By Coach Uni Dan KAKWI
The Nigerian league has struggled to be consistent in major facets of welfare and comfort for NIGERIAN football league players. Although we have not heard much about new sponsors coming into the league, the LMC(league management company) has been able to create awareness by drawing more spectators to the stadium.
Technically, home wins have been hard to come by because of strong competition in the league.
What about the major actors in the league? I am referring to the footballers who labored day and night to ensure they feature for their teams. These guys always work and train hard, traveling for long hours to and fro, twice a week, to play football for their respective teams. Just because they signed an agreement which they cannot terminate and don’t have any other choice; just because they love to play football with some having to fend for their immediate and extended families, many cannot move an inch for fear of blackmail or joblessness.
Majorly, some confided in trusted media sources to help them spread the word, and many people do not care about the health and wellness of these actors _Even the fans look out for the players only on the field of play and are not bothered if they are paid or not. Non-payment of salaries is detrimental for obvious reasons; for example, personal maintenance and offsetting of individual commitments. It also has a huge psychological effect on the players’ performances, because which employee will be happy to see his employers living large when he’s being owed?
Why do we ignore the players, the star attractions, the breadwinners of the league? They are humans after all. As we know, a happy worker is a productive worker.
Productively, the Welfare of footballers is just as pivotal as non-payment of salaries. It has a lot to do with the emotional and psychological state of players. If I may further ask, how many of these teams have a psychologist? When last did they hold in-house training for your players on how to manage their emotional and other external challenges and how to make sure it did not affect their on-field performances? Or the injured players on how to ensure the injury and lack of activity are not sending them into depression? With depression, they still play their hearts out, without food and compassion. When did you last train them on how to behave in public, harness positive energy, and concentration? How do you teach and work on a particular skill of the athletes and their attitudes?
Who cares? As expected, there is supposed to be a football welfare association in this nation but none of such exists. The LMC/NFF at a time said that for any team to feature in the league, it must meet the minimum requirement of N150,000, and also they will supervise the payment. Some have been fined and some threatened with fines and points deduction. How much can the LMC on its own do? If the rich state-owned clubs still owe players, how do they expect them to play their hearts out, breaking arms and limbs in the process? These players are human and not puppets.
Significantly, intervention from the NFF to ensure the players are paid their dues and not run on the pitch with an empty stomach, including, in many instances, psychological traumas. Players are human beings for God’s sake, not puppets.
