From ROMANUS UGWU, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has come to the rescue of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF with the approval of funds for the Nigeria, Zambia World Cup qualifier in Ndola, Zambia this weekend.
Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Solomon Dalung, made the disclosure when he visited the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) admitting that the ministry and the football federation were having financial challenges hence the need to approach the Presidency for financial assistance.
According to him; “Any time we are preparing for a match, things like this usually come up and they would always fizzle out.
“We are prepared for the match in Zambia. I will be travelling along with the team to give them the moral and physical support as they kick start their campaign.
“We all know that we are facing economic challenges, but President Buhari has been quite supportive. Last Sunday, I could not go to church, I had to work on a memo which was taken to the president same day. He approved it for funds to be provided for the team to travel. That is how serious this government takes sports,” he said.
…Team to fly out tomorrow
The Nigerian delegation to Sunday’s 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Zambia’s Chipolopolo will depart from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Saturday.
NFF officials confirmed on Thursday that the team will arrive in time for an evening training session at the Levy Nwanawasa Stadium in Ndola. aThenff.com further learnt that apart from the 23 players and 15 team officials that would be on the flight, there will be some top officials of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports, some members of the National Assembly, few members of the NFF Executive Committee and Management, some NFF staff and some stakeholders including media representatives.
“We have allocated slots to some stakeholders because it is a chartered flight and a number of seats are available after the players and team officials have taken their seats.
“The NFF is not paying anybody for being on the trip. We don’t have the money. All the stakeholders on the trip will be there simply to support the team during the game. We have told the persons involved that they will pay for their own board and lodging, and they have accepted to do that,” said NFF 2nd Vice President Shehu Dikko.
Dikko, who is also Chairman of the League Management Company, told thenff.com: “In the near future, we would look at the possibility of commercializing this kind of opportunity. If you give out, say 80 seats, to persons who can pay for them on 145 –seater aircraft, you can raise some good money for the team. It is a practice firmly in place in some climes.”