RUSSIA 2018: THE ABYSMAL PERFORMANCE OF AFRICAN COUNTRIES, A CLARION CALL FOR TRUE INDEPENDENCE

RUSSIA 2018: THE ABYSMAL PERFORMANCE OF AFRICAN COUNTRIES, A CLARION CALL FOR TRUE INDEPENDENCE

Written by Mazi Onyebuchi Eze
For Family Writers Press

The FIFA World Cup tournament organised and hosted in Russia has definitely come and gone, leaving behind it's trail, bitter lessons for the African continent. This unforgettable experience hinges squarely on factual indices proving that the entire continent yearns for genuine and total political independence from the Western world commonly referred to as Europe. Social pundits and established interests could dispute this reality for obvious reasons but the truth remains that divergent geographical locations presently known as countries within Africa are yet European colonies, left under the tyrannical management of African oppressors. It is not surprising therefore, that African countries continue to stutter under the weight of second fiddle enslavement in virtually every strata of life, sports related activities inclusive.

The recently concluded Russia 2018 world soccer tournament where five African countries participated, poor preparation and presentation were brazenly and respectively showcased by their premature eliminations in the first round, in the FIFA organized thirty two (32) nations quadrennial soccer fiesta. It is imperative for the African Union (AU), to wholesomely take introspective look into it's operations/programs with the question: "what really is the problem of Africa with particular reference to social developments"? By taking this very important step, the grossly deteriorating status of Africa amongst the comity of continents would be addressed.

With Egypt as an already civilised society dating back to the year 2050 BC, when the patriarch of the Hebrew nation (Abraham) took refuge to avert the then famine that swept across the ancient world, one then is at a loss on what actually transpired or attracted the abysmal regression of the continent. As at the year 1654 BC, according to my study in Systemic Theology, account has it that Ethiopia was already a civilised society which warranted Beersheba, the Queen of Ethiopia to visit King Solomon of the ancient Israel to tap into His God-given wisdom. She was a witness to the then much talked about splendor of King Solomon's Kingdom. In the year 1270 BC, historical record revealed that the Sudanese King gathered allied nations/forces for war against the nation of Israel which indisputably establishes the fact that civilization came to Sudan way back over one thousand (1000) years before the birth of Jesus Christ. What realistically then is the problem with Africa?

Through the compilation of these  historical facts of civilization situated variously in ancient Africa, it is verifiably correct to state here that the Europeans and the entire Western world, had their abode in caves and forests whilst Africans lived ostensibly in houses built with gold, silver, precious stones and cedar woods transported from Lebanon.

The first European civilization commenced between 730 and 516 BC when the Greeks and the Romans despatched their philosophers to Egypt to acquire knowledge in the Egyptian ancient civilization relating to arts, culture and science via her standard of education. It was the Egyptian civilization that shaped the great Greek philosophers like Socrates, Aristotle, Alexander De Great amongst others. Yet the authentic and unadulterated history of the world irrefutably proves that civilization started precisely in Egypt (Africa). And regardless of these startling realities that are historically indisputable, the fortunes of the African continent have very shamefully, continued to dwindle based on the second fiddle mentality syndrome. What a shame!

It is pertinent that the African Union (AU) fully understand that the seeming endemic problems bedevilling the continent are traceable to "enforced colonialism" of the Europeans with it's attendant evil devastations. These have relentlessly resulted in the bizarre destruction of our ancient identity, cultural heritage, history, science and technology, as a people. It is important equally to state at this juncture, that no present crop of Africans should be unjustifiably blamed for the invasion of Africa by the Europeans and the inherent ills being suffered. However, the African Union (AU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), other sub-regional organisations and cynical politicians in all these colonies (African countries), that are shamelessly striving to retain the status quo, should share in the blame for all the ravagings left behind by the callous colonial overlords. These factors have grossly strangulated and stagnated the continent of Africa. One of such impediments to the developments, is the heinous artificial creation of colonies of supremacists' convenience called countries within the continent. As at the 15th, 16th and to the 20th century, the enclave called Nigerian Federation


which is yet under the fistic grip of her British colonialists where the indigenous nationalities of Biafra in the East of the Niger River, Oduduwa in the West and Arewa Hausa Kingdoms at the Northern flank, independently and progressively were in control of their ancestral heritage before the advent of the invading colonialists. The same experience is recorded about other European colonies within the continent which regrettably, has persisted till date.

