Former International and IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan legend, Patrick Olusegun Odegbami has added his voice to the debate on the existence of ‘juju’ in football, confirming its existence, but doubts its efficacy.
Odegbami, it could be recalled, took to his column in some newspapers penultimate week to discuss his experiences on the practice of ‘juju’ while his playing career lasted, said there is ‘juju’ in the game right from the cradles and reiterated his stand when speaking with FCT Football Updates on Tuesday night monitored by our correspondent in Abuja .
Mathematical Odegbami as he is fondly called said “there is juju in football. There is juju in primary, secondary school football. There is juju in Nigeria football, there is juju in Africa football, there is juju everywhere. But, it depends on the context you are looking at it. Juju is not always from the negative aspects that people are looking at it. If you seek anything divine to the game of football, it becomes ‘juju’ and everyone is using it one way or the other”.
Odegbami reiterated that his personal experiences in the game shows that such does not work. That to succeed in football, that all the basic and fundamental principles of practice and training in the game must be observed.