Coaches welcome new Sports Minister

The President of the Nigeria Football Coaches Association, Bitrus Bewarang, has congratulated the new Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Dr. Tamuno Danagogo.
The coaches urged Danagogo to remain focused and ensure that he beams his search on the dangerous vices that are killing the game of football in the country.
In a statement on Tuesday, Bewarang, who is also the General Manager of Plateau United Football Club of Jos, said the new Minister should ensure that the vices are eradicated from the beautiful game.
He said: “Let me on behalf of all Nigeria Football Coaches congratulate the new Minister and Chairman, National Sports Commission. We want to welcome him to his new assignment, and urged him to hit the ground running immediately. He should pay more attention to the development of sports at the grassroots in the country, with emphasis on football. We know very well that football is a game loved by virtually all Nigerians, and whenever Nigeria is playing and doing well, all aspects of the country’s economy would be at peace. We want him to support every good effort towards developing the game at the grassroots.”
Continuing, the former Super Eagles Assistant Coach to the 1994 Africa Nations Cup in Tunisia, said: “The Minister should as a matter urgency lay emphasis on the issue of corruption as its affect the league system in country. He should focus on the eradication of match fixing in most of our leagues. This monster if not tackled immediately may destroy the fabrics of the game country.”
Bewarang insisted that Nigeria has the potentials of ruling the world in the game of football, but regretted that the corrupt nature of the league is depriving the country the opportunity of producing the best of players at all levels.
He said: “Look at what happened to our teams in the African Champions League this year. Our League Champions were knocked out by a Congolese team, while the runners’ up were eliminated by a Malian team. These are countries that do not have the quality of players we have here in Nigeria. Neither do they have the type of League we have in the country. If we were been eliminated so easily by these countries, then, we need to take a second look at the ways our champions emerge.”
The former U-23 Head Coach expressed confidence that if the corruption in the country’s league system is eradicated, Nigerian teams would continue to dominate the game in Africa and beyond.