Nigerians who still lament the non qualification of the country’s male and female football teams for the forthcoming summer London Olympic Games need not to cry any more. This is because the supervising minister of sports and Chairman National Sports Commission (NSC), Malam Bolaji Abdullahi has said that the absence of the football teams from the Nigerian contingent to London Games is a blessing in disguise and opportunity for other sports to strive for success.
Bolaji, who stated this yesterday at the ministerial platform where he was presenting his account of stewardship as supervising minister of sports, said the achievement of other sports federations has been hiding under the shadow of football. “When football does well, Nigerian sports generally are doing well. But when football failed to perform, the general impression among Nigerians is that our sports sector has collapsed. That is not true.
“Maybe now that football did not qualify for the Olympics is a blessing in disguise and opportunity for other sports who have been held under the shadow of football for so long to enjoy the kind of massive support football has been receiving from the public. I am not saying that we should diminish football to grow other sports. All have to grow together, and we have to support the few that have qualified for Olympics,” he said.
While blaming the country’s recent woe in football in lingering crisis and litigations in the sector, Bolaji said all the aggrieve parties have resolved to work together in the interest of progress and development of the game. “When I came to sport, the president of the NFF told me that he is facing 30 litigations in court challenging his legitimacy. But I am happy to inform you that we have resolved all the lingering crises in football and both parties have agreed to work together. NFF have also taken initiative of absolving the warring members into its fold and the result of that peace initiative has started to manifest with Flamingoes and Falconets, the nation’s U-17 and 20 women teams qualifying for the FIFA World Cup respectively.”
He challenged the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation and the Nigeria Premier League to develop a spirit of trust that would enable the private sector invest in football.
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