance Sport. ICHPER-SD Journal of Research, 9(2), 9-19.
[31] Smolianov, P., Murphy, J., McMahon, S., & Naylor, A. (2014). Comparing practices of US soccer against a global model for integrated development of mass and high-performance sport. Managing Sport and Leisure: An International Journal, 20(1), 1-21. Retrieved on February 10, 2017, from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13606719.2014.929402
[32] Carney, M., Smolianov, P., & Zakus, D. H., (2012). Comparing the practices of USA rugby against a global model for integrated development of mass and high-performance sport. Managing Leisure. An International Journal, 17, 181–205.
[33] Smolianov, P., Gallo, J., & Naylor, A. (2014). Comparing the practices of USA tennis against a global model for integrated development of mass and high-performance sport. Managing leisure: An international journal, 19(4), 283–304.
[34] Zeeuw, M., Smolianov, P., Dion, S., & Schoen, C. (2017). Comparing the practices of Dutch swimming against a global model for integrated development of mass and high-performance sport. Managing sport and leisure: An international journal, 22(2), 91-112.
[35] Farrey, T. (2018). How Norway Won the Winter Olympics. The Aspen Institute,1-12. Retrieved from https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/norway-won-winter-olympics/.
[36] Fetisov, V. A. (2005). About criteria and indicators of development of physical culture and sport internationally. Moscow. Soviet sport.
[37] Matveev, L. P. (2008). Theory and methods of physical culture. Physical culture and sport. Sport
[38] Platonov, V. N. (2010). High performance sport and preparation of national teams. Soviet sport, Moscow.
[39] Bravo, G., Orejan, J., Ve´lez, L., & Lo´pez de D’Amico, R. (2012). Sport in Latin America. In M. Li, E. Macintosh, & G. Bravo (Eds.), International sport management, Champaign, Illinois, pp. 99–133. 16.
[40] Oakley B., & Green, M. (2001). The production of Olympic champions: international perspectives on elite sport development system. European journal for sport management, 8, 83 – 105.
[41] Riordan, J. (1991). Sport, Politics and Communism. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Reid, M., M. Crespo, F. Atienza, and J. Dimmock. (2007). Tournament structure and nations’ success in women’s professional tennis. Journal of sports sciences, 25 (11): 1221–8.
[42] De Bosscher, V., P. De Knop, and B. Heyndels. (2003). Comparing tennis success among countries. International sports studies 25 (1): 49–68.
[43] Government of Netherlands (n.d). Subjects and attainment targets in primary education. Retrieved from https://www.government.nl/topics/primary-education/subjects-and-attainment-targets-in-primary-education.
[44] Spain at the FIFA World Cup. (2023). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain_at_the_FIFA_World_Cup
[45] Balyi, I and Way, R (1995). Long-Term Planning of Athlete Development: The Training to Train Phase. B.C. Coach. pp. 2 – 10
[46] Canadian Sport for Life (n.d). Long-Term Athlete Development Stages: A clear path to better sport, greater health, and higher achievement. Retrieved from http://sportforlife.ca/qualitysport/long-term-athlete-development/.
[47] Hatum, A. Silvestri, L (2015, June 16). What makes FC Barcelona such a successful business. Harvard business review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2015/06/what-makes-fc-barcelona-such-a-successful-business/.
[48] Pettigrove, J (2015, August 4). Explaining the structure at Barcelona - How the club functions on and off the pitch. Sportskeeda. Available at: https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/explaining-structure-barcelona-club-working-youth-la-masia-board/.
[49] Wilson, J. (2018, July 1). Why the FA must strike now and deliver grassroots revolution. The Telegraph. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2018/07/01/fa-must-strike-now-deliver-grassroots-revolution/.
[50] BBC (2004a, January 29). Specialist schools now a majority. Retrieved, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/3438825.stm.
[51] BBC (2004b, June 14). Sport ‘improves boys’ behavior. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/3804793.stm.
[52] Davies, G. (2008). Specialist sports colleges make the grade. Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2290634/Specialist-Sports-Collegesmake-the-grade.html.
[53] Way,R., Repp,C., & Brennan, T. (2010). Sport schools in canada: The future is here. Victoria, BC: Canadian sport centre, pacific. Retrieved from http://www.vancouversun.com/pdf/nationalpaper2.pdf
[54] Wynhausen, E. (2007). Crossing the greatest of divides, The Australian. Available at: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22850153-2722,00.Html.
[55] Ames, N. (2017, October 29th) England’s roaring success: Young lions’ incredible year at youth level. Kwese ESPN. Available at: http://kwese.espn.com/football/club/england/448/blog/post/3249789/englands-roaring-success-young-lions-incredible-year-at-youth-level.
[56] PFA. (n.d). The PFA provides advice and guidance for the provision of educational and vocational courses. Retrieved from https://www.thepfa.com/education/about
[57] Kalén, A., Rey, E., de Rellán-Guerra, A. S., & Lago-Peñas, C. (2019). Are soccer players older now than before? aging trends and market value in the last three decades of the UEFA champions league. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 432505.
[58] Bailey, M. (2014, August 15) What do footballers do when they retire? The telegraph. Available at https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/11028666/What-do-footballers-do-when-they-retire.html
[59] Active.com (n,d.) What You Need to Know About ODP. Retrieved from https://www.active.com/soccer/articles/what-you-need-to-know-about-odp-881316
[60] Basu. R. (2015, October 14). Why the Ajax Academy is one of the best in the world. Available at: https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/why-ajax-academy-best-world.
[61] James, S. (2013, May 23). How Germany went from bust to boom on the talent production line. The guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/may/23/germany-bust-boom-talent.
[62] Schmitt, M. (2015, February 5). Youth development in German football, part one: investing. Bayern Central. Available at: https://www.bayerncentral.com/2015/02/youth-development-german-football-investing/.