.Wants Chukwu, Okpala retained in club
The Ex-Enugu Rangers International Players Association (ERIPA) USA, has thrown its weight behind the move by Enugu State Government to re organise the club.
The body in a statement made available to Daily Sunsports yesterday noted that Gov Ugwuanyi’s move is a good one.
The association however, urged the governor not to sack the duo of Christian Chukwu and Sylvanus Okpala, insisting that the club still needs their services.
ERIPA, whose membership consists of former Rangers’ players who played for the club at the zenith of its domination of Nigerian football was also quick in expressing its disappointment with Rangers performance in the recently concluded season.
“We are strongly behind Gov Ugwuanyi’s recent moves to cleanse Rangers and put it in a position to compete successfully in the years to come.” ERIPA declared in the statement signed by its chairman, Donald (Stone) Igwebuike adding, “We however note the surprise disengagement of both the club’s General Manager Christian Chukwu and Coach Sylvanus Okpala who worked for the success of the club.”
ERIPA stressed that Ugwuanyi should in the interim appoint a Caretaker board to run the club as a way of ensuring that a vacuum that could work against the club ahead of next season is not created.
“We believe that appointing a caretaker board will buy the Governor needed time to fully investigate in-fighting in the club in order to take sustainable measures that avoid future problems. From our base in USA, ERIPA will continue to monitor the situation at the club with keen interest,” the group stated.
Meanwhile, the players body’s Grand Patron, Benson Ejindu (Ezeomeogo) on his part, expressed support for the position of ERIPA and believes that the decisions came at the right time.
“I m in full support of the position of ERIPA on Rangers and call on the Governor to take a holistic view of restructuring the club for the future and revisiting the decision on both Chukwu and Okpala,” Ejindu stated.
It would be noted that Ejindu, a key supporter of Rangers, provided financial backing for the club on its way to winning the NPFL title in 2016 and he continues to back the club.