APPRAISAL OF THE INFLUENCE OF FEDERATION OF INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (FIFA) ORGANIZED COMPETITIONS ON THE ATTAINMENT OF THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to appraise the influence of FIFA Organized Competitions on the attainment of Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria. To achieve this purpose, a total of 285 respondents were used for the study. A stratified random sampling technique was used.In this technique; the six (6) geo-political zones in Nigeria were used. Experts in the field of Physical and Health Education vetted the questionnaire in order to determine its face and content validity. The final draft of the questionnaire was administered on the respondents. The data collected were statistically analyzed using Descriptive statistics of frequency, means and standard deviation to determine the average responses of the respondents, The Chi-square statistical technique was used to test the influence of the FIFA organized competitions, one sample t-test was used to determine whether the rated influence is considered statistically significant or not and One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used for differences among the perception of the respondents on the influence of FIFA Organized Competitions on the attainment of Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria. The findings indicate that FIFA organized competitions have no significant influence on the eradication of poverty and hunger in Nigeria, FIFA organized competitions have no significant influence on achieving the objectives of Universal Primary Education of the Millennium Development Goals. It was therefore concluded that the activities of FIFA organized competitions have not helped in the promotion of gender equality and women empowerment in Nigeria.Combating HIV/AIDS in Nigeria within the Millennium Development Goals have no significant impact of the various activities involved in FIFA organized competitions. The Federal Government could exploit FIFA organized competition for promoting peace among ethnic and religious groupings thereby promoting the games in Nigeria.It was recommended that there is a need to develop more infrastructural facilities for FIFA organized competitions in Nigeria as this would pave ways for hosting the games.