Nigeria’s 1996 Olympic gold medalist and Super Eagles Coordinator, Pascal Patrick ( MON) has tasked the country’s ex-internationals on the need to return to their various states for football administration and development.
Pascal, who doubles as the Chairman of the Bauchi State Football Association (BSFA) told brila.net that, former national team players must get involved in football administration and developmental programs in their respective states if they want to make a serious impact in the round leather game in line with international best practices.
The former utility player also noted that policy making will be a roller coaster if they are in charge of their state football administration whereby placing the country in the world map for grassroots development.
“I am not excited that most ex-internationals are not coming out to make meaningful contributions to the game they love so much but the truth of the matter is that they can have a say if they are in control” he queried.
“My advice to former players who represented the country at various stages is that they need to return home and organize various community football tournaments to be recognized by their immediate environment’’.
“One of the ways other ex-internationals can make their voices heard is to also be in charge of the Football Associations (FA), then they will not be sidelined”.
Speaking further, Pascal mentioned that, former players have the capacity of identifying exceptional talents but must have either coaching certificates or agent licenses to be effective.
“Everyone cannot go into sports administration but others have their eyes on coaching or scouting. They must ensure that they get coaching certificates from CAF which is our African body or FIFA coaching courses’’.
“Others can decide to go for scouting programs so that they can help identify hidden talents from the grassroots and outside the country” he concluded.
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