Sports Minister Visits Flying Eagles, Promises to Make Domestic League Attractive

In a bid

In a bid to boost the morale of the Under-23 Flying Eagles
(Dream Team), the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr.
Sunday Dare, paid a historic visit to the team where they are
camped in the nation’s capital, even as he promised to strengthen
the domestic league and make it more attractive to viewers all over
the world..

1.     While addressing the players, the Minister stated
   ‘’I think the closest I have seen you play is on television, I did
   watched you on Saturday and you played out your heart, that is the
   way it is with sports.’’ He added that ‘’life is like sports;
   sometimes you win, sometimes you lose but when you lose there is
   still a winner when you bring the lesson learnt to bear’’.
2.     Mr. Dare reminded the Dream Team that as they
   prepare for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that millions of sports loving
   Nigerians are supporting them, adding that the players should prove
   themselves as true ambassadors and talented soccer players who will
   bring glory to the country. He also urged the players to represent
   Nigeria well in their qualifying matches with Egypt and Kenya.
3.     In a similar vein, the Minister described the
   domestic league as critical, particularly for the footballers,
   because it is the place where talents could be discovered and
   nurtured for  professional football and the national
   team.

5..     The Minister stated  that ‘’domestic
league will not be allowed to die, we are going to fix it as we go
along, right now I can say the league is still alive.

‘’We are working together with the NFF, club owners and the
state government, we are working together to see what kind of
re-engineering and new efforts we can bring to strengthen our
league and make it more attractive.

1.     He told the media at the camp ground that the
   Ministry is working with the major stakeholders to see how the
   content of the domestic league can be brought to television. ‘’The
   Ministry is doing a whole lot of work in the engine room; we don’t
   want it to play out in the media so that we are not distracted,” he
   explained.
2.     In his welcome remarks, the Secretary General Dr.
   Mohammed Sanusi of the Nigeria Football Federation thanked the
   Minister for finding time to visit the team and boost the players’
   morale  adding that the innovations brought to sports by the
   Minister are appreciated by the footballers and all sports loving
   Nigerians.
3.     Mr. Dare thanked the Coach and other handlers for
   their hard work and for bringing the players this far. He said the
   Ministry will give the necessary support wherever needed.

Olatunji John

Information Officer

For: Director Press