To fast track the implementation of the recently approved National Sports Industry Policy (NSIP), the minister of youth and sports development, Sunday Dare met with the state commissioners and directors of sports development from across the country on the sidelines of the ongoing National Sports Festival (NSF) in Asaba to pinpoint the highlights of the sports policy.
Recall that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had in November approved the new National Sports Industry Policy (NSIP) – the policy frame-work guiding the reclassification of sports from recreation to business.
The Minister outlined three main pillars of the NSIP to include the 3’I’s – Infrastructure, Investments and Incentives, stating that the hitherto episodic funding of sports by government tied to sporting events, as against the whole gamut of sports development, will soon be a thing of the past as the NSIP implementation comes on stream.
“There are three triggers to this policy. If we are able to pull the triggers, you will see the money coming. The first trigger is infrastructure. Without infrastructure, you cannot develop Sports. This is beyond brick and mortar. What you have in Delta, as big and as beautiful as those indoor sports halls are, without the athletes and equipment, which make up the sporting ecosystem, they are useless.
“The second trigger is Investment. If you don’t invest in a business, it will die. There is almost zero investment from the public in our sports development. What comes from the government is not really an investment because sports is seen as a service, so there is zero return.
“Athletes, Federations seek funds from the government because they just see that in sports, there is nothing coming out of it.
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