~Says the NPFL has to improve for our Football to attract Investors.
~Cited some key factors to why our league is on the decline
~Talked about the age by which a player should be developed
~Admits Nigerian clubs aren’t competitive enough in the continent
The Chief Executive officer (C.E.O) of Reigns Soccer Agency as well as FIFA License agent Olawale Onipede has said that the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) has to improve so as to attract investors.
The FIFA License agent whose Office base is in Lisbon, Portugal while speaking with Sports 247 admitted that the League Management Company (LMC) has to improve the League to enable our football to improve as well so as to attract investors.
He said “The NPFL has to improve for our football to improve as well as a WHOLE. Though the Shehu Dikko-led NPFL has improved over the years (in terms of League Management), more still needs to be done. Make Nigerian Football attractive Nigerians and investors will come. The interest of Nigerians has to be rekindled. Many Nigerians don’t watch the NPFL. Many are wary of the ” Win at all cost” mentality of the home teams. Nigerian League is not consistently shown to viewers at home. Therefore it is difficult to monitor the League. We also need to improve our grassroots development and scouting network systems in general.
While still speaking with Sports 247, Onipede also talked about the age by which a player should be developed. Noting that a player should be developed by basis, he/she should be able to know his positioning, work on his speed as well as master the basic football skills between the age of 5-17years of age.
“A player can be developed by basics, that is; from the stretch. Players from the age of 5 should start doing some football works on the pitch with his teammates, training on positioning, speed, technical and tactically from the age of 5-17 years of age. This age (5-17) are the perfect age to learn and improve as a player. If a player miss the basic I told you above, he can’t get it right at the age of 18 years anymore.
He also discussed Nigeria’s representatives on the Continent saying that that they aren’t competitive enough on the Continent.
” Nigerian Clubs cannot hold their own against other clubs on the Continent. Since the glorious days of Enyimba, playing on the Continent has just become an “Also-ran affair”.
Story By Okechukwu Emmanuel
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