By Fred Idoreh

The Nigeria Professional Football League recently took a break to resume in mid June. The League Management Company, LMC, announced that the break was necessary for them to take a quarter time assessment and for the clubs to engage with their owner state governments many of which now have new governors.

WHY NIGERIAN LEAGUE WENT ON BREAK

The reasons declared by the LMC were just nice but economical ways of putting things. Fact is virtually all the clubs were in financial straits. Against the rule, a number of them carried over defaults in long months of players’ salaries into the new season.

Many of the league stadiums were also in sub-standard shapes. The clubs made undertakings to resolve these defaults by the first quarter of the year.

Outside the clubs, the leaderships of their owner state governments were deeply involved in politics and had scant attention for the clubs. Worse still, the states are having a hard time following their dependence on revenue from federal allocation which also depended majorly on crude oil which has fallen in price and volume in the global market.

This also means de-prioritising funding for the clubs. Playing on in the circumstance could only mean subjecting the players to severe hardships. These are what the LMC didn’t say.

PROFESSIONAL SPORTS DEFY DEPRESSION

The time-out underscores the sense and urgency in the call for professionalism in the clubs. In other climes, political processes or a downturn in the revenue of government does not necessarily constrain professional sports. In the heady days of the depression in America, the NBA and the MLS continued in business with their commercial and brands activities.

So too did clubs in the EPL keep up their action and industry even with David Cameron, Ed Miliband and various MPs pitched against themselves during the elections in the UK. Still in the face of global economic challenges, the world witnessed the most stupendously lavish purse in the fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao. These attest to the fact that professional sports has a life of its own.

The need for professionalism and a strategically managed detachment of Nigerian league clubs from the apron strings of state governments cannot therefore be overemphasised. As it is now, the clubs will have to rely on the interest and enthusiasm of the new governors to be able to come back to field and given the revenue challenges, some clubs might be at risk.

In this time out, a proper engagement with the new governors will require a presentation of what the club is about and its demand on the state treasury vis a vis its value to the people. Quite apart from merely pushing the image of the states or governments, the value of the states owning and sponsoring clubs is still a matter of debate especially as many of the clubs, negligently, do not have any deep connect with their communities.

Lagos, the acclaimed Centre of Excellence owns none. It makes it clear that it’s responsibility is to provide its communities and peoples with necessary infrastructure and institutional support while businesses have to develop themselves to thrive within the potentials of their specific industries. Professional sports clubs are also simply businesses.

IF I WERE A GOVERNOR

If I were a new governor, I will be asking the clubs a few questions when they arrive to ask for funds. I will ask to see their general turnover of income and cash flow and the balance sheet for last season and the first quarter of the current season; their business development template; their match day and ticketing revenue; share of broadcasting revenue; income from club generated sponsorships and commercials; income and profit from players sales and transfers.

I will also ask for the average league attendance of the club’s games, the base of their supportership and followership, the value these bring to the club, the impact of the club on the life of the host community, especially local businesses, and the potential of the club to attract direct investment and commercial partnerships unto itself and its community.

Unfortunately, there are very few clubs, if any, that can provide clear and convincing presentations on these and, if so, I will be lethargic, especially in consideration of competing and priority demands for education, health and infrastructure, to sign off on the requisitions of the clubs for continued funding.

GOVERNMENT’