By Saheed Afolabi
Professionalism, working health care system, classical referees, money, quality of players and good structures have been given as the reasons why many football fans prefer foreign leagues to the local ones.
Some of the sport lovers who spoke to ECHONEWS in Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area claimed that Nigerian local sports especially football lacks proper structure, saying they are not encouraged with the way local sports are organized compared to the foreign ones.
They said Nigerian sports officials and footballers need to learn from their foreign counterparts to make the local leagues more attractive.
The coach of Ysdron FC, Ayodeji Adebayo who is a resident of Isolo said the reason for lack of proper structure in the Nigerian local leagues is due to the fact the decisions were made without consulting experts.
He believed that Nigerian local leagues performance could surpass that of the foreign ones if the experts are allowed to make good decisions concerning sport activities.
“A lot of things make the foreign league more attractive than our local leagues. It is not because of the style of their play; we can replicate that here but the football in our country is not properly structured enough to convince people to be anxious to watch the matches. And the football authorities in our league do not consult proven experts on how to move the league forward, they only take decisions solely on their own and that is affecting the local league. Also in terms of sponsorship and marketing, the foreign leagues are my favorite because I can’t remember the last time we had a sponsor in our local leagues. In all ramifications the foreign league is my favorite,” he said.
Popoola Gbenga, another football fan residing in Ejigbo said: “The foreign leagues are more attractive because of their style of playing football and they believe it is not a do or die affair like in our local leagues. The medical equipment of the foreign league is sophisticated than that of our local leagues. Money is also a big factor because players trading their skills in foreign leagues get high pay compared with our local league players who earn peanuts. The atmosphere is also another factor because a great atmosphere brings out the best in players while playing.”
The coach of Eagles Assembly FC, Emmanuel Edem said many football fans prefer foreign leagues to the local ones due to the quality of the pitch, the style of play, the marketing side of the game, media presence and payment of weekly wages.
He said: “There is a clear difference from various points of view and perspective, the arena (pitch) of play, attitude of fans over there is clearly attractive and coordinated than we have here. The philosophy of the game is more articulated and advanced than we have here. The style of play is attractive, the formation and display of skills.
The marketing and media presence for the games and the business perspective of the game are too advanced than we have here. The payment for players, agents, coaches is awesome. The statistics and records about the games and players are stunning which sometimes we lack in our local leagues, there is no basis for comparison.”
Christopher Ogar also voiced out his own opinion: “To me, the entertainment and the atmosphere, the standard of the leagues and how the clubs are being run, the skills, and above all the money. You cannot play in a foreign country and your life still remains the same because there are more benefits players enjoy after their playing career in foreign leagues.”
Basketball coach, Shakirudeen Afunku, also said: “The reason why I like foreign leagues is because of facilities, foreign leagues have good facilities and good infrastructure put in place to help the players to train in good atmosphere and motivate them to perform at their best.
“Playing in a good environment with a world class facility helps the players to be creative and improve their skills. That is why in foreign leagues you see more quality individual skills than in our local leagues.
“Entertainment, the way they advertise their leagues is awesome. An ordinary individual who doesn’t do sport, through their advert, would be tempted to get himself involved. I can’t describe the feelings with words alone.
“Different franchises and investors are putting money into foreign leagues. This motivates the players to perform at their best and they are not scared of injuries because they know that their clubs would take good care of them but that is not in our local leagues.
“If the government and private individuals can dedicate time to our leagues, I am sure our local leagues will also improve tremendously and will be more preferred by sport fans.”
