Enyimba of Aba marquee signing, Aide Brown Ideye has opened a can of worms by declaring that clubs in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) are never well prepared to compete properly in African continental competitions.
Sports247.ng reports that Ideye’s outburst comes a few days after his club failed to go beyond the group stage in this year’s CAF Confederation Cup and, although he did not mention Enyimba specifically, his comment may be seen in some quarters as a tacit indictment of The Peoples’ Elephant’s management.
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Aside from slamming Nigerian clubs for failing to meet up with all expectations required for a successful continental campaign, the former West Bromwich Albion of England and Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine striker also rated the NPL itself low.
Brown Ideye opined, “The situation is getting worse, and the league is not getting better. I feel we have a long way to go. We need to grow the league; but my time with Enyimba has been wonderful.”
The lanky striker, who previously played in the domestic league with Ocean Boys FC of Brass before travelling abroad, then turned his attention on some specific lapses seen among Nigeria’s CAF competition representatives and buttressed his view by calling for improvements in the NPFL.
“There are one or two things in the league that have to be improved. We are not ready for (the continental level). The whole of Nigeria’s teams that qualified for the continental championships (were not ready for it), if we have to say the truth. They were not properly prepared.
“Ask them how they prepared for their games. In terms of travelling bad, in terms of feeding bad, in terms of hotels bad, and in terms of how the players relax bad. In terms of everything, we Nigerians are not ready for continental matches. I feel we should put our house in order before going for continental competitions … instead of going there to disgrace ourselves,” Ideye submitted.
