Daily Trust - the online edition

Two months after the dismal performance of the country’s senior national team, the Super Eagles at the 2008 African Cup of Nations held in Ghana, the Senate Committee on sports has concluded plans to hold a public hearing on what actually went wrong at the CAF organised tournament.

With the National Assembly via its lower arm the House of Representatives probing the rot in the power sector and yet another probe of the last Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration, the searchlight now falls on the NFA and its supervising ministry the NSC (Sports commission).

The Senate has fixed 21st and 22nd of May as dates to hold public hearing into the management of sports in general and the dismal performance of the Super Eagles at Ghana 2008.

The Senate which is acting in furtherance of its resolution No. S/RES/047/08 of 9th February, 2008 directed its committee on Sports and Social Development to conduct full scale investigation into the Eagles failing in Ghana and the resolution is backed by the provisions of sections 88, 89 of the 1999 constitution of the country and order 103 of the standing rules of the Senate 2007.

The 2-day public hearing scheduled for the Senate Hearing Room 1, National Assembly complex, Abuja gives the committee terms of reference like; Management of sports in general, Development of sports in Nigeria, Dismal performance of our team at Ghana 2008 African Cup of Nations, Problems and Challenges of sports in Nigeria and Sponsorship as the things to probe on.

The committee would then turn in a report for deliberation by the plenary session of the Senate, where far reaching decisions would be taken on the administration of sports in the country.

It would be recalled that the Super Eagles had their worst Nations Cup outing in 24 years when they crashed out at the quarter-final stage to hosts Ghana who were a man down in the game, amidst claims of indiscipline on the part of some of the team’s players.

The team’s German coach Berti Vogts was also accused of being tactically deficient, and paid for it by losing his job and has been replaced by the quartet of indigenous coaches Shuaibu Amodu, Daniel Amokachi, Fatai Amoo and Alloy Agu with their selection particularly that of Amodu frowned upon by the Senate committee on sports.