Foremost Sports Journalist and Special Adviser to the FCT Minister of State, Aderonke Ogunleye-Bello has called for the total restructuring of Women Football in the country, to enable it attain it’s full potential.
Ogunleye-Bello, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of a Women Advocacy group, FAME Foundation spoke during an interview session on FCT Football Update WhatsApp group, she said the Women Football Department of the Nigeria Football Federation is not well structured to move women football forward in the country.
According to her, ” our Women have won more laurels at the senior level than their men counterpart. We are supposed to give them more attention because they are a serious brand.
“We need to put people who are very intelligent, innovative, strategic, focused, and passionate in the various positions of the Department, and give them free hands to articulate programs that will move the game forward in country.
With our achievements in the game, the NFF are supposed to look for the best hands to drive every program that involves the women. Not by bringing in family members, concubines, girlfriends, boyfriends or errand boys and girls to occupy the positions. They need to engage people on merit and empower them properly to move the game forward”.
She advocated that adequate fundimg should be made available to Women football to ensure that their developmental programs are carried out to the latter.
She was of the opinion that though the Women Footballers should be adequately catered for, but she doesn’t agree that they should be paid as much as the senior men national team counterpart, at least for now,
“We would get there one day, but I don’t agree that the Super Falcons should be paid the same amount with the Super Eagles.
That time will come, but it’s not now, we need to structure women’s football properly, attract sponsors and give it the required publicity and technical support,” she said.
Aderonke blamed the inability of the Women teams to attract sponsors to inadequate publicity.
She said the media shows a lot of apathy in reporting the Women Football.
“Sponsors want to invest their money where they will get mileage. But, how many people report the Women football?. If our media houses develop attention in reporting the game, sponsors will come, and our development will be faster,” she concluded.