Clearly, Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, etcetera, are all colonies of Britain and her government which must according to egocentric, economic interests, remain under their control. Algeria, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Tunisia, Togo, Senegal amongst others, are yet colonies of France which rip them off the fortunes of their God-given resources, to callously enrich her economy.

The list of players of African descent, paraded in France national team in the recently concluded Russia 2018 FIFA organized world cup, buttresses the point. Mozambique, Angola, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, etc, remain Portuguese colonies   while Burundi, Congo, Congo Democratic Republic, etc, are colonies of Belgium. Equatorial Guinea and Gabon are Spanish colonies, all here in the African continent. Unless all the indigenous nations like Biafra, Arewa and Oduduwa in Nigeria or Iwe, Twi indigenous people of Ghana synergize and courageously dissolve the respective British enclaves which they are locked in, they will certainly be no progress so long the status quo remains. The African continent and her diverse indigenous peoples will persistently play the second fiddle to the colonial supremacists.

Now that there exists several agitations for true and people-oriented political independence in different African sub-regions, it is expedient that the African Union exploits available avenues created by the self-determination calls to deliver the continent from varying degrees of devastations of colonialism and the shackles of neocolonialism presently ravaging the people.

The agitating indigenous nations as listed beneath include:

* Biafra is agitating for independence from the colony of Nigeria in West Africa.

* Anglophone Southern Cameroon (Ambazonia) is presently demanding for independence from the colony of Cameroon in Central Africa.

* Western Sahara is agitating for freedom from the colony of Morocco in North Africa.

* Oromo is agitating for independence from Ethiopia in East Africa.

* Zanzibar is agitating for independence from the colony of Tanzania in East Africa.

* Cabinda is agitating for independence from the colony of Angola in Southern Africa.

These European (Britain, Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal) created colonies (countries) in Africa which some people are proudly and very erroneously claiming to be theirs, need be delivered from delusion by all means justifiable. Africans need to unite and wholesomely dissolve these obnoxious entities deceitfully created by the colonial overlords for the milking of the resources at the detriment of the indigenous owners of the land. It evoked tears of enslavement and deprivation when Paul Pogba (Guinea), Blaise Matuidi (Angola), Umtiti (Cameroon), Kimpembe (Congo Democratic Republic), Mbappe and all other talented/world class African players which France used to win the prestigious world cup, employed everything within them for the glory of the colonial Franc. This is occasioned by the erroneous mindset shared by many that the reason behind the abysmal performance of the African representatives in the Russian 2018 global soccer tournament, hinges on inferiority complex.

Putting the records straight therefore, it is necessary to emphasize here that the first coach in the world to win the prestigious European Championship trophy back to back for three successive times, is from Africa called Zinedine Zidane. He is an Algerian with French nationality. Who then can pointedly state that Africans are not the most blessed specie of humans in the world, given the enabling environment?

If all the artificially created African countries (European colonies) such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola etc, for instance, are comprehensively dissolved today, the glory of Africa must certainly shine. The existence of the British contraption called Nigeria, has remained an irredeemable impediment to economic growth and social development in the African continent. Gifted talents from Africa such as Philip Emeagwali (Biafran scientist), George Opong Weah (Liberian sportsman), Zinedine Zidane (Algerian sportsman), Professor Chile Eboe-Osuji of the International Criminal Court (ICC), (Biafran legal luminary), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Biafran Economist)  etc, could be celebrated achievers in their chosen fields but whenever they respectively ply their  trades as representatives of any of these European colonies (African countries), they certainly will make no headway because of institutionalized system of corruption gravely prevalent in these European created colonies (African countries). The only available window of salvation and independence of Africa is the outright dissolution of Nigeria and other Africanised European colonies, which will usher in the uninhibited creation of people-oriented indigenous nations according to  their diverse cultural heritage and ideologies. This will be progressively structured in such a way that it will totally run alien to the nefarious European ideologies inherent in the created colonies in Africa, meant to service their selfish political cum economic interests.

