|
By Amr Shaheen
BBC Sport, Cairo
|
Ex-Nigeria star Amokachi is unhappy with medical back-up for African players
|
Former Nigeria striker Daniel Amokachi has claimed that poor medical care in Africa is threatening not just the careers but the lives of the continent's footballers.
Amokachi helped his country win Olympic gold in Atlanta in 1996, but his form plummeted after sustaining a knee injury at the World Cup finals in 1998.
After a few operations and several attempts to return to competitive football, he was forced to quit playing the game.
Amokachi claims that a mis-diagnosis of his injury and then underestimating its consequences were the real reasons behind his retirement from professional football.
 |
We spend a lot on foreign coaches we should spend the same on keeping players alive!
|
"I was just another name on the long list of casualties of African players who were forced to retire due to poor medical care," he said.
Amokachi, who is now on the coaching staff of the current Nigerian Olympic team, was referring to other stars like Emmanuel Amuneke, who was his team-mate at the 1996 Olympics.
"I know many outstanding players whose careers have ended at very young ages in Nigeria due to injuries that would have been considered trivial in places like Europe," Amokachi says.
He also believes that the problem is threatening the careers of talented footballers throughout the continent.
Kanu's good fortune
Amokachi is insistent that the death of late Cameroon midfielder Marc Vivien-Foe at the Confederations Cup was an avoidable event.
"What happened to Marc-Vivien Foe at the Confederations Cup was not a sudden accident.
"If he had been well monitored and had regular medical check-ups, he would have survived," he claims.
Amokachi points out that Arsenal's Nwankwo Kanu was fortunate that his heart problems were spotted during the medical examination taken after he had signed for Inter Milan.
He said the unecessary death of players would be a thing of the past if African football associations regard the health of their players as a top priority.
"African countries spend a lot of money to recruit foreign coaches to improve our tactical and technical standards and we should be spending just as much to keep those players alive!"
Home~RS~a~RS~Domestic~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~04~RS~){kind=small}
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version