A sad tale of no charity

Charity Cup champions, Heartland


By Ojeikere Aikhoje

Across the world, the Charity Shield or Super Cup, as it is also called, is an integral part of the programme of football federations. 

It’s a glamorous event used to determine the best of the best between League and Cup Champions.

The English version which has since been renamed the Football Association Community Shield remains the most popular.

It raises hundreds of thousands of pounds every year, distributed to community-based initiatives and charities up and down the country.

Traditionally, it signals the start of a new football season, but the reverse is the case in Nigeria.

On Thursday, Cup champions Heartland defeated League winners, Kano Pillars 2-0 to win the title.

supersport.com examines the relevance of the match in Nigeria.

Objectives

In England, it connects with its objectives of supporting community related initiatives to bring the game closer to the people, especially the less privileged.

Organised by the Football Association, proceeds from the game are distributed to community-based initiatives and charities around the country.

Revenue from the gate receipts and match programme sales is distributed to the 124 clubs that competed in The FA Cup from the First Round onwards, for onward distribution to charities and projects of their choice, while the remainder is distributed to the FA's national charity partners.

Like the English Premier League trophy, the Community Shield is iconic.

It was first played in 1908 and evolved over the years.

England’s traditional football ground, Wembley, became home of the Charity Shield, in 1974.

It is positioned to be a must-watch match and backed with massive publicity to boost its profile across the globe.

Nigeria

The Nigerian version, called the Charity Cup, was tailored after the Community Shield. But it’s a different story as the Nigeria Football Federation has never initiated any charitable project.

supersport.com’s findings reveal that the NFF doesn’t have national charity partners like its counterpart in England.

The main objective of raising funds for humanitarian purposes has never been achieved by the NFF.

Besides, the Charity Cup is supposed to have a permanent venue and an iconic trophy unlike the situation today. In recent times, the NFF goes cap-in-hand to state governments to assist in the organisation of the match which has since become another item on the agenda of the Annual General meeting.

The Heartland and Pillars tie was decided during the AGM in the Rivers State capital, Port-Harcourt.

Since the Charity Cup is supposed to be a high profile match, it is expected that the match will be played at Nigeria’s biggest stadium (i.e. Nigeria’s version of England’s Wembley), which will accommodate more fans and in turn generate more funds with adequate publicity.

After the match, clubs are supposed to receive money for their charities.

However, clubs won’t fancy such an idea even if the funds were made available when the Football House, which is the governing body has never considered it a noble cause.

Poor organisation of the competition has remained a recurring decimal.

All hands must be on deck to ensure it delivers expected dividend.