The charade of NFL- Onochie Anibeze Kojo Williams who is well schooled in football matters but who was not allowed to serve Nigeria as NFA chairman has tried to educate members of the NFL. "I don’t think Itemuagbor is a marketer for Globacom. He is NFA’s marketer who is probably consulting for Globacom. But even if he is Globacom’s marketer and consultant, there’s nothing absolutely wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong for a Globacom’s consultant or marketer to bring business to the FA. Mind you, we are talking of sponsorship of the league. That’s money to the league. It is therefore wrong for you to run down your sponsor. Itemuagbor is a private man. His company, Pamodzi can consult for Globacom and still market the NFA. He is therefore bound to protect his clients and that’s simply what he is doing. I don’t think the controversy now going on is necessary. NFL cannot be acting as if they are a parallel body of the FA. That is what they are doing and this is the problem." Referring to the English Premier League and reading from the rules of the game, he said that "we cannot adopt everything in this book but there are standards worthy of emulation. We have to consider our own environment and do it as it suits us. But we can learn from them. The Premier League is actually called THE FA PREMIER LEAGUE. The FA owns the game. What they do is that directors of the board appoint their Chief Executive and some members of the League are also on the board of the FA. The Premier League clubs are shareholders of the Premier League which is a Limited Liability Company under the laws of the FA. The three clubs relegated at the end of the season lose their ordinary share to the Premier League to the three that will be promoted. Monies made from sponsorship are shared to the clubs with the three top clubs getting more, so performance determines what a club gets. That’s why the top clubs are richer and the struggle to be on top is keen. I think our people have a lot to learn about the game. The NFL can set standards. There should be minimum pay for players in the league, players and coaches must have contracts with their clubs, there should be players’ association, clubs must have youth teams which must be registered. Clubs must have good grounds. If clubs cannot meet certain standards they cannot be in the Premier League. We can start with ten clubs or even eight. Let them play three times, it may not matter once the standards are good to attract commercials and sponsorship. If you look at our league, you’ll commend any person sponsoring it. I’m sure Mike Adenuga (Globacom’s Chief Executive) is not sponsoring the league because it helps sell his product. There must be other reasons, maybe for patriotic reasons or just for ego. The way our league is at the moment, it cannot attract great business. The League Board must be knowledgeable enough to set standards, promote the league and bring value to the whole thing. Welfare of the players and teams must be part of the priorities. You can see from this book (showing the pages, that jerseys are registered, how TV money and other sponsorship monies are shared are well specified. The percentage that goes to the FA for development of the game is also stated. Youth development and Schools of Excellence are all there. We can do some of these things in our own way. We may not be able to do all but in a small way let’s get started for God’s sake. Let’s be a little bit professional. These were some of the things we wanted to do when I became chairman. I had already done a paper, a blueprint for our league. Somebody said that I should prepare to come and run the league and I said NO WAY. I’m a Nigerian who wants the game to grow. What I can do now is to advise and tell them when they are getting it wrong. You can see how backward we are. The FA, the League and the press too have to be educated so that we can all have good ideas for our football. What is happening now is like three blind men chasing themselves around. That’s not good for our football." By Onochie Anibeze Questions from users received up to now: 0 Not Registered yet ? Click here to Register. |
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