The name Barrister Rotimi Ali might not ring a bell in the football community in Nigeria but this is one man that has turned football for good in Ibadan.
Barrister Ali’ is the Chairman of Ibadan zonal Football Association, the association incidentally owns the 1,000 seater Olubadan Stadium with one of the best turfs in the country.
” The Ibadan Football Association league has produced several top national team players like late Thunder Balogun , Niyi Akande , Segun Odegbami , Dimeji Lawal , Mutiu Adepoju etc”.
He spoke extensively in an interview in a social media platform ” NSSP”
“The activity of IFA is all about football. We have three traditional competitions namely IFA league, Olubadan Cup and Chief Lekan Salami Cup.
On resumption of office last year , I introduced a new competition known as IFA under 15 competition – sponsored by Deloy Travels”
Explaining further on the state of the stadium
” We now have 15 functional rooms in the hostel fully equipped with bedding , television etc. All the toilets have been refurbished , we have also started work on the construction of a five aside football pitch at the stadium to be completed in September”
For a man who played football in the university and is today a full time practising legal practitioner who assumed office to an empty purse and poor stadium structures, what is the magic wand one would want to wonder?
The former teammate of Edith Agoye hinged all his success on integrity
” No one will put his or her money where you are not sure about the prudence or accountability.
I have been fortunate to have a lot of individuals and corporate bodies who believe in me and trust me with their funds.
I met only 18,000 Naira in the coffers of the Association when I assumed office but raised the bar with over 10 million naira” he stated.
Barrister Ali’ in a matter of fact concluded that
” If we have men and women with enough clout in sports adminstration in Nigeria, things will definitely be better. A lot of corporate bodies are willing to partner in the area of sports development”.
