The president of the Nigeria Football Coaches Association (NFCA), Bitrus Bewarang, has congratulated the new minister of sports and chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Dr. Tamuno Danagogo, on his new appointment, urging him to remain focused and ensure that he beams his searching on the evil forces plaguing the nation’s football.
In a release made available in Abuja, Bewarang, who is also the general manager of Plateau United Football Club of Jos, said the minister should ensure that the vices were eradicated in the beautiful game.
“Let me on behalf of all Nigerian football coaches congratulate the new minister and chairman, NSC. We welcome him to his new assignment, and urged him to hit the ground running immediately. He should pay more attention to the development of sports at the grassroots in the country, with emphasis on football. We know very well that football is a game loved by virtually all Nigerians, and whenever Nigeria is playing and doing well, all aspects of the country’s economy would be at peace. We want him to support every good effort towards developing the game at the grassroots”.
Continuing, the former Super Eagles’ assistant coach to the 1994 Africa Nations Cup in Tunisia and USA ’94 said: “The minister should as a matter of urgency lay emphasis on the issue of corruption as it affects the league system in country. He should focus on the eradication of match-fixing in most of our leagues. This monster if not tackled immediately may destroy the fabrics of the game country,” he stressed.
Bewarang insisted that Nigeria had the capacity and capability to rule the world in the game of football, but regretted that the corrupt nature of the league is depriving the country the opportunity of producing the best of players at all levels and noted: “Look at what happened to our teams in the African Champions League this year. Our League Champions were knocked out by a Congolese team, while the runners-up were eliminated by a Malian team. These are countries that do not have the quality of players we have here in Nigeria. Neither do they have the type of leagues we have in the country. This easy elimination by these countries is a challenge for us to take a second look at the way our champions emerge.
The former U-23 head coach expressed confidence that if the corruption in the league system is eradicated, Nigerian teams would dominate the game in Africa and beyond.
