Sports
Football And Its Management, A Serious Business – Club Chairman
The proprietor and chairman of Moyero Football Club of Akure, Lanre Moyero, says football and its management is a business that must be treated with much seriousness.
Moyero who spoke against the background of Monday’s signing of contract between the club and its players in Akure said football is beyond passion.
He said it should be seen as a tool of wealth creation, aside from helping in the rise to stardom.
“Yes, football is about passion, but I see it more as a serious business and a means to put food on the table for me and my family.
“All over the world everybody that is conversant with football knows that it is no longer a common game,” the club proprietor said.
Moyero added that the motivating factor for him was that in the last 17 years he had been contributing his quota to reducing unemployment in the country through football.
“I have been doing this by helping young talented Nigerians to achieve their career objectives both within and outside the shores of the country,” he said.
The club chairman however pointed out that the management of Moyero FC decided to sign a contract with the players because of its past experiences with some unfaithful players.
Tidesports source reports that the players were given the contract papers to take home to properly study.
They were expected to return the papers to the club with their respective guardian or parent’s approval before continuing with their development programmes with the club.
The contract is to bind both parties for two years, and was solely handled by the club’s lawyer, Dayo Adejumola.
Moyero added that the club had been producing players for years but decided to rebuild the entire team, from management to players, in order to achieve much more success.
He charged the club’s new players to be loyal and faithful, saying “my management team will not condone any act of indiscipline from any player.’’
The club chairman added that such discipline was necessary for the team handlers to put the players in good shape ahead of the planned trials in Europe.
He however said the club would also register the team for participation in the forthcoming Ekiti Bet9ja league.
“God willing, the players will be leaving for Europe by July and preparation is in top gear for the documentation and processing of their visa.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.