Another clarion call has gone out for development of a very strong and robust domestic league in order to keep Nigeria’s best players at home, Sports247 reports.
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The call came from the senior special assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on grassroots football development, Prince Adeyinka Anthony Adeboye, who reckoned that Nigeria’s best players would continue trooping out once the league is not buoyant.
He added in an exclusive interview with Sports247 that the absence of home-based players in the Super Eagles is basically due to the poor status of the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL).
SSA Adeboye opined, “If we have a very strong and robust league, our national team would be better. Look at Morocco, 50% of their national team players are from the league in their country … likewise Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Mali.
“That shows the difference, but most of our teams in Nigeria want quick money. A player who shines for one season is quickly sent out to Europe.”
Adeboye then forwarded some suggestions on the way forward for the domestic league, top of which he believes should be getting investors who can assure that clubs pay their players adequately.
“If you do them well and pay consistently, they will stay in Nigeria. For instance, because clubs in Tanzania are paying big money, our players now keep going there.
“They are now looking at other African countries if they can’t get their way to Europe. So, we have to look into all these issues in order to get things right in our league,” Adeboye posited.
