{"id":2545,"date":"2021-01-30T20:44:37","date_gmt":"2021-01-30T20:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/?p=2545"},"modified":"2021-01-30T20:44:38","modified_gmt":"2021-01-30T20:44:38","slug":"the-chan-a-legends-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/2021\/01\/30\/the-chan-a-legends-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"The CHAN \u2013 A Legend\u2019s Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Satish Sekar \u00a9 Satish Sekar (January 18th<\/sup> 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nigeria\u2019s Legend<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There was no African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Segun Odegbami\u2019s day. The Nigerian legend didn\u2019t need it to showcase his abilities. At that time African footballers tended to play in Africa. Odegbami was no different. He graced football in his own continent throughout his distinguished career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It did him no harm on the pitch. Odegbami figures prominently in any sensible conversation on African greats. Odegbami, known as \u2018Mathematical\u2019 was joint top-scorer at the Africa Cup of Nations\u2019 tournaments in 1978 and 1980. He excelled both for club and country and did so without securing a lucrative move abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But football has changed a lot in the four decades since the pinnacle of Odegbami\u2019s achievements. There is money in football now \u2013 a great deal more than in Odegbami\u2019s day, but in Africa that is confined to few leagues, and even those, struggle to compete with Europe or the lucrative (in terms of riches at least) leagues of the Middle-East and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Football is a short career \u2013 at least in terms of earning potential. For African players, especially, that means taking advantage of opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for every Didier Drogba or Samuel Eto\u2019o there are hundreds or thousands of horror stories. The CHAN offers an important opportunity \u2013 highlighting the talent available in African leagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A Legend Speaks<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Nigerian legend, Segun Odegbami, has an interesting perspective on the CHAN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nigerians now see playing in the top European leagues as the pinnacle of success. Odegbami has a more balanced view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think very highly of CHAN,\u201d Odegbami told me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe objective of using it to celebrate domestic African football and its players is hardly ever achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, he is right. With precious little exceptions the CHAN fails to launch local talent into the highest echelons of football. How many progress from the local national team into the full national team \u2013 one of the major points of the CHAN? How many secure lucrative moves to better leagues, let alone lucrative ones? And how many achieve both?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Notable Exception<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Morocco proved a notable exception at the 6th<\/sup> CHAN. It remains to be seen if Cameroon\u2019s event will also buck the trend, but the Central African giants also see success being measured by achievement in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CHAN winners Achraf Bencharki and the local Atlas Lions\u2019 captain Badr Benoun both secured lucrative moves within African football. The Raja Casablanca teammates moved to bitter Cairo rivals Zamalek and Al-Ahly. These were lucrative moves within African football. Both made an impact in the main Atlas Lions too. They are undoubtedly a huge success for the CHAN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Legend\u2019s Support<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Odegbami agrees with Zambian legend Kalusha Bwalya\u2019s suggestion that the CHAN should be open to players exhibiting their skills in any African league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes it should [work],\u201d Odegbami said. \u201cI foresee no challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe players in the domestic league of the big football nations hardly ever end up in their national teams that are dominated by the foreign legion from Europe,\u201d Odegbami said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, it is hard to argue. In fact, the absence of West African giants, Nigeria and Ghana tell a sad tale. Why are they absent?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sent Packing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Togo sent Nigeria packing for two reasons. One, Nigeria lacks the top local talent it boasted in Odegbami\u2019s day, and two, such talent if it is found, can\u2019t wait to test itself in a European league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, these players know that the CHAN is not seen as a route into the Super-Eagles set up. So, the CHAN is not taken seriously by Nigerian players. That perception must change if the CHAN is to achieve its purpose, at least in Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ghana also missed out \u2013 sent packing by Burkina Faso. Ghanaian footballers also look to prove themselves abroad. Lucrative moves benefit them both as a route into the Black Stars and also the riches available to players. They don\u2019t see the CHAN as the main route to achieving that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Alternatives?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While there is more money in football than in Odegbami\u2019s day, it doesn\u2019t compare to the riches on offer in Europe, the Middle-East and China. A lot more needs to be offered to make the CHAN attractive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odegbami sees that clearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEventually, when the domestic leagues get better organised and more lucrative, and reduce the migration rate of local players abroad, CHAN\u2019s objectives shall be met and players from the competition shall be found to be good enough for their national teams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The benefit of CHAN will reveal itself, but in the future, Odegbami thinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, on paper CHAN is a good and prospectively important competition, but its benefit to countries\u2019 national teams is still down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was no African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Segun Odegbami\u2019s day. The Nigerian legend didn\u2019t need it to showcase his abilities. At that time African footballers tended to play in Africa. Odegbami was no different. He graced football in his own continent throughout his distinguished career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2545"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2546,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545\/revisions\/2546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}