I am privileged to be on the mailing list of the scrabble family and was inundated with reactions on what the Sports Minister reportedly said about limiting the sports the country can participate in.

I know the National Sports Commission, NSC cut the sports the country will participate in at the London 2012 Olympics to a modest six or so, including of course football, male and female for which the country shamefully could not qualify for.

I do not see anything wrong in that because most countries, especially Kenya and Ethiopia, do not bother themselves with sports they know they can hardly get beyond the heats.

At various competitions, you see some countries parading just a handful of athletes, just the number they are sure of getting at least a bronze medal from. They concentrate on these and give them the best preparation and at the end get the desired results. Nigeria should not be different.

What I find disturbing from the mails I received from my friends in scrabble is an outright disqualification or ban on sports like scrabble and Chess and erroneously referring to them as hobbies.

To put the records straight, these two sports are not for the ordinary minds, you must be schooled to be able to engage in them. The two sports are mostly played by students, both secondary and tertiary because they serve as word power and help build students intellect. Even in the military services, they are highly recommended. Nigeria is very strong in both sports. Scrabble for instance, has brought glory to Nigeria as much as women’s football through the Falcons, that both were honoured by the government of Olusegun Obasanjo in 2002.

Nigeria has dominated the African scene for a long time, winning all but one or two championships even though it is yet to be recognised as an Olympic sport. Chess has also done same on the African continent and was responsible for some medals that gave Nigeria the number one spot in the 2003 All Africa Games, the first time the country would come first in the continental festival.

Even if these sports are not yet recognised as Olympic sports, it is not enough to throw them away. They should be allowed to compete at African and world championships were their efforts are good enough to earn the country medals.

Their participation at the biennial National Sports Festival should not be negotiated at all because they are sports for the Nigerian people, especially students we so much eulogise as the future leaders. I think the minister position was misconstrued but if it is otherwise, he should reconsider his position as both Chess and Scrabble are two sports that rarely rely on government to fund their activities.

Commiserating with Egypt

During the week, the world was greeted with the violence at a football match in Port Said, Egypt involving Al Masry and Al Ahly during which over 70 fans died.

The incident is a set back for football and should be condemned by every football lover and fanatic alike as FIFA preaches fair play always, no matter the situation.

In a swift reaction however, the Egyptian authorities sacked the Egyptian FA for the international embarrassment the incident caused the country but surprisingly, two or three days after that decision, nothing has been heard from FIFA threatening Egypt with a ban.

If it were Nigeria, even before the government pronounces a ban for her inept football governing body, a letter purportedly written for FIFA by desperate Nigerians, warning the government of a possible FIFA ban would have been flying over the land.

Egypt has shown us that the interest of their country counts more than the love to play football to appease FIFA hence they not only suspended football indefinitely but sacked the football body also. Yet the heavens have not fallen.