Stakeholders
By Olayinka Owolewa
Ilorin, July 31, 2018 (NAN) Football stakeholders in Kwara on Tuesday in Ilorin called on the state government to assist its organs responsible for the development of the game in order to discover talents at the grassroots.
They made the call at a forum organised by the Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, Muyideen Alalade.
Addressing the forum, the commissioner urged the stakeholders to make meaningful contributions that would assist his ministry in developing the game.
In his submission, the state Football Association Chairman, Malam Busari Ishola, said lack of Sports Council staff in local government areas was affecting the growth of the game at the grassroots.
While calling on the state government to better equip the sports council with qualified personnel, he explained that football development was different from its organisation.
The Kwara FA boss added that clubs in Nigeria only know how to organise the game and were not proficient in promoting development.
Ishola also said his office had not received any fund from the state government since he assumed office more than six years ago.
The Chairman of Nigeria Football Coaches Association, Kwara Chapter, Tunde Sanni, urged the management of Kwara United FC to pay debts owed former coaches and players of the club.
“We don’t want to use our hands to destroy a house we built, it is not that we do not know what to do and where to go to get our money.
“Our money was sliced without consulting us, we didn’t complain and we accepted it like that.
“The club, however, has not fulfilled its proposed mode of payment, ” Sanni said.
A former Vice Chairman of Kwara United, Alhaji Owolabi Wopa, blamed the state FA for some of the problems, accusing it of disenfranchising some key stakeholders from participating in the forthcoming elections.
The Chairman of the Oyun Local Government Football Association, Salaudeen Fowomola, said sports was not on the priority list of the state government.
He explained that what had been sustaining sports in the state was the sacrifice that a few stakeholders were making.
But responding, the commissioner thanked the stakeholders for what he called their valid submissions capable of restoring the lost glory of football in the state.
He said various committees would be set up to address some of the problems identified at the meeting.
The commissioner also directed that staff of the sports council be deployed to the local government areas, promising that more coaches would be employed. (NAN)
OOH/OJO
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(Edited by Mufutau Ojo)