Former Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) veteran Victor Ezeji has charged soccer fans to stop seeing the qualification of their clubs for continental action as the chance to make money.
Although many Nigerian football analysts and fans still regard the CAF Champions League as ‘a money spinning competition,’ Ezeji insists it is mostly about pride, not cash.
He continued with references to the huge expenses incurred by clubs representing Nigeria in continental competitions, which he says is more than what they are paid as appearance fees by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The former dazzling attacker, who starred for Enyimba of Aba and Sharks of Port Harcourt during his illustrious heyday, added that organisers of the Nigerian league must urge NPFL clubs to think more of the pride their players will get from representing the country rather than how much they stand to gain.
He externuated further,”Talking about the desire to participate in the CAF Champions League or Confederations Cup, I don’t think the main thing is to make money. The main thing for me is the pride of the cup.
“That has to be the first factor. Everybody wants to win the trophy. Winning a big trophy like the CAF Champions League is massive.
“If it’s about the money, we can see that most clubs spend so much before they even start playing.
When they even start playing, most spend more than what they are paid to participate.
“So, I think it’s not all about making money, but the pride of representing your country.”
Ezeji, who won the CAF Champions League with Enyimba at the peak of his career but never had a swell time in the national team, harped on the need for players to derive joy from representing the country with their clubs on continental assignments.
“It’s about the pride of representing your country and the club you play for,” Ezeji submitted.
“Everybody wants to play in the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederations Cup. Even if you see a coach today, the first thing he’ll tell you is he wants to play in the continental competition.
“That’s why we should see our league as the chance for anybody that wins the title to play in the continent and make Nigeria proud. It is better that way.”