If the African continent must completely take her proper position amongst the comity of continents, the indigenous nations of Biafra, Ambazonia, Oromo, Western Sahara, Zanzibar and Cabinda must have to unfetteredly, reclaim their sovereignties. It is only this wholistic revolutionary approach that will deliver the continent of Africa from further enslavement, deprivation and oppression. It should emphatically stated in conclusion, that African survival as a continent peopled and variously gifted by God, with species of viable human/natural resources will never be saved by the array of these European colonies currently existing in Africa principally to milk her to extinction.


Edited by Peter Oshagwu
For Family Writers Press

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN BIAFRA RESTORATION, IN RELATION WITH THE ABA WOMEN RIOT OF 1929

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN BIAFRA RESTORATION, IN RELATION WITH THE ABA WOMEN RIOT OF 1929
THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN BIAFRA RESTORATION, IN RELATION WITH THE ABA WOMEN RIOT OF 1929

Written by Obulose Chidiebere N.
For Family Writers Press

The "riots", led by Biafran women in the provinces of Calabar and Owerri in Biafraland in November and December of 1929, which was termed "Aba Women Riots of 1929." Thousands of Igbo women organized a massive insurrection against the policies imposed by British colonial administrators in Biafraland, touching off the most serious challenge to British rule in the history of humanity.  The revolt broke out when thousands of Igbo women precisely from Bende District, Umuahia and other places in eastern Nigeria traveled to the town of Oloko to protest against the Warrant Chiefs, whom they accused of restricting the role of women in the government. This is more aptly considered a strategically executed anti-colonial revolt organized by women to redress social, political and economic grievances. The protest encompassed women from six ethnic groups Ibibio, Andoni, Ogoni, Bonny, Opobo, and Igbo.

The roots of the revolt evolved from January 1, 1914, when the Britain under Lord F. Lugard, committed the worst atrocity by amalgamating people from different ethnic group into one country and called them Nigeria. That was why Sir Hugh Clifford described Nigeria as "a collection of independent Native States, separated from one another by great distances, by differences of history and traditions and by ethnological, racial, tribal, political, social and religious barriers." They instituted indirect rule in Southern Nigeria. British Colonialism altered and displaced the position of Biafran women in Biafraland. Biafran women by tradition were allowed to participate in the government and held major positions in the society. Biafra Men and women also worked collaboratively help each other in the domestic sphere, and both have important individual roles. The British saw these practices as “a demonstration of disarray and chaos”, and so they attempted to create political institutions which commanded authority and monopolized force.

Under this plan British administrators would rule locally through “warrant chiefs”. Within a few years the appointed warrant chiefs became increasingly oppressive as directed by their pay masters, Britain. They seized properties and imposed draconian local regulations, and began imprisoning anyone who openly criticized them. Although much of the anger was directed against the warrant chiefs, most Nigerians knew the source of their power, which is the British colonial administrators. Colonial administrators added to the local sense of grievance when they announced plans to impose special taxes on the Biafra market women. Our mothers feared the taxes would drive many of the market women out of business and seriously disrupt the supply of food and non-perishable goods available to the populace.

In November of 1929, thousands of Biafra women congregated at the Native Administration centers in Calabar and Owerri as well as smaller towns to protest against both the suppression from warrant chiefs and the taxes on the market women. Using the traditional practice of censoring men through all night song and dance ridicule (often called “sitting on a man”), the women chanted and danced, and in some locations forced warrant chiefs to resign their positions. The women also attacked European owned stores and Barclays Bank and broke into prisons and released prisoners. They also attacked Native Courts run by colonial officials, burning many of them to the ground. Colonial Police and troops were called in. In the course of it, more than fifty Biafra women were killed by British troops and an unknown number were wounded and otherwise traumatized. During the two month “war” at least 25,000 Igbo women were involved in the protests against British officials.

In spite of being challenged by a police force that utilized teargas among other aggressive methods, the women remained steadfast and in the end their demands were met, leading to the abdication of the King in 1949.

These uprisings were among the earliest campaigns against British rule in Nigeria and West Africa during the colonial era. These our mothers were armed with their conviction, united by their determination and motivated by a sense of dignity and justice. Otherwise, they were technically powerless since they were still deemed socially inferior and subservient to their men folk. A significant number of them were not formally educated and did not have the privilege of engaging the colonial masters diplomatically, whether at home or abroad. Moreover, TURNhese women were trailblazers in resisting colonial domination and are rarely recognized in historical accounts that continue to glorify men whose later impacts, though noble, were heavily facilitated by education, status and gender.

It is time for our mothers to replicate the same attitude that surprised the whole world, that shocked Britain even till today which inspired the United Nation women to commend and recognize our mothers on 8th March, 2018. On that note United Nation women affirmed, "incensed by their social standing under colonial rule, the Igbo women send palm leaves, similar to today’s Facebook invite, to their fellow sisters across Southeastern Nigeria. “Together they descend in the thousands to ‘sit on’ or make ‘war on’ undemocratically appointed chiefs by publicly shaming them through singing, dancing, banging on their walls and even tearing down roofs. “Although the backlash against protests turn deadly, it eventually forces the chiefs to resign and market tax impositions on women to be dropped."

It is time for you our dearest mothers to take control of this Biafra restoration project, it is time for our mothers to clear the ground for the forth coming referendum, it is time for our mothers to come out and request/ask for the whereabouts of their son Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his parents.
The time is now, it is now or never. Biafra women it is time to lead the battle as usual.

Edited by Biafra Philosophical (Peter Nonso Ikeh)
For Family Writers Press

Ivory Coast international midfielder Tiote dies aged 30

Ivory Coast international midfielder Tiote dies aged 30

Cheick Tiote

London (AFP) - Ivory Coast international midfielder Cheick Tiote has died aged 30 while training with his Chinese club Beijing Enterprises, his spokesman announced in a statement on Monday.

Tiote, who was part of the Ivory Coast squad that delivered the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations after a 23 year drought although he was injured for the final, had only moved to China in February after ending a seven year stay with English outfit Newcastle United.

"It is with deep sadness that I confirm that my client Cheick Tiote sadly passed away earlier today after collapsing in training with his club Beijing Enterprises," Tiote's spokesman Emanuele Palladino said.

"We cannot say any more at the moment and we request that his family's privacy be respected at this difficult time.

"We ask for all your prayers."

Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez paid tribute to the talented Tiote, one of 10 children who like many of his international team-mates grew up in abject poverty and didn't possess a pair of boots until he was 15.

"It is with great sadness that I have this afternoon learned of Cheick's death," Benitez told the Newcastle website.

"In the all the time that I have known him, he was a true professional, dedicated and above all, a great man.

"Our hearts go out to his family and friends at such a sad time."

Tiote moved to Newcastle from Dutch side FC Twente in 2010 and made 161 appearances for the Magpies, scoring once -- the equaliser when Newcastle recovered from 4-0 down to draw 4-4 with Arsenal in 2011.

The 52-times capped Tiote, who was in both the 2010 and 2014 World Cup squads, began his European club career with Belgian outfit Anderlecht but only played four times in three years with them -- being loaned out to Dutch side Roda JC Kerkrade -- before moving to Twente in 2008.

Newcastle said in a statement they were "devastated" whilst Alan Pardew, who was manager of Newcastle for a large part of the time Tiote was there said his goal in the 4-4 draw with Arsenal was an iconic moment of Premier League history.

"I'm devastated to hear the news about my former player and friend Cheick Tiote," Pardew said in a statement, quoted by independent.ie.

"From the moment I arrived at Newcastle, Cheick was a wonderful presence around the dressing room and his performances on the field often defied belief."

"I loved him. He's everything that you want in a Newcastle player.

"To hear the news that he has passed away at the age of 30 breaks my heart and my sympathies go out to all his family and friends who will be devastated by this news."

source

Ivory Coast: Africa Cup of Nations winner Tiote dies aged 30

Africa Cup of Nations winner Tiote dies aged 30

London (AFP) - Ivory Coast international midfielder Cheick Tiote has died aged 30 while training with his Chinese club Beijing Enterprises, his spokesman announced in a statement on Monday.

Tiote, who was part of the Ivory Coast squad that delivered the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations after a 23 year drought although he was injured for the final, had only moved to China in February after ending a seven year stay with English outfit Newcastle United.

"It is with deep sadness that I confirm that my client Cheick Tiote sadly passed away earlier today after collapsing in training with his club Beijing Enterprises," Tiote's spokesman Emanuele Palladino said.

"We cannot say any more at the moment and we request that his family's privacy be respected at this difficult time.

"We ask for all your prayers."

Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez paid tribute to the talented Tiote, one of 10 children who like many of his international team-mates grew up in abject poverty and didn't possess a pair of boots until he was 15.

"It is with great sadness that I have this afternoon learned of Cheick's death," Benitez told the Newcastle website.

"In the all the time that I have known him, he was a true professional, dedicated and above all, a great man.

"Our hearts go out to his family and friends at such a sad time."

Tiote moved to Newcastle from Dutch side FC Twente in 2010 and made 161 appearances for the Magpies, scoring once -- the equaliser when Newcastle recovered from 4-0 down to draw 4-4 with Arsenal in 2011.

The 52-times capped Tiote, who was in both the 2010 and 2014 World Cup squads, began his European club career with Belgian outfit Anderlecht but only played four times in three years with them -- being loaned out to Dutch side Roda JC Kerkrade -- before moving to Twente in 2008.

Newcastle said in a statement they were "devastated" whilst Alan Pardew, who was manager of Newcastle for a large part of the time Tiote was there said his goal in the 4-4 draw with Arsenal was an iconic moment of Premier League history.

"I'm devastated to hear the news about my former player and friend Cheick Tiote," Pardew said in a statement, quoted by independent.ie.

"From the moment I arrived at Newcastle, Cheick was a wonderful presence around the dressing room and his performances on the field often defied belief."

"I loved him. He's everything that you want in a Newcastle player.

"To hear the news that he has passed away at the age of 30 breaks my heart and my sympathies go out to all his family and friends who will be devastated by this news."

SOURCE

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BIAFRA FLAG RAISED IN ENUGU STADIUM.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BIAFRA FLAG RAISED IN ENUGU STADIUM.

By Chima Onyekachi

For Family Writers.

On Friday, 20th of May 2016, in the packed 22,000 capacity Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu,during the Oriental derby clash between the host, Enugu Rangers versus Heartland of Owerri, an euphoria was felt that has never been felt in any stadium in Biafraland. The excitement was not propelled neither by a goal or a dazzling show of skill by the football players, but by a honorable gesture by a Biafran football fan who stood up from his seat in the stadium and raised a Biafra flag. Encouraged by the loud ovation he received for his action, he was escorted by few Biafrans towards the tarmac, where he gallantry raised the Biafra Flag and began a lap of honour round the stadium amidst loud cheers and shouts. "All hail Biafra", "Biafra my country", "Biafra is here", "Biafra or Death" "Release Nnamdi Kanu", etc, rented the air and fireworks went on display. The players and match officials were startled but the match was not disrupted and went on peacefully and ended in a goalless draw.

The Nigeria brown envelope media purposely blanked out the report in their match reportage and updates, but the fact remains the incident was electronically recorded and it is on the Internet for everyone to watch.

The significance of what has happened in the Enugu stadium is a testament, of the awakening of Biafrans by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and they are determined to continue to strive for the restoration of the sovereign state of Biafra. The over 20,000 football fans who celebrated the raising of the Biafra flag in the stadium are under the command and control of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,the leader of Indigenous People Of Biafra(IPOB), and the Director of Radio Biafra/ Biafra Television. Nnamdi Kanu is still been unlawfully incarcerated even after two courts of competent jurisdiction has ordered for his unconditional release. President Muhammadu Buhari has sworn to jail Nnamdi Kanu,and he also said he will rather drown than for Biafra to be restored. In a previous article, I have told Buhari to seek the counsel of Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos state, on the best lagoon to drown and I still stand by it.

This is a beginning of what will become a recurring incident in stadiums in Biafraland during any sporting events. Biafrans must not be intimidated because they are raising the flag of their nation, and not guns and deadly weapons like the Hausa/Fulani in the North. It should be recalled that on the 4th of May 2016, when Enyimba International Football Club of Aba on Wednesday beat hosts Kano Pillars FC 2-1 in a rescheduled Match Day 7 fixture in the 2015/2016 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL). Immediately the referee blew his whistle signifying acceptance of the winning goal by Eze Otorogu of the Aba team,players and officials of Kano Pillars objected refusing to go on with the match. As the stalemate lasted, fans of Kano Pillars took over the entire pitch throwing missiles.  Not even the intervention of the Nigerian Police Force who fired several cans of tear-gas could calm the frayed nerves as players, match officials and spectators scampered in various directions to safety. The team driver of Enyimba of Aba was severely injured while trying to escape the rampaging Hausa/Fulani hooligans.

Biafrans in Enugu stadium has shown passion for the struggle inhibited in every true Biafran, already the discussion of Biafra is on the lips of everyone including Buhari. Shops are been painted with Biafra flag colours, Biafra flag is flying in most homes in Biafraland,vehicles proudly display Biafra insignia, it is now a pride to be called a Biafran. The Biafra Heroes Remembrance Day on May 30th, will be a showcase of the resoluteness of true Biafrans. The 50th anniversary of the genocide on our people shall be a solemn reflection on those murdered during the Biafra Genocide of 1967-1970 and those murdered by the Nigeria Islamic armed forces for protesting peacefully. Our freedom is at hand and we must remain resolute. Biafra is an ideology, nobody can defeat her.

BREAKING: Emmanuel Emenike quits Super Eagles

Super Eagles striker, Emmanuel Emenike, has announced that he is retiring form the national team after five years.

He wrote on Instagram on Monday night, “No more Eagles career! After five great years, I am happy to announce that I have put full-stop to my national team.
“Super Eagles is a camp not a family house, and it shouldn’t be a threat zone for any individual”

Biafra Soccer team Defeat Taipei Magpies of Taiwan 4:1

Another beautiful day of football. We won by 4:1, Siaka scored all the 4. What do we call 4 goals scored in a game by a single player? Please I need your help, I know 2 goals is called a brace, 3 is a hat trick but 4 kwa nu? Someone said it’s a hat trick and an added bonus. Another said it’s double brace, what’s your opinion?

By: Ifedu

Call to Listen to RBL World

26 Years Later, Liverpool Fans Still Feel the Loss

LONDON — At six minutes after three o’clock on Wednesday afternoon, a packed Anfield Stadium in Liverpool will fall silent — as it has at this precise time every April 15 for the past 25 years.

And when the silence is over, the more than 40,000 people will burst into the anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

This is how Liverpool pays its respects to the sons and daughters, the mothers and fathers, the cousins and friends who were among the 96 fans who died in the crush of a chronically overcrowded standing area behind one of the goal boxes six minutes into the FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, played at the neutral venue of Hillsborough, Sheffield.

Time has not been allowed to ease the bereavement for the families, nor to prevent the tremor in the pulse for any of us who were in that stadium in 1989. We were drawn for sport, but barely had the game begun when the horror unraveled before us.

Fans gathering near the Barcaccia, a fountain in downtown Rome, before a Europa League soccer match between Roma and Feyenoord in February, when Feyenoord fans battled with the police and were said to be responsible for damage to the fountain.A Tactical Shift Sweeps Soccer, Only It Comes From the PoliceAPRIL 13, 2015

Barcelona's Neymar, right, celebrated with teammates after scoring off a free kick.Global Soccer: Sevilla Up to the Challenge in 2-2 Draw With BarcelonaAPRIL 12, 2015

Andrés Iniesta, left, and Xavi Hernández as Spain beat Italy to win the Euro 2012 title. The Spaniards are also teammates on their club, Barcelona.Global Soccer: Clock Is Ticking on Xavi's Storied Career at BarcelonaAPRIL 7, 2015

This weekend, as fate would have it, Liverpool plays another FA Cup semifinal, this time against Aston Villa at London’s Wembley Stadium. That makes five times the Reds have reached this penultimate stage of the world’s oldest tournament, following the tragedy — the semis of 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2012.

So the love of this competition continues to compel Liverpudlians — among them relatives of the dead and the hundreds more fans injured at Hillsborough. Some, but not all say it would only make more futile their loss if they turned their backs on the cause their loved ones died following.

If you get the chance, watch Wednesday’s Hillsborough Memorial Service at Anfield. You will witness a remarkable bond between the survivors, the relatives and the former players who come back to share this ceremony at each anniversary.

For those of us who were mere bystanders in 1989, the worst thing was seeing the tragedy build up, watching helplessly from the adjacent main stand the calamity resulting when 2,000 extra fans were allowed to enter that crowded section of the ground. The excitement of a Liverpool attack on the goal at the far end of the field caused people at the back of the Leppings Lane stand to surge forward, trapping and crushing those at the front into the impenetrable steel fencing.

As the ablest-bodied fans climbed those high barriers, or were hauled bodily up to the concrete second tier above them, life was crushed out of the spectators, many of them youngsters, trapped by the fencing.

There was no aggression. Sheer weight of numbers caused the suffocation. But we all knew why those ugly, immovable barriers had been erected. It was the ill-considered response of authority to keep hooligans from encroaching on the field — and as inexcusable as it seems, such fences still remain in parts of the world, including France, Germany and Italy.

The government ordered that all of the country’s stadiums, most of them crumbling relics back in the 1980s, become safer, modern structures in the ensuing years. Standing was made illegal at soccer games in the top divisions of England and Scotland, and though the prices have rocketed, the legacy of the Hillsborough tragedy is that every fan has a designated seat inside the arena.

German soccer fans might argue that with proper crowd control and well- behaved spectators, people need not be deprived of the right to stand if they choose to. Many thousands do every time the giant teams like Borussia Dortmund play, and the atmosphere they create is second to none.

However, all is not laid to rest, and may never be, regarding Liverpool. If anything could be worse than the accident, it was the blame game that is still going on after more than a quarter of a century.

Right now, in a makeshift courtroom at Warrington on the outskirts of Liverpool, there is a harrowing re-examination of the evidence, while simultaneously the Independent Police Complaints Commission is attempting the biggest criminal and disciplinary investigation in its history.

At stake is the accusation by senior police officials and by the editor of the Sun newspaper that the fans were responsible for causing their own deaths.

Those accounts were worse than erroneous. The fans were either victims or, often, heroes who ran to the fallen, trying to give the kiss of life or breaking up advertising boards to cart the injured to ambulances outside the stadium.

The Family Support Group, led by parents who lost children, have made it their life’s purpose to demand truth and justice. Some, alas, have died with the passage of time, but others are beginning to see and hear the truth under oath.

Last month in Warrington, David Duckenfield, the police chief who was the match commander at Hillsborough, admitted under cross-examination that he had ordered the gate to be opened, allowing the 2,000 fans to pour through. He further admitted he had been part of the attempt to cover up police culpability and blame the fans.

Duckenfield cut a pitiable, and self- pitying figure. Now 70, he was pensioned off by the police force two years after Hillsborough. Like other officers, he took early retirement because of depression.

No doubt the police suffered, but it is living pain. Duckenfield testified that he panicked, having been given the Hillsborough command only three weeks before. But others should be in the dock alongside him. Who appointed him? Who chose the venue, who decided Liverpool, with thousands more supporters than Nottingham, should be given the smaller end of the stadium? Who was responsible for building a fence of steel — with insufficient safety gates — that left so many with no escape from asphyxiation?

No amount of compensation, no apology, can replace their loss. But on every Hillsborough anniversary, the sadness deepens that there remain stadiums in the world that cage in fans just as unforgivably as Hillsborough did.

FIFA and its federations should pay some of their riches to ensure the arenas are safe places to watch the “Beautiful Game.”

Jürgen Klopp to Depart Borussia Dortmund After Dismal Season

The announcement that Jürgen Klopp will depart Borussia Dortmund at the end of this season is surprising only in its timing. Klopp’s chemistry with the team had grown stale after seven successful years, and at 47 he remains young enough, charismatic enough, and now available enough to take on one of the really rich and powerful clubs around Europe. Manchester City is the early book-makers favorite, but over the next few days and weeks no one should rule out Real Madrid, the reigning Champions League and Club World Cup holder. He is, or has been, that good. He laughs a lot, he rails sometimes, he works the communications channels eloquently, (in ever improving English), and most impressively of all, his record of getting young players to run and to entertain to the highest levels of the sport are proven. “I always said that in that moment where I believe I am not the perfect coach any more for this extraordinary club, I will say so,” Klopp said at a news conference in Dortmund, Germany, on Wednesday. “I really think the decision is the right one. This club deserves to be coached by the 100 percent right manager. Dortmund needs the change.” It does, and so does the coach. Ever since he arrived there from Mainz, a smaller club that he also coached to aspirations it barely knew it had, he and Borussia have fitted like a glove. There was rare emotion when Klopp, the team’s sporting director Michael Zorc and its managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke spoke at the news conference on Wednesday. “It touched us a lot, be assured of that,” Waitzke said. “It is very difficult for us because we realized that we have a special relationship based on extreme trust and friendship.” So why the parting with three years left on the contract between Klopp and Dortmund? There was an unspoken reason for this, and it directly involved Bayern. The Munich giant weakened Klopp’s hand season after season either by paying what it took to lure away his best players, or by waiting until the next best player’s contract wound down and getting him for free. If it was sad to lose local prospect Mario Götze to Bayern two seasons ago, it was compounded by Robert Lewandowksi, the Polish striker who so vastly improved at Dortmund, but left when his contract ended the following summer. Coaches and managers at smaller clubs get used to this. Money begets money, and ambitious players generally move to where they are paid the most — and where they might win the most trophies. When this was compounded at Dortmund by as many nine of the first-team players going lame through injuries, even Klopp, who drove them, must have had doubts about whether it was healthy for everyone for him to stay. He said Wednesday that there was no rift with players, and Zorc turned to face Klopp to say: “Jürgen, you have given this cub energy and optimism.” Certainly he did. His style of playing and managing was based on extreme high tempo, on running , passing and movement that extracted everything his players could muster. But it appeared that while this broke the resistance of opponents, it possibly also contributed to the muscular injuries that piled up within his squad. That is a perception that anyone who bids for his services might examine. It is similar to the exhaustion, both on coach and players, that made Pep Guardiola quit Barcelona to take a sabbatical year in New York before returning to coach at Bayern Munich. Klopp quashed rumors that he, too, needs time away from the game. He said he was fit and available for hire — and presumably not in the role of television pundit, which he is well suited for. He wants a club, a big club to meet his own desire to win the major prizes. Real Madrid will remember the way Dortmund outplayed its Galacticos in the past. Manchester City, thought to be waiting in hope that Guardiola would by leave Munich after one more year, was suddenly marked down on the betting odds from 16-1 to 8-11 as the next move for Klopp. Why wouldn’t it? His English is so very polished, and he says he wants a challenge. Source nytimes