AFCON Ouster: Club Owners Call For Caution

Against the backdrop of the two consecutive AFCON miss by the Super Eagles of Nigeria, the Football Club Owners Association of Nigeria have called on all stakeholders to exercise ‎constraint and avoid heating the polity, but rather concentrate on building a solid structure that would help the system as Nigeria prepare ahead of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

 In a statement by the Club Owners, jointly signed by the Chairman, Barrister Isaac Danladi‎ and the Executive Secretary, Alloy Chukwuemeka, and made available to newsmen, the association commended the high level of commitment exhibited by the players in the last two matches against the Pharaohs of Egypt, despite the results of the matches.

 The association identified the incessant change in the coaching crew of the senior national team as one of the major causes of the inconsistency in the performance of the team, which had caused the country to lose out of two consecutive African soccer fiestas.

 They charged the Technical Committee of the NFF to rise to the challenge and arrest the ugly trend.

Club Owners said that this is not the time to trade blames, but a time of sober reflection and stock taking so as to plan ahead of the 2018 World Cup qualification preparation.

 The association enjoined the Nigeria football Federation (NFF) to take advantage of the improved standard of the Elite domestic ‎league, the NPFL by ensuring that the future Super Eagles are made up of greater number of quality players from the system, even as they praised the performance of Oghenekaro Etebo and other players from the local league .

 The statement read in part: “it is our belief that the ouster of the Super Eagles was indeed painful, but as football stakeholders, we urge all concerned Nigerians to see it as call for sober reflection and for us all to look inwards and address every structure aimed at helping us in getting our house in order, devoid of the incessant changes in the technical crew which brought about the inconsistency in our play before now.

 “Again it is not about trading blames but for us as football stakeholders to join hands together and proffer better options that will see us win in every available future championships, sustain our rejuvenated domestic league as well as prepare for qualification for the 2018 World cup”, the statement added.

Igho Kingsley