Dalung, no need for PTF
There will be no dull sporting moment for Nigeria from February to August, this year. From the ongoing CAF African Nations Championship to the Winter Olympics in South Korea and the African Youth Championship in wrestling taking place in Port Harcourt; the Commonwealth Games scheduled for Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia from April 4 to April […]
There will be no dull sporting moment for Nigeria from February to August, this year. From the ongoing CAF African Nations Championship to the Winter Olympics in South Korea and the African Youth Championship in wrestling taking place in Port Harcourt; the Commonwealth Games scheduled for Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia from April 4 to April 14 to the FIBA Basketball World Championship, the World Cup in June and the African Championship of the Athletics Federation in Asaba, the sports calendar is choked with topflight activities in which Nigeria will be partaking.
In line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent appeal to this country’s sports administrators to guarantee that Nigeria sustains the tempo of successes recorded in the sports sector in 2017 by ensuring a successful outing for the Super Eagles in the Russia 2018 World Cup and other sports events, we also implore the Sports Ministry, Nigeria Olympic Committee [NOC] and respective sports federations to shore up their preparations to ensure another rewarding year for the country in the annals of international sports. Buhari recently charged Minister of Sports Solomon Dalung to ensure that the country does well in all sports this year, especially the World Cup in Russia.
Dalung said, “He challenged me to ensure that Nigeria does not go to Russia as a mere spectator.” According to the Sports Minister, strategies put in place are to ensure that by March, all the Super Eagles’ players are paid their match, training and camp allowances upfront. Their bonuses would however be in terms of their progress at the World Cup. With respect to preparations, Dalung said, “For the World Cup, apart from the friendlies we have now, I think we have lined up so many friendlies to play with countries participating in the World Cup and top ranking countries that did not make the World Cup, so as to strengthen our preparation.”
The Eagles are lined up to play five Grade “A” friendly matches in preparation for Russia. Nigeria will engage Poland on March 23 in Warsaw, Serbia on March 27 in London, DR Congo on May 25 in Abuja, England on June 2 in London and the Czech Republic on June 6 in Vienna, Austria before flying to Russia in the summer. On paper, this build up is seamless and without flaw but it is baffling that the N3billion budget for the World Cup has not been approved by the National Assembly due to wrangling over procedural matters. Reports say that the House of Representatives Committee on Sports chaired by Goni Bukar Lawan failed to agree on the method of approach by the Sports ministry towards the World Cup in Russia.
Dalung told the committee that the World Cup budget will be funded by government, private sector and the federation in which Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will raise about N1.5 billion from what it is getting from FIFA and Corporate Nigeria, while federal government is expected to turn in N2 billion or N1.5 billion for the competition. The sports minister said he had approached the presidency over this arrangement and asked for a Presidential Task Force (PTF) to manage the fund for the World Cup, which was not contained in the ministry’s budget proposal. However, the lawmakers decided to put on hold the budget proposal until the details are provided.
We are shocked that with few months before the World Cup the sports authorities are still haggling with the budget proposal for the event. There is no good reason for the sports ministry to continue mulling over the nitty-gritty issues for the World Cup and funding for other sports federations’ participation in international competitions. The ruse idea of having another PTF to manage World Cup funds is baffling and counterproductive. Such acts are essentially capable of sabotaging the country’s dream of a successful World Cup campaign. Therefore, we expect Mr. Solomon Dalung and his lieutenants in the sports ministry to put their acts together to present a sound budget proposal that will be in the national interest.