NAN-S-18
Football
By Precious Imonigie and Victor Okoye
Abuja, Oct. 16, 2017 (NAN) Patrick Ngwaogu, Vice-Chairman of the FCT Football Association (FA), on Monday said low financial capacity has been hindering FCT clubs’ promotion into and effective participation in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
Ngwaogu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that this and many other factors were responsible for the non-representation of FCT in the top-flight league.
He explained that it would be difficult for an FCT-based football club to gain promotion to the top-flight league because the organs running the clubs see it as a social responsibility.
The FCT FA official believed that if such a club had the financial capacity to do the needful, then nothing would stop it from playing in the NPFL or continental competitions.
NAN reports that no FCT-based football club has ever played in the NPFL, except for FC Abuja which managed to make it to the then Nigeria Premier League (NPL).
FC Abuja gained promotion and played in the Premiership in the 2008/2009 season, but was relegated at the end of the season.
However, Supreme Court, FRSC Strikers, Prisons FC and TEAP FC have barely struggled to survive in the Nigeria National League (NNL), which is the country’s second tier league.
Only FRSC Strikers and FC Abuja were part of the 2016/2017 NNL season, with the latter falling into the relegation zone.
Supreme Court who last played in the 2015/2016 NNL season, Prisons FC and TEAP FC have all since been relegated to the third-tier Nigeria Nation Wide League (NNWL) Division One.
The other FCT-based clubs in the NNWL Division One are Abuja United, Kuje United, NAF Rockets and Wazobia FC.
NAF Rockets however gained promotion at the end of the just-concluded NNWL Division One season and would join FRSC Strikers to compete in the NNL next season.
Ngwaogu, who doubles as Assistant Coach of NPFL side Abia Warriors, says it all goes beyond mere wishes.
“On many occasions when some of these clubs gained promotion to NNL, their major objective was not to fight for an NPFL ticket, but rather to maintain their status in the second tier league.
“This is due to the fear of coping with the financial demands that comes with playing in the top-flight league.
“Since clubs in the FCT are not state-owned, they are therefore faced with the challenges of funding, recruitment of top-class and experienced players, as well as players’ welfare packages, among others.
“Only the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) can finance such clubs, because of their capital base and I am yet to see one FCT administrator willing to do that,’’ he said.
Ngwaogu said the rationale behind the establishment of FCT football clubs needed to be re-examined, added that the clubs lacked a strong capital base to compete in the NPFL.
“Even if FCT clubs gain promotion to play in the top-flight league, how are they expected to cope with the high financial demands of the league?
“The minimum wage of a good player in the NPFL is about N150,000, while experienced and best legs collect as much as N600,000.
“In addition, the club is expected to pay a N3 million clearance fee, and spends at least N2 million every weekend to prosecute a league match, to mention but a few others,’’ he explained.
Ngwaogu also observed that there were many good players and coaches in the FCT.
He noted that some of the clubs rarely went through a superb scouting network to sign the right players from the grassroots.
“The issue of scouting and the signing of the right players from the grassroots need to be taken seriously, so that these players can also be sold to other continents to generate income.
“Some of these clubs do not see football as a business, hence funds become a major factor for them to have a successful season because the players’ welfare packages are paramount,’’ the FCT FA vice-chairman said.
He therefore urged the private sector to support and sponsor FCT football clubs so as to make football fans in the territory proud of having a club.(NAN)
PEPI/VO/COO/OLAL
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(Edited by Cecilia Odey and Olawale Alabi)