A former Katsina State Director of Sports, Alhaji Aliyu Kofar-Soro, has made a passionate appeal to the federal government to take urgent steps to save Nigerian football from total collapse.
The sports administrator told Daily Trust yesterday that considering its enormous financial contributions to sports at all levels, the government shouldn’t fold its hands and watch Nigerian football disintegrate completely.
His advice is coming on the heels of the recent disappointing performance of the Super Falcons at the just concluded AWCON in Morocco.
He said the free fall of Nigerian national football teams in recent times is a source of great concern and only the timely intervention of the government would arrest the steady decline in the sport.
Kofar-Soro, therefore, called on the government to ensure that credible elections are held to elect more credible Nigerians to constitute a new and vibrant NFF board.
He expressed shock that even as the government had directed the leadership of the NFF under Amaju Pinnick to begin the process for the elections scheduled to hold in September 2022, nothing has been heard from the NFF.
“The Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare, must take decisive steps to ensure that the NFF Executive Committee complies with the Presidential directive on the 2022 NFF elections.
“Considering the steady decline in our football, it is necessary for the government to intervene in the running of the game. It is rather unfortunate that government intervention is most times deliberately misrepresented as interference by those who are bent on destroying Nigerian football.
“In view of the fact that the federal government is still financing the NFF, the national teams and almost all the NPFL clubs are owned by the state governments, the government must have a say in what is happening to Nigerian football,” said Kofar-Soro.
He also urged the minister of sports to ensure that the report submitted to him by the Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima led Football Reform Committee is implemented without further delay.
Kofar-Soro added that the NFF statutes is also overdue for amendment to accommodate more stakeholders who have been shut out for a very long time.
“It is also time to amend the NFF statutes. Even the Nigerian constitution has been amended many times. The NFF statutes is not superior to our constitution so it has to be reviewed for optimal results,” he advised.
