Maigari: Coaches Must Key into No-cheating Policy

NFF President, Alhaji Aminu Maigari 

Coaches of Nigeria national teams must be ready to key into the present NFF administration’s vision of zero-tolerance for age cheating, says NFF President, Alhaji Aminu Maigari.

Maigari made this assertion on Friday at the closing ceremony of the NFF-organized CAF ‘B’ License and ‘B Equivalent’ Coaching Course, which took place at the FIFA Technical Centre, National Stadium Complex, Abuja.

“Another issue that must be stressed here is the need for our Coaches to imbibe the NFF’s vision of zero-tolerance for age cheating. We are decided that the days of win-at-all-cost is over, as the age-grade competitions are actually for developmental purposes, and will go all the way to ensure that players who feature for our junior teams are surely within the age bracket they play for,” said Maigari.

The NFF President dispelled the notion that the Federation does not respect indigenous Coaches, but called on Nigerian coaches to intensify efforts to improve themselves.

“The successful completion to this CAF ‘B’ License Coaching Course could not have been achieved without the valuable contributions of our revered Technical Consultant, Chief Adegboye Onigbinde, as well as our own highly respected and gifted technicians, namely Dr Kashimawo Laloko, ‘Professor’ Monday Sinclair and Coaches James Peters and Amodu Shaibu.

“I will like to utilize this forum to dispel the notion that the
Nigeria Football Federation does not respect our indigenous coaches. This is definitely not the case. We have no reason, whatsoever, to hold indigenous coaches in disdain. Indigenous Coaches, right from the time of the great Dan Anyiam, have done so much to bring honour to our country, and have worked assiduously and tirelessly to improve the lot of the coaching profession in our dear nation.

“At the recent Public Hearing held by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the Downward Trends in Nigeria Sports Generally and Football In Particular, one of the factors held responsible was the inadequacies of our indigenous coaches. Our coaches are not doing enough to improve themselves, and in a coaching profession where methods and tactics improve on a daily basis, this is not good enough.

“The challenge, at the moment, is to ensure that our coaches get regular training and are up-to-date with modern styles and methods.

“This will not be easy, because the funding is not there. Yet, on our part as a Federation, while we strive to find the resources to keep holding the coaching courses, we will also explore the possibility of counterpart funding to enable our coaches attend refresher programmes abroad.”

Speaking earlier, CAF Instructor, Fred Osam Duodu praised the NFF for its efforts at improving the professional standing of Nigerian coaches. On his part, Chief Adegboye Onigbinde charged the NFF to continue to spend more money on the development of coaches.

About 70 coaches took part in the CAF ‘B’ License programme. The NFF is already working hard to fulfil the requirements for the staging of the CAF ‘A’ License programme.