Grassroots Football Needs Encouragement – Coach

The head coach of George Football Club of Port Harcourt, Ahmed Mukhtar has said that lack of encouragement is the bane of grassroots football development in the country, most especially Rivers State.
He noted that there are good and talented players at the grassroots but lack of encouragement and sponsorship kills their talent skills.
Mukhtar said this in an exclusive interview with Tidesports at the weekend, in Port Harcourt, saying that a lot of players have graduated from various football academies with exceptional skill but because they do not have anybody to push ahead they rot away.
“I can tell you that Nigeria has a lot of talented and skillfull football but scouts and coaches do not go to the grassroots to discover these players”, Mukhtar said.
He explained eventually when players were invited for trials abroad, finance to process documents will not be there and nobody will be willing to assist them.
“I also discovered that tribalism and sentiment is oneof the factors killing sports in Nigeria Most of the players playing in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) did not merit it, but because they have people sponsoring them,”He stated.
According to him, he noted that most coaches demand money from players before signing, saying that only those who can afford the money will be taken as good players.
He advised coaches and scouts to chose players on merit to enable our football grow n the country.

Kiadum Edeekor