A sponsor of grassroots football, Chief Michael Orobosa Ubogu, has advocated private participation in the nation’s local league for the standard to improve.
Super Eagles Coach Gernot Rohr has been criticised for the non-invitation of players featuring in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) in the two World Cup qualifiers played so far. His conclusion, however, is that no player yet merit a place in the senior national team.
Speaking recently in a media chat on the state of the league in the country, Ubogu said the fact that no player from the NPFL is in the first team of the Super Eagles means that the standard of the league has not yet improved notwithstanding the publicity it has generated.
“Let us look at what is happening to our local league right now, even with a commendable hype and publicity yet it does not mean that the standard of the league has improved. And if you say our league is improving, then l will ask you, how many of our players in the league are keeping the first team jersey in the Super Eagles.
“What I think we need do is to encourage private organisations to support sports in general in the country. Encouraging private partnership is a serious business and it has to be done in such a way that is profit-oriented and definitely you should expect the standard of the game, especially football to improve,” he said.
The philanthropist and business entrepreneur, however, commended the League Management Company (LMC) for the innovations it has introduced since they began managing the NPFL top-flight.