Presidential Panel Submits 10 Years Football Masterplan

The Presidential Committee on 10-Year Football Masterplan inaugurated by the minister of youth and sports development, Mr Sunday Dare, eight months ago, to lay the foundation for the development of Nigeria’s Football, has concluded its assignment and submitted its report to the Minister.

The sports minister assured that the two-volume report will be delivered to President Muhammadu Buhari who will direct a white paper upon which the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will drive the implementation in phases.

Dare also assured the committee and indeed, Nigerians that the report will not be one of those reports that will be allowed to gather dust in some office or book shelf without implementation, saying President Buhari who commissioned the assignment,

is genuinely interested in the development of, not just the game of football, but of the Nigerian youth as a whole and wants to lay a foundation for football development in Nigeria that will outlive his administration.

Chairman of the committee, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, had earlier said that the Committee swung into action soon after its inauguration on the 21st of November, 2021, but the magnitude of the job caused the delay of the submission of their report.

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The report of the committee according to Galadima was in two volumes, among other things, recommended for expansion of the membership of the voting congress of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), saying it will provide a conducive platform for all to serve both at the national and other fora.

“It is ironic that the success of football administrators is measured by the number of continental or global tournament qualifications against the need to beam a searchlight on the governance of the game. Regrettably, our neglect of grassroots development and enhancement of good structures at the local and state levels has caused severe damage to the administration of football in the country.

‘Nigeria must find a space in the global environment through the evolution of an atmosphere that will provide a conducive platform for all to serve both at the national and other fora. The committee is of the opinion that expanding the membership of the voting congress will provide that opportunity. It is expedient at this moment to call for a re-visit of the Laws and Statutes governing the administration of the game of Football in The country.

“The multiplicity of such Laws and statutes ranging from the NFA Act of 2004 and the supervisory role of the Ministry of Youth and Sports as well as the oversight roles of National Assembly are often times in conflict with some provision of FIFA Statutes leading to constant threats of FIFA’s claim of interference from third parties. It may not be out of place to suggest the domestication of FIFA Laws to conform with the supremacy of Nigeria Laws and constitution,”