Nigerian football administrators and coaches have urged corporate bodies and wealthy individuals to come to the aid of football clubs to ensure the development of the game.

In separate interviews with newsmen in Lagos, the administrators and coaches said that funding was a major challenge to the development of football.

Mutiu Adepoju, General Manager, Shooting Stars Sports Club of Ibadan, said that the management of most clubs lacked the finance to run football effectively.

“To own a football club is capital intensive and most clubs that we have in the national league have gone bankrupt because they could not cope,” Adepoju said.

He explained that the clubs were not revenue generating businesses but rather providing social services engaging the youths in meaningful activity, so that they do not constitute a nuisance in the society.

The general manager advised the managements of football clubs to develop their feeder teams to enhance the quality of players playing in the various leagues.

Similarly, Godfrey Esu, Coach of Crown FC, Ogbomoso, said that most clubs lacked the proper management to run football.

According to him, poor management is what has been hindering football clubs in Nigeria.

He also deplored the management of the national league, adding that the league needed to be better coordinated.

Esu noted that football could only develop in Nigeria if a well organised development programme, targeted at the grass roots, was initiated and implemented by committed football administrators.

Wole Ajaja, Coach of Fountain FC, Ado-Ekiti, however, identified poor welfare for athletes as a major challenge for the clubs.

“Most clubs have good intention of developing football but do not have the resources,” he said.

The coach said that without proper welfare, the players looked for better opportunities abroad, thereby under-developing football in the country.

“Due to non-payment of players entitlements, most of them run to foreign clubs and this is telling on the development of football in Nigeria” Ajaja said.