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Doing It Right: Glo-CAF African Football Awards.
By Toyin | February 11, 2009
When Globacom took over the sponsorship of the Glo-CAF African Footballer of the year award from MTN, I was very proud that at least, our ‘own’ has stepped up and taking center stage in African football. Prior to this audacious move, Glo (as we call the communication giant in Nigeria) has been a major backer of the national football league, the Super Eagles and Enyimba of Aba (arguably Nigeria’s most successful club side) through mega sponsorships.
The company is also a major investor in our country’s entertainment industry. And one cannot really carve out a schism between football and entertainment as it were.
In the past, the awards took place in places like Egypt and South Africa. Most times, the winner becomes a contentious issue ranging from the rivalry between Anglophone and Francophone countries as well as the quality of the league the nominees ply their trade. Often times than not, players that have the inkling that the ultimate prize may not come their way stay away from the awards entirely.
This, of course takes away the shine from the ceremony even as the organizers try hard to downplay this reality. Imagine the same awards organized by FIFA without the players on stage; unimaginable!
This is what Globacom has been able to achieve; gather the relevant people together and ensure that the players are present at the ceremony to be honoured. And as far as ‘am concerned, this represent the greatest achievement of the communication company since taking over the sponsorship of the award.
Apart from the stuttering start to the awards in Abuja some few years back when politicians rather than sports people took over the ceremony and almost turned it into a political rally, consistent improvement has been the order of the day since then. I know that not all people will agree with me on this but the fact remains that Glo and CAF have done well not foreclosing the fact that in any endeavour, there is always room for improvement.
The most recent of the ceremonies was held in Lagos yesterday where Mohammed Aboutreika and Emmanuel Adebayo (please forget the R) were the big winners on the night. Egypt also came tops as a Nation by carting award the prizes in the coach, club side, and team of the year categories.
The ambience of the hall coupled with the brilliance of the hosts made the attendees (that included Joseph Sepp Blatter) to experience the beautiful city of Lagos; our Center of Excellence. The stage lightings and the televised message of Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr. conveys the impression and indeed the reality that we can do it.
To cap it all, almost all the nominees were present and the winners personally collected their superb trophies (made by one of the best trophy designers in the world) except for Coach Hassan Shehata of Egypt.
This is the way things should be done if we must move ahead as a Nation and we must imbibe the ‘can do’ spirit proudly in display by Globacom; a major Nigerian beacon of hope!
Topics: Biz Football, Nigerian Football, Success Pills, Who Will Win |
February 17th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Glo is a national pride and long may they reign in this clime and others!
February 17th, 2009 at 10:12 am
If Nigeria has more of the likes of Mike Adenuga, this nation will become better for it and I wish him all the best.
March 27th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Globacom has done well not only for Nigeria but the whole Africa. Our pride in the work of the coy is high due to the professionalism they brought to bear on the mobile communication industry. As a major investor in sports development, they are also helping to reduce poverty and lack.
Sponsoring the CAF awards is a great effort in putting Nigeria on the world’s map and it should be commended by all. Keep up the good work you are doing on this blog; the sky cannot be the limit of you!