Okocha, who was speaking on the poor
performance of the Flying Eagles and the Super Falcons at the FIFA
Under-20 World Cup and the FIFA Women’s World Cup respectively, told
reporters in Lagos on Saturday that the country should develop the sport
at the grassroots.
He said, “We should first of all accept
the fact that we are struggling at the moment. We need to sacrifice a
few years and maybe go back to the grassroots and start from there. I
don’t think we will benefit from being stubborn about it, claiming that
we are still what we used to be.
“We
are paying the price for failing to invest in the grassroots. If you
fail to plan, you plan to fail. We just need to speak to ourselves and
accept that we are no longer the football powerhouse that we used to be.
We should put things in order.”
The former Bolton Wanderers midfielder
said the country’s football had been suffering partly because the
football authorities had neglected knowledgeable and experienced
ex-internationals.
Okocha said, “It’s all about getting us
involved. Showing interest and showing respect to some of us. If I may
be a bit brutal, I think we are being neglected. As long as we don’t
appreciate what we’ve got, we will keep suffering. Except we want to go
out there and get foreigners. If we want our people, we should get the
right people.”
The Chairman of the Delta State FA added,
“There is no need for me to think I know it all. I’ve started from
where it is hot, which is the state FA. I’m sacrificing my time and
ideas to try and put things in order in the Delta State FA and see if I
can grow from there – and maybe one day I can head the technical
committee at the national level.”
0 blogger-facebook:
Post a Comment