Not Good. Not Good At All.

Normally when we see death in soccer, it comes in one of three forms: fan suicide, a player killed for doing poorly, or players dying on the pitch during a game. No death is palatable or pleasurable to hear about, and this story commingled with soccer is way off the radar.

The Nigerian Premier League title was won over the weekend by Bayelsa United, who clinched the trophy with a 2-2 draw, and captain Abiel Tabor was an integral part of their winning season.

On his way to visit family hours after the victory, Tabor's car was intercepted by armed robbers, and he was shot and killed.

"We were told he was (killed) by the armed robbers close to Warri," said the club assistant, Ebi Ayah, and it's unsure whether it had anything to do with his club allegiance (the 2-2 draw was with the local team, the Warri Wolves), but any way you slice it, this is fucking sad, depressing awful news.

The Niger Delta is overrun with violent crime as gangs seek to get their fair share of the country's resources, and this is the end result, roaming criminal gangs robbing people and hijacking cars along major highways.

And so Bayelsa is without their 24-year-old captain, his family is without their husband/brother/father, and for nothing. Heartbreaking stuff.

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Sometimes It's The Officials Off The Pitch

A different arrested soccer player.

You know things are not going well for your squad when you lose a player at halftime on account of not cards or injury, but an arrest. A player with a Nigerian football club was led away in handcuffs on Thursday because his work visa had expired. Thanks to the club's incompetence, three club officials now have their own court dates.

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More problems with FIFA tournaments in Africa

It's a full day here at UF. News is pouring in from all angles, I owe you another horrendous jersey, and there are EPL matches still to come. We are doing our best not to be caught slacking, and appreciate you keeping up.

The next Under 17 World Cup is due to be held this fall in Nigeria. A FIFA delegation, led by beloved (not really) CONCACAF head Jack Warner, recently spent a week in country assessing Nigeria's readiness to host the event. The result: not so good.

2009 is not the first time Nigeria has been chosen to host a Youth World Cup. Back in 1995, they were supposed to host the Under 20 version, but that got pulled because of concerns about medical facilities. Nigeria did host the same tournament four years later, without any apparent hiccups.

Still, FIFA has set a precedent of pulling tournaments if the host nation does not appear ready. Besides Nigeria, China also had a tournament pulled--the 2003 Women's World Cup--because of health concerns associated with the SARS virus. As the NYT Goal blog points out, this report does not bode well for Nigeria.

If the youth tournament is indeed moved, South African officials must get worried. FIFA set up its calendar so that three African nations would host international tournaments in succession, culminating with the 2010 World Cup. If one of these gets pulled because of poor planning and follow through, could South Africa be next? We have already highlighted some of the problems South Africa faces in the final 500 days of preparation to the World Cup. Surely they will redouble their efforts to get everything they can in tip-top shape before the dry run of the Confederations Cup. Which, by the way, kicks off in less than five months. You can place your bets however you like, but I'd take something as low as 10 to 1 that both of these tournaments will be moved.

(Image from FIFA)

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