Nigeria Football Gasping For Breath – Sports Minister

Sports Minister Sunday Dare (PICTURED ABOVE) has admitted all is not well with Nigeria Football despite some successes here and there on the international front.

Dare made this assertion when he inaugurated the committee to draw up a Master Plan for football development for the next 10 years as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Without any iota of doubt, football is our number one sport. Nigerians love football,” the Sports Minister stated.

“It is our strongest unifying tool, our national asset.

“However, inspite of all that it can provide, and the best efforts of its past and present actors and stakeholders, the game we all love is gasping for breath.

“We may be recording some successes here and there in erratic, incongruous patterns but the stark reality of our domestic football stares us in the face.”

Dare listed some of the challenges that must be addressed for football in Nigeria to flourish.

They include:

1) An inconsistent, irregular football calendar

2) Lack of professionalism in our club administration, a fall out of the lack of enforcement of licensing and financial controls

3) The inability to produce and sustain a conducive environment for private investors and funders.

He further said the committee must, among others, develop the strategies that will address the roles of Government at all levels as well as the private sector, development partners and social enterprise sector in the development of the game as well as the Football Pyramid and operational framework that will define the roles of educational institutions, football academies, clubs, leagues and national competitions in the development of the game and the projected financial requirements and targeted expenditure plans covering the different levels of the Football Pyramid.