Football Administrators Charged To Improve Local League

Odi Ikpeazu, the Chairman, Anambra United FC, Onitsha, has called on the country’s football administrators to make a concerted effort at developing the national league.

Reacting to Nigeria’s exit from the 2010 World Cup, Ikpeazu, in an interview with newsmen  on Wednesday, said the solution lay in the improvement of the local league.

He said the failure of the Eagles at the World Cup called for an “inward search” for a solution through grass-roots football development. 

“Forget about the Super Eagles or national team; what we need is to concentrate on our football development through grass-roots clubs and league development. 

“I call on the Nigeria Football Federation, Nigeria Premier League and other football-related bodies to come home, inject money and commitment to our national league and other football developmental projects just as Argentina did some years back,” Ikpeazu said. 

He expressed regret that a lot of money was spent on the country’s campaign to participate in the World Cup.

If part of the amount was made available for the local league, Nigeria’s football would be better for it, the chairman said.

Goddy Agbarakwe, a football administrator and ex-Green Eagles player, said the early exit of the Eagles was because of the shoddy preparation for the mundial. 

Agbarakwe told newsmen  in Owerri that the ouster of the Eagles should be a lesson to all, pointing out that without adequate preparation for such important competitions, the result could only be failure.

“We (Nigeria) got what we bargained for,” he said. “This should teach us a big lesson to always have long-term plans and prepare adequately for important events such as the mundial.”

According to him, “our characteristic fire brigade approach to sporting competitions should stop if we want the world to take us seriously as a sporting nation.”

Agbarakwe said Nigeria was billed to fail “when we hired a coach only five months to the kick-off of the tournament” and added that “Nigeria did not present a team in the World Cup.”

Another football enthusiast, Kingsley Eme, who spoke in the same vein, urged the country to put its acts together and return to the drawing board.

In Port Harcourt, Nigerians interviewed were in agreement that the Eagles’ lack of preparation was responsible for their early exit.

According to the fans, the team’s failure to beat the South Koreans in their last and decisive match showed that they depended on luck and not hard work.

The Eagles had earlier lost 0-1 to group leaders Argentina and

1-2 to Greece.

The fans said that instead of hoping to win through luck, the team’s handlers should return and begin work immediately for future competitions.

Chinwe Okparanma, a student, said the team had from their first match (against Argentina) failed to justify the confidence reposed in them.

Jane Williams, a civil servant, called on stakeholders in the sports industry to see the poor outing as a challenge to get things right.

“We still have time to get things right; now is the time. We do not have to go to bed and only begin to prepare a few months to the next competition,” she said.