…Away From Home
Many Nigerians still ask this question every match day, will our team win an away game? This has been in existence since the league began many years ago.
Home advantage is an established concept in football. Raucous home support, an uncomfortable trip for the away team, and added motivation not to lose on your turf all make it more likely that the home team will win. In Nigeria, home advantage is accentuated by the commute. The commute is usually exhausting, especially because Nigeria has poor roads. All in all, stressed-out players will not perform as well as the home team.
Many teams reserve their first team players and travel with the second team, believing that they are not going to win due to many reasons, whilst losing away and winning at home week in and week out.
This season in the Nigerian Professional Football League, NPFL was looking like it was going to be different for away teams to dominate and win. League leaders, Enugu Rangers went 11 games unbeaten with nine points from a possible 12 away from home in achieving that feat, but got beaten by Katsina United and Rivers United in a back to back away games ending their unbeaten run, as well as ending their attempt to break the NPFL record of 12 games unbeaten. Arriving just before kick-off after long road trips, often on hazardous surfaces, is far from ideal preparation for players. And they do not always arrive.
In game week 32 at the Onikan stadium, Sporting Lagos defeated relegation-bound Abia Warriors 4:2, after coming back from losing a first-half two goals lead. It was spotted that Abia warriors came a day before the match by a night bus and were about to leave for Abia, just minutes after the game via night bus.
While travel plays a role in ensuring home advantage, the rarity of away wins in Nigeria suggests the reason goes beyond long commutes. It turns out that club presidents and fans play a huge role in the phenomenon.
Nigerian football clubs are run and funded by state governments, barring a few exceptions owned by private individuals. State governments appoint chairmen to run the clubs, and these are usually civil servants at state FA rank. Club chairmen, particularly those who run bigger clubs, are often under a lot of pressure to win games and finish near the top of the league. Because of this, they often employ a variety of methods to ensure they win including bribing referees and inciting violence.
These chairmen have access to state government resources and often use this means to bribe referees to favour their teams. Franklin Obiagwu, a Sports analyst and reporter, said: “The system is structured in a way that wrongdoing is prevalent, in many cases the referees are boxed into tight corners making them disrupt games to favour the home team,” he said
He says Nigerian referees are paid very little, receiving salaries between 80,000 to 100,000.
“Unfortunately, there’s a lot of corruption in the system. A referee that earns 100,000 and is offered a million naira to alter a game in favour of the home team will most likely take the bribe,” Mr Obiagwu explains. Why just the home team? Well, referees are often too afraid to even subtly favour teams away from home as they know that home fans are eager to hop on any perceived slight against their team,” he said.
While blaming the referees, fan threatens to beat up the officials if their teams fail to win. Fan violence plays a huge role in the rarity of away wins. Over the years, referees have had to contend with violent and entitled fans who believe their team must always win. In 2022, veteran Kano Pillars captain, Rabiu Ali was banned for 11 games for inciting the fans to beat up the referee after his team drew a match in Kano.
Some seasons ago, after Plateau United scored a late equaliser against Heartland FC Owerri, Heartland fans descended on the match officials and accused them of favouring the away team. The violent attack on the officials, which was backed by Heartland management, left the referee hospitalised. Fan aggression is not directed at referees alone. Many times, players are attacked during and after games.
In 2013 against Wikki Tourists of Bauchi, scored a late goal, immediately after that goal came in, the fans jumped on the pitch and beat up the referee. dragged into that violence too, many of the players sustained injuries on that day.
While many Nigerian football fans may scoff at the idea that fan violence is prevalent, the reality is that it is common enough to have created a culture of fear among referees and players. Ahmed Rufai, another sports analyst, suggests that while bribes are a carrot to entice referees, the threat of violence acts as a very hard stick. “Even when referees are determined not to be influenced by money offered, it is no guarantee that the mob will not come for them after the game,” he says.
These issues have affected the popularity of our local league, and may also be impeding the development of Nigerian players. Players are less motivated when they know the match’s outcome has already been fixed. Overall, the quality of the league suffers.
Some commentators have suggested increasing referee pay to reduce poor officiating. But better referee remuneration must be accompanied by appropriate training and sanctions for when they err.
Fans have a role to play as well. For one, they would need to get used to more frequent home losses. And borrowing from European football, both fans and clubs can be punished for violence at stadiums, whether through fines, forcing teams to play behind closed doors, or even suspension from a continental competition – a punishment imposed on English teams in the 80s following the Heysel stadium disaster.
On Monday, April 30, Enyimba Fc were deducted two points by the NPFL, for disruption of their game against Doma United. They said it was a sequel to the Nigerian Football Federation, NFF disciplinary committee’s decision to upturn the victory that Enyimba had over Doma. Stiffer punishments like this can go a long way in developing the local league.
Once again, many lovers of the league may scoff at the proposals and see them as efforts to regulate or internationalise the league. But until corruption and violence are eradicated, the domestic league will forever be a champion at home, but never away.
–Benprince Ezeh
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