Against all odds, the much anticipated 33rd edition of the rescheduled African Cup of Nations eventually kicked off in Cameroon as the host came from a goal down to win 2-1 over Burkina Faso at the Olembe Stadium.

African biggest stars across Europe flying the colors of their national teams, as 24 nations compete against each other to determine the next champion of the continent, grabbing the attention of the world with the biggest football showpiece on the African continent.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria's quest for a fourth title has been marred with lots of crises from missing a couple of players due to injuries, COVID restrictions, and the Club's refusal to release them for National duties. Emmanuel Dennis of Watford and Odion Ighalo who retired after the last edition of the tourney as the top scorer were both not released by their respective teams while Victor Osimhen of Napoli got injured but recovered did not get the green light from the Italian club to be part of the Nigerian National team in Cameroon.

Another setback is the sacking of the Super Eagles gaffer a few weeks before the AFCON after a five-year reign of instability and no progression though it came too late, it has been long coming but the Nigerian Football Federation left it late to make things difficult for Former Super Eagles captain and Technical Director of the NFF, Austin Eguavoen who is now the interim coach that will be leading the team from the sidelines in Cameroon.

With the Super Eagles opening their campaign with a fixture against not just record winners of the competition, Egypt will be led by one of the best footballers in the world Mohammed Salah. Nigerians home and abroad are Keeping their optimism but are keeping it in the realm of reality with many not expecting much from the team.

The quest for the fourth looks unrealistic, the Super Eagles might be cast in bronze but still capable of putting things truly Golden, it's the ‘spirit of Naija no dey carry last’. The team is capable of defying odds especially in a competition the African Giants have participated in 18 times and made it to the podium 15 times, winning the tournament in 1980, 1994 and 2013. The last time the team returned home empty-handed was in Ghana in 2008 when German coach Berti Vogts led the Eagles to their worst outing on the continent since Libya 1982.

Despite the crisis and drama surrounding the team, there are so many players in the squad who have a lot to prove and with many not expecting much from them it could be an opportunity to play under no pressure with interim Coach Eguavoen in line to make history as the third person to win the trophy both as manager and player.

Football legend, Didier Drogba was today, announced as the World Health Organization’s Goodwill Ambassador for Sport and Health.

People have always enjoyed competing with each other, from siblings to friends and classmates running to get a seat or destination first, even biology told us we came to this world after winning the race of nearly a million sperm race.  while winning and being competitive remains the priority at the highest level, sporting success creates a powerful platform to inspire and effect lasting impression for individuals, fans and the society as a whole.

The contribution of sports to human and social progress as an important enabler of sustainable development and peace in its promotion of tolerance and respect is beyond promoting values of fairness and teamwork, sport initiative has empowered individuals and communities, promote personal well being and encourage social inclusion.

Rivalry between teams for success has resulted in not just increased competitions but has encouraged huge investments, a case of Manchester city and United. No doubt sports has become a teeming business if well managed, it is a lucrative as it creates a strong emotional chord with its audiences, has a high level of brand loyalty which implies fans money following their hearts.

The eminent consistence of a resolute appetite to demanding for more in sports has also sparked lucrative bidding partnership deals, incentivized promos, bidding  wars between broadcasters and subscription services though this has occasionally taken away the games away from millions of fans who cannot afford to subscribe or even pay for tickets to watch their teams. The UEFA 2018/19 champions league seasoned generated a revenue of €2.82 billion from TV rights,  merchandise, sponsorships/partnerships and match day revenues. So beckons the question,  is sport  really for the fans?

Consequently, it is necessary for teams or athletes to continue investing heavily to simply maintain existing performance or even surpass as the demand for success has risen, with huge investments comes escalating transfer fees,  wages, game tickets and merchandise. These put increasing pressure on investors, reasons why coaches or managers are sacked after a short spell of underwhelming performances. This is just to optimize the return on their investments by winning trophies or be a major competitor not  participants.

Mainstream sports such as football, basketball, American football, boxing have attracted a global audience but have all faced backlash recently with fans and players calling out investors as been selfish and money driven. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James complained on the condensed season and he thinks that is the reason a lot of star players are missing the play offs saying in a series of tweets.

"They all didn’t wanna listen to me about the start of the season," James wrote. "... I only wanted to protect the well being of the players which ultimately is the PRODUCT & BENEFIT of OUR GAME! These injuries isn’t just 'PART OF THE GAME'. It’s the lack of PURE RIM REST rest before starting back up."

He added in a follow-up tweet, "And I know all about the business side too/factors so don’t even try me! I get it."

While the king of all sports, football have also witnessed corrupt administrators over the years with misappropriation of funds and awarding competitions not on merit rather on bribes & gifts. The recent criticism came after the announcement of the European Super League, A League many believed is based on financial merit, consisting of only high ranking teams from a few European countries instead of their genuinely good form as teams. Many accused club owners involved has been only financially driven as their is more money to be earned  by participating  and ignoring the love of the game that allows every team to compete against each other. (Unfortunately no one remembered how the world cup started in 1930 with only thirteen teams based on invitation or the escalating transfer fees and wages).

The EURO 2020 tournament came with another twist to the whole investment angle after the most followed athlete on social media Cristiano Ronaldo with three hundred million followers removed the two bottles of "Coca-Cola" placed in front of him during a pre-match conference; a major  sponsor of the competition he was representing his country in.

Cristiano Ronaldo removed the drink from the view of the cameras replacing them with a bottled water and said 'Agua'- the Portuguese term for water. Following Ronaldo's action another player Manuel Locatelli of the Italian  national team  followed suit by also moving Coca-Cola bottles. France midfielder Paul Pogba also took an aim at another major sponsor of tournament when he removed a Heineken bottle from his view at the media event.

Shouldn't UEFA be worried more about the fans health? Water over Coca-Cola is actually better even the World Health organization supported Ronaldo's stance with tweets but it is definitely bad for business. UEFA had to issue a statement immediately. UEFA  responded to the player's decision to snub the official tournament brands by reminding them they have contractual obligations towards Euro 2020 sponsors. 

'UEFA reminded participating teams that partnerships are integral to the delivery of the tournament and to ensuring the development of football across Europe, including for youth and women,'.

Coca-Cola's market value plummeted by £2.8 billion after Ronaldo's antics. Essentially sports community understands that fantastic fans experience are vital to success of all sports  which means sports federations or Leagues managements, owners/investors are keen to maintain their relationship with the fans while fans are expected to express their opinions, it will be appropriate to consider the business part of the investors which is driven by business decisions over emotions. All stakeholders from administrators, investors, players, coaches and the fans participating in sports have a part to play as their collective responsibilities to foster the business of sports, it is honestly beyond a game, with billions involved it is more than just a game even though passions, emotions, interests and expectations are involved.