Investors  set to take over Shooting Stars and Nigeria top football clubs….Pinnick

Says 40% of Nigerian football coaches are IT compliant…

Happy with the level of football officiating in the country…

Pleads for patience from Nigerians and enjoins Journalism to be constructive in their reporting..

By Ayo Ademokoya

 (On the 17th of May 2015,Amaju Pinnick,NFF President was in Ibadan to watch Shooting star played Rangers international in a match which suppose to rekindle old rivalry between the two clubs.Amaju after the first half then address the press.. here is the story if you havent read  it )

 President of the Nigerian Football Federation(NFF) Mr Amaju Pinnick says that privatization of football clubs must be taken seriously  in order for the game to develop in the country, while coaches of Nigerian  football clubs should endeavour upgrade themselves in the theatrics of modern day football as he gives kudos to the referees of the game in Nigeria.

Speaking to Sports journalists during the weak 9 encounter of the Nigerian Professional football league between the Oluyole warriors of Ibadan and their arch rival,Rangers International of Enugu at the Lekan salami stadium on Sunday, the Delta born soccer football administrators canvases for the support of the sports journalist appealing to them to be cautious of whatever that goes out in the air as it affects not just him as a person but football in the country. 

He however thanked the Management of the League Management company for doing a yeoman's job despite various challenges facing football in the country.

“What I have seen so far in this year’s league is quiet commendable, you can see that the investment we made on refereeing has reflected in the results of various league matches played so far this season.

“We have set a standard, it has paid off.  The so called “win at home at all cost” syndrome is dying gradually simply because, we (NFF) ,has invested hugely in our referee and we don’t expect anything less from them ; anything less would be met with very serious sanctions, 

I was happy when I came into the stadium today and saw the level of officiating, unlike before our referees are now been invited to international competition, one of them is Jelili who is officiating Shooting/Rangers match today , and I must say thank your to the federation, thank you to the league Management committee and a big thank you to the Referee association in Nigeria.

On the issue of players welfare and other issue affecting spectatorship, Mr Pinnick said Privatisation is the answer to these lingering problems as he believes football clubs in Nigeria would be run professionally if they are taken away from the ambit of the government.

“The LMC has done extremely well on this issue and I want to commend them for what they are doing despite all the challenges facing them.

“For the league to grow government should hands off football clubs and allow private individual to take over so that crowds could be attracted back to the stadium and welfare of players taken care of promptly.

“As you can see only two clubs in the league are owned by private individuals, and those two clubs are not been run because of business but because of passion they have for football. We want clubs to be run professionally and not just go to the government and be begging for fund, we no longer want a situation where by a particular government leaves a state and leaves with the glory of that state football club.

“Let me just hint you here that some investors are interested in our football clubs and shooting stars especially. I do not want to let the cat out of the bag yet but I believe the league management company are working round the clock in ensuring that in the nearing future our football clubs would be privately owned. All im saying is we want total focus on football development and this situation can only arise when clubs are been run professionally.

“Take Insurance of Benin for an example Lucky Igbinedion former Governor of Edo state and the present governor of Edo state,Oshiomole’s view on sport differs, yes,  Oshiomole wants to develop infrastructure while Igbinedion  wants to develop Insurance.

I can tell you that we are working round the clock with the LMC to make sure that most of our football clubs are privatized,I just don’t want to let the cat out of the  bag yet but Im assuring you that very soon most of our clubs would be taken over by private investor and luckily,3SC of Ibadan is one of the clubs investors are very keen on to take over.

On the other hand , the NFF stalwart is however not too impressed with the attitude of Nigerian football coaches imploring them to try and align themselves with the theatrics of the modern day football which is more technical and technological oriented.

“Nigerian coaches who are arguably among the best coaches in the world but a lot should still be done in the area of capacity development as most of them are not IT complaints.

“You are aware that we took twenty coaches for training in the UK and Kelechi Emetole was one of them. Our coaches, to me are very competent, very good but they need more in the area of building their capacity.

“It is disheartening for me to get to England with our coaches and learn that about 40% of the coaches we took are computer complaints in modern day football where football is driven by Technology and that is why the federation purchased one of the best software meant for match reading and analysis which we will use at the forthcoming World Cup for our Under 20 and the female world cup.

“They should not wait for the federation to equip them, they earn salary and they can also equip themselves and learn about the modern theatrics. That is why I admire coach Salisu Yussuf, the new assistant coach of the Super Eagles.

Modern day football is driven by technology and most of our coaches are lagging behind. IT is used in determining so many things in the game like assessing the stamina of a player, speed, skill etc. pure statics is used in determining the strategy and selection of players for games based on technology you can determine the mileage of a particular player and use that to strategise and i must use this opportunity to inform you that the federation has been able to acquire the best software in match reading and the match analysis which

He however plead with journalist to embark on constructive and not destructive criticism.

I am open to criticism but let your criticism be instructive, constructive and educative and not dogmatic, subjective and destructive. Nigerians should just be patient with us, we are only here for about 7 or 8 months now and despite the challenges you can see the changes. Football is my passion and it’s my future and I promise to do everything to protect it.

Let me give you an example, when we went to England to meet with the British FA,I was shocked  when the the British FA chairman already knew so much about me as we sat down to talk.

The Administrative Secretary who noticed the bewilderment on my face told me that before we came he had already Google all information about me on the internet and that if they don’t want me to come, they would have said so.

Imagine if your comment about me has been destructive they would have said we shouldn’t come and not I would suffer but football in the country.

Mr Amaju Pinnick however concluded by appreciating the standard of play exhibited between Shooting stars and Rangers international despite the game been played on a day two top English football club is been played.

The standard of play and fans who came out today is appreciable,   I saw every player exhibiting the basic football skill and I’m very happy about that ,but I feel some of them are a bit jittery may be because they want to play to the gallery in other to impress the NFF president who is present to watch them play, there seem to be a bit of lack of communication between the defence and tha attack of thses teams.

I really want to commend the Ibadan people for coming out to watch this game despite the fact that Arsenal and Manchester United are playing  the same time Rangers and shooting

 is playing today. Im very impressed with the turn out today because no league rivals the English Premier league,not even La liga or German Bundesliga.,I know the LMC is working round the clock to make sure that more crowds come out to watch our local league.

Though the social media and the powers of TV makes people to stay at home in their comfort zone to watch major league all around the globe I believe we should still do more to make the stadium of a comfort zone for families to come and relax and enjoy the game of football.

I came here today with my kids and they are very happy and very relaxed to even been asking me which team should we support and I just have to answer them that both teams are ours, I want a situation where my wife can be at the salon around the stadium and the whole family can enjoy our football.