Like Edmond Apéti, nicknamed Dr. Kaolo in the 70s, Emmanuel Adebayor put his immense footballing talent at the service of the flag and the honor of his country. Along with his teammates, such as Jean-Paul Abalo and Mohamed Kader, he took the dream and enthusiasm of millions of Togolese to the top, leading Togo to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. A pride and recognition that the Togolese have forever inscribed in the stone of history.
Today, it is an inexorable descent into hell. Togolese football has lost its luster. He is nothing more than a shadow of himself, he has just died out, like the country. This is why, as a citizen and youth icon, the talented Adebayor is rightly out of his depth. Disillusioned and angry, he speaks from his heart. He is bitter when sincerely evoking the catastrophic situation of Togolese football, and more generally of the sports sector. In the background, it is in reality the very politics of the country that it indexes.
In a video circulating widely on the networks, the great sportsman does not contain his rage and expresses himself without filter: “We have nothing. We don’t have a stadium, what do you want to professionalize? We have no infrastructure. […] Let’s stop selling people dreams. […] We only have two stadiums in the country, and even then! “. His indictment is uncompromising.
Indeed, by denouncing pell-mell the lack of sports infrastructure, the illusion of professionalization maintained by decision-makers, the lack of training centers and the absence of a real promotion policy, the former leader of the Eperviers highlights shed light on the emptiness of vision from which Togolese football suffers. Yesterday in the final phase of the World Cup, today unable to make it through the CAN qualifiers. While we continue to dribble the Togolese, the former captain of the Eperviers no longer wants to let it happen.
This is why the rant of this sports professional is the manifestation of great disappointment and deep exasperation. This is what all Togolese people feel. Even if he does not say it formally, what our brother Adébayor calls into question with this thunderous outing is the policy pursued by his friend who runs the country. Several personalities have passed to the head of the Ministry of Sports, things remain as they are. In two decades, not a single infrastructure has been built. The evil is therefore deeper and takes root at the head of the State.
No one is unaware of the political support shown by Emmanuel Adébayor for Faure Gnassingbé. It is a support of conviction that he assumes. And it is precisely because his support is based on conviction and not opportunistic that he today has the freedom to spew his truths. I encourage him to go further.
Young brother Adébayor, you made me vibrate in the stadiums and I have great respect for your talent. Impossible to forget it. Today, you give yourself other responsibilities, it’s your right, maybe even your duty. You know that deep down nothing is really going well in this country and the sports sector is just an illustration of this sad reality. People cannot be happy in such a country. You know. This is why you took your courage in both hands to express yourself.
As a citizen, you have the right to say what is wrong in the country. As a professional, you have the legitimacy to speak about your field and as an icon, you have the duty to speak up for the weakest.
As much as you have freely defended the honor of Togo abroad through your talent, it is also necessary that you defend the dignity of the Togolese on their soil through your notoriety. That’s because you started. Show the Togolese that beyond the emotions and pride you have given them, you can contribute to improving their lives through your commitment.
I applaud your rant and I urge you not to stop on this first outing. Things must change in our country, for the good of all.
Gamesu
Nathaniel Olympio
President of the Togolese Party
https://collect.getmygateway.com/first-step
