Categories: Sports

Nigerian Professional Football League Should Be Given Top Priority In 2022

The Nigerian professional football league should be given top priority in 2022

Football is a unifying factor in Nigeria, and nobody can deny this. However, in 2021, the local football league in Nigeria seemed to suffer the same fate as years passed.

From poor funding to poor kitting of players, to empty stadium stands and poor welfare package for footballers plying their trade in Nigeria, last year was a bad year for Nigeria sports, just like it was for football. This year can be better, nevertheless, only if the right things can be done. What are these things?

Adequate Funding: let’s face it, football is a huge money consuming venture, and there is no other way to run the league, aside from spending money. The professional league needs funding, the clubs playing in the league need funding. What else can one say here? Pumping money into the league to cater for everything and everyone involved in the league, should be a top priority in 2022.

Provide quality kits for the players: I don’t know if anybody else gets sick watching footballers in the Nigerian professional league wearing torn and faded jerseys for games? Countries that take football seriously are always looking for ways to improve the players’ kits, every season. Together with club sides in the country, quality designer jerseys are provided for the players to use. The responsibility of kitting players majorly belongs to various club sides, but here in Nigeria, the clubs have not done enough to produce quality and comforting kits for their players, hence why they need a little support from both the federal government and state governments.

Take adequate care of players: I was moved to tears when I once visited a club side in Nigeria and was met with scenes of players struggling over a bowl of garri and groundnuts! Players who are supposed to be on a football diet, are allowed to eat such foods? How does it aid their development as players? I know the economy today is not so good, but then these players who work for club sides should be taken care of well. No other way to go about this. They should be paid wages befitting of their statutes, and they should be taken care of. That is the only way it should be.

These may not be all that will be needed to give the local league a good lifting, but at the least, we can start from these listed suggestions.

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Chekwube Adaba