The lagos state government says it is working towards having more teams in Nigeria’s top flight of the Nigerian Professional League (NPFL).
The Senior Special Assistant to Lagos state governor on Sports, Prince Adeboye Adeyinka stated this in an interview with journalists on Nigeria Sports Centre WhatsApp group,
He said clubs the like of MFM, Smart City FC, 36 Lions, Box to Box FC, and others are doing well at the moment.
He stated that the Lagos state Sport Commission has done well with the calibre of people in charge of it affairs.
When asked about how he managed to retain his position as the SSA to the governor on Sports despite working with the former governor Akinwumi Ambode, he said, ” My hardwork and dedication paved way for me”.
On the issue of athlete development, he said ” We don’t believe in readymade names in Lagos state sport. We believe in catch-them-young. That’s why if you look at history, grassroots athletes have always represented the state in national and international events”.
On the issue of infrastructure, he said we are working hard to make sure sport infrastructures do not deteriorate. We have renovated the Teslim Balogun and Onikan Stadium to world class standard.
Speaking further on the issue of expatriate coaches and home based coaches.
“We pay expatriate coaches in dollars while we pay home based coaches in naira which shouldn’t be.
“The home based coaches like Samson Siasia, Emmanuel Amunike and Sunday Oliseh have done excellently well outside Nigeria. Let’s try them out because they’ve gone for refresher courses, let’s try them to see what they can do”, he said.
On the bribery allegations agains Nigerian coaches, he said “It sounds funny that there are allegations that Nigerian coaches take bribes.
” I am going to dismiss those allegations. Those making the allegations are just talking now about something that happened 10-12 years ago. They should mention names if they are being sincere. I won’t buy the idea of spoiling the name of our homegrown coaches. They should be respected”, he concluded.
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Credit: Blueprint