Wake me up after July 11.

Don't get me wrong; I will still watch this summer's World Cup, but you have to wonder what the point is, when your country's FA- in this case the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF)- has decided to reduce their own chances of performing well at the tournament.

No one expects Nigeria to win it, but given the people in our group, there is no reason why we can't qualify for the second round at least. However, it won't be incompetent referees or 'tactical naivete' that will be our undoing. It will be the corrupt and incompetent buffoons running our football that have always and will again put paid to the dreams of Nigerian football fans.

Where to begin. Is it the shady selection process of a new manager whereby the one who was selected was the one who would give the selectors the biggest kickback (alledgedly); or the fact that the manager was changed so close to the World Cup and changed to one who's knowledge of Nigeria and its players is probably limited to scouting reports from the 2002 world cup? Or maybe it's the fact that thus far, only one pre-world cup friendly has been organised for the team. Or maybe it's the latest event to make us do a collective facepalm- the lodging of a Senior national team at the SA equivalent of a Motel 6...located in a place (Durban) where the environmental conditions (altitude, climate, temperature) are totally unlike where we will be playing our matches.

The clowns who run our football meanwhile are telling Nigerians that we can make the semis. They better use some of the money they've snaffled to hire sharpshooters to shoot the likes of Messi in the kneecap, cos that is the only way that pipe dream will happen.

I've long since said that the NFF has to become a profit-oriented independent organisation only then will they be forced to operate with any common sense. If like England's FA, they were responsible for much of their own revenue streams rather than government handouts, they would not mess about with their main cash cow, the Super Eagles like this.