2010 FIFA World Cup: Good Luck Jonathan, Banning Nigeria From Internationals

What an apt name in this situation. Nigeria's president, Goodluck Jonathan, has banned his country's national football team from competing in international matches for the next two years, as has been very well documented.

The shocking decision comes on the back of a poor World Cup campaign from the Super Eagles , in which the African side finished bottom of Group B, even lower than the talentless, ambition-less Greece, who actually beat Nigeria 2-1.

Of course, FIFA have been quick to come in and just remind everybody that there are actually some severe consequences of government interference with a national football team.

France, with their spectacular shambles, have also been under official scrutiny for similar things after president Nicolas Sarkozy evidently displayed his disdain for the tarnished sporting image of his country.  

According to the official FIFA rules regarding government interference: national football assocations can be suspended (like the case with Iraq, Iran, El Salvador, etc) or even expelled from the sport alltogether.

One can't really imagine Chelsea's John Obi Mikel, Wolfsburg's Obafemi Martins, Arsenal legend Nwankwo Kanu playing the sport with no national football association to represent.

It's a bit like Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Cesc Fabregas, etc, not being able to decide to represent Spain or Catalunya, and instead deciding to play for no national team.

Their careers wouldn't go anywhere at the highest level, let alone the fact that the country's entire footballing and sporting infrastructure would've gone to waste on producing talent for nobody.

Speaking about both the French and Nigerian incidents, FIFA's press guru Nicolas Maingot reiterated, "The worst sanction available is that a national association can be expelled, but this isn't related to either of the two cases."

He added, "In terms of Nigeria, we have received official information from their government.

"We are looking at both cases. FIFA has a very clear position on political interference, but it's premature to speak further about either case."

From a football viewpoint, the idiosyncratic actions of Goodluck Jonathan appear to be a big mistake.

Apart from raising doubts about his judgement and decision-making as the country's leader, banning his national football team from competitive international matches for two years could well be deleterious to Nigerian football and sport.

For a start, two years without competition would make Nigeria plunge down the official rankings, and would render their side as dangerous a footballing force as Palestine or San Marino.

It would also mean that once the ban is lifted, the players who represent the national team would have no recent experience of international football, and so re-adjusting to the physiological, and more importantly, the psychological impact of playing the game on the world stage, would take a lot of time.

Too much time for the Super Eagles to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup or upcoming African Cup of Nations tournament, that's for sure.

Also, it would mean that the hard work and dedication of Nigerian footballers to make it to the top would've been done, effectively, for nothing.

After all, representing one's country is still the highest honour in sport; just ask any elite athlete that. Well, any athlete apart from the English, French or Italian footballers.

From a political viewpoint, it could also be a major backstep for Mr. Jonathan in terms of his reputation as Nigeria's leader.

Let's be honest, who would want a person in charge of a country that deprives its people of the nation's favourite sport? What would he do next? Wipe out the budgets of failing sectors of the economy? That's a somewhat exaggeration, but it raises the point.

Could one really imagine Brazil's president Lula and the Partido dos Trabalhadores government banning football in the Samba country if the Selecao failed to progress past the group stages of a World Cup?

The nation's whole sporting infrastructure would be thrown into disarray.

If Nigerian footballers are getting so condemned by their own government for international failure, not only does it put a much greater psychological strain on them once they return to international football, but it also affects Nigerian athletes in other sports.

A 100m Nigerian sprinter might feel extra pressure heading into the Olympics, knowing that failure of only a medium magnitude would lead to sanctions and punishments from their government.

For example, they might think something along the lines of, "If I don't make it into the final heats, the government could take away my funding."

And it's such extra pressure which could affect all Nigerian athletes, with the president seemingly punishing all sportspeople who considerably fail in their sport, which can grip them with nerves and hence severely damage their performance and thus make considerable failure far more likely.

So, Nigeria's president is planning to ban the Super Eagles  from competitive international football for two years. Well, with an entire population, let alone FIFA, on your back, good luck Mr. Jonathan, you'll need it.