A fortnight ago, a video surfaced on social media of an official of Congolese club AS Otoho 'surveying' the pitch just before their Caf Confederations Cup match against Gor Mahia.
He could be seen walking around the grounds, placing unknown objects at strategic places, including the goalposts.
Social media users, mostly Kenyans, concluded the man was an 'African scientist' — or rather, bluntly, a witchdoctor — who was doing his thing to enhance the team's chances of a win.
In the same week, another video surfaced of a team bus belonging to Tanzanian side Mbeya FC reversing into Dar es Salaam Stadium ahead of their match against Yanga FC.
Apparently, the move was occasioned by fears that their opponents had performed rituals on the stadium, which would have affected their performance.
The involvement of 'juju' in African football is as old as the sport itself, as far as the continent is concerned. However, it is about time African teams did away with this rubbish and embraced professionalism.
Depending on rituals, such as walking naked around the stadium the night before a match, will continue to be our undoing and hold us back from competing at par with other leagues in Europe, South America and Asia.
Witchcraft in football will continue to encourage laziness and prevent many talented players from polishing their skills to play at the highest level.
There is no research that has proven these rituals work. On the contrary, sheer hard work and proper management — which are the bane of professionalism — is what has transformed the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Real Madrid et al into the global brands they currently are.
The prevailing Covid-19 pandemic has further exposed Africans as their worst enemies as far as football is concerned. In the course of continental matches between different countries and clubs, there have been rampant cases of certain players being detained or barred from playing on suspicion of testing positive for the virus.
Once again, Gor Mahia were victims of this nefarious scheme when two of their players were barred from playing in their first leg encounter against Otoho after they allegedly tested positive for coronavirus. However, no proper documentation was provided as proof of the same.
For all the talk of the United States of Africa, it is a disaster to see African countries resort to underhand tactics in search of an upper hand over their opponents.
Before the pandemic, there were many cases of visiting teams being frustrated in their hosts' countries, such as the use of police to intimidate them at the airport, poor accommodation facilities and lack of transportation to and from the airport.
We must get our act right. Let us not approach football with a 17th-century mentality, whereas the world is already zooming towards a 22nd century way of doing things.
