MY FINDINGS: WHY OUR LOCAL LEAGUE HAS NOT IMPROVED FOR MANY YEARS NOW!

- Iceathome (KickOff Forum - Sept 23, 2004)

Nigerians love football and their passion for the round leather game is fast growing into a religion, despite huge followership, the success of Nigeria soccer at club level is still a far distant cry compared to some advancing African countries and most importantly Europe and South America

The mind bugling question is why has the domestic league failed to grow in arithmetical progression having played organized soccer for well for five decades, who is really killing Nigeria football at the club level? NFA, club owners, Govt intervention, Players or fans?

Though, the socio-political and economic upheavals witnessed in recent years have in no small way affected our football growth adversely, NFA's maladministration, and organizational problems including the usurpation of the rights of the real stakeholders (club owners) to organize the premier league has in every sense of the word ruined our domestic soccer.

The introduction of the professional league in 1990 was seen as a welcome relief to lift the game to olympian heights, but still premier clubs have continued to run at huge deficit, privately owned clubs are fast disappearing from the scene, young talents continue to migrate outside Nigeria shore everyday, premier league is dominated by state owned teams which are not only poorly funded but have become an avenue for siphoning tax-payers money. What more? The play grounds are still a let down, live telecast of matches and radio accross the land is still not known when to accomplish dream, insecurity arising from increasing hooliganism is scaring spectators away, allegation of bribery and corruption resulting in match-fixing is tearing our souls and consciences apart, poaching of our brightest talents at give-away prices has continued unabated.

On and on we can continue to cast our woes, and as usual throw the blames at the door-past of the NFA whose insistence to run all football in Nigeria has sidelined club owners that watch in tears their investments plunged in the sea yearly. It is only in Nigeria (black Africa) where soccer feferations or associations tie the beautiful game to their waist belt because they are parastatal of govt.

In England, for instance, club owners run the league while the FA organize the FA cup and international matches for England clubs and national teams. Club owners are business men/women whose first sole aim, is profit and nothing than that. By running a clubs, you employ every expertise to explore every avenue of profit-making without bringing the game to its dying state as it is now. I thought that after Glocom takes over the sponsorship that things gonna be difference, but it gets worst. Actually, one may say Glocom coming in helps alot, but to me it doesn't.

I have a question to throw around here,are clubs' accounts ever audited at the close of any season? Do players really sign any professional contracts? Are there any Insurance Schemes to cover them? Are their salaries, bonuses, sign-on fees ever paid without recourse to bickering, sit-in strikes? In a sensible manner, how many clubs are viable enough to be in the premier league?

In all fairness, the NFA should hands off the Premier and Pro-league to club owners who dole out colossal sums of money yearly to invest in business that yeilds no profit at the end. Football is business and like all business ventures targeting profit margins, it should be registered under business act and left in the hands of owners and financiers

That means the premier league should have an independent board with its own secretariat outside NFA's direct control from where they can explore business opportunities to sustain their clubs, make profits, stem mass exodus of young talents, pay duely to officialls before any match to be played, address security problems, control hooliganism and all that when home team is loosing.

By law, the premier league is an affiliate of the NFA, with the soccer governing body playing just the supervisory role. But, Degree 101 that made NFA a parastatal of governement. I pray FIFA should run quickly to put off this decree 101 to help our local league for fruitful development and maturity. Reading from what happened at Kano (Kano Pillars and Gombe Utd), Dolphin and Nationale, Enyimba and Berger last match this season and last season, NFA ruling of many boardroom points to clubs without good reason, including the recent NFA ruling of 6 points to Bendel Insurance, I doubt in my mind if our league will improve with NFA handling the league.

All forumites, this is my observation on the way to move our league forward-NFA should hands off the league to GLOBALCOM OR ANY OTHER PRIVATE COMPANY LIKE ENGLAND BARCLAYS.

Congratulations to Dolphin FC, for emerging as new Nigerian champions.

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