By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s West African neighbours, the Benin Republic, have opted to ditch their Squirrels nickname and will be known as the Cheetahs.
This was disclosed by the country’s football federation in a statement signed by its president, Mr Mathurin de Chacus on Monday.
The old les Écureuils moniker has long been criticised by Benin fans who felt the small size of squirrels meant that their team was also considered to be insignificant.
Hence, the football federation has chosen a bolder nickname, along the lines of Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions or the Elephants of neighbouring Ivory Coast.
“The nickname given to the national team must resonate with the population and reflect our strong ambitions in the world of sport,” said the statement from the Benin Football Federation.
“In order to propose a new name to the national team, the executive committee decided to set up a commission on the change of name of the national team of Benin.”
They have decided on cheetahs, or as will be commonly used in the country’s official language French, Guepards
“From this day on, there will be no more squirrels in Benin at the football level. From now, our footballers will be called cheetahs,” declared the federation president Mr Chacus.
All of Africa’s 54 national teams have a nickname that is widely used. Animal figures prominently among the chosen names, such as the Super Eagles of Nigeria, the Desert Foxes of Algeria, the Leopards of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Crocodiles (Likuena) of Lesotho, Lions of Senegal, and Wasps (Amavubi) from Rwanda.
Dipo Olowookere