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Caf technical instructor, Adegboye Onigbinde has said the wrong use and under-utilizing of sporting facilities is responsible for the country’s problems in sports.
In 2012, the Federal Executive Council set up a committee to look into the mode of maintenance of federal stadia and to develop a sustainable funding framework for sports in general without much success to show for it.
Several federal government-owned sports facilities, like the National Stadium in Lagos, have gone into disuse and are rotting away.
In a no holds barred chat with Goal, the former Fifa technical instructor said the country’s football administrators need to have a working developmental programme to ensure things get back on the right track.
“I have said this to the annoyance of some people and they are yet to prove to me that I’m wrong. Do we have a developmental plan for sports in this country? If there is one, I don’t know where it is,” Onigbinde toldGoal.
“I remember when I joined the sports council in Ibadan, a lot of money was spent cutting the grass of the Liberty Stadium and there were lots of activities going on every day.
“Today the story has changed as it’s now being used for social activities and in the process being under-utilized because we don’t have a developmental programme.
“In Ibadan we have the Liberty Stadium, we have the National Stadium, Lagos and the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna – but because we have failed to use them for the right purpose, they are now rotting.
“If care is not taken, in years to come the country will not be bold to present any venue to play major games as well as groom young stars to greatness,” he concluded.
The Super Eagles would play their opening 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Chad on June 13 at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna.
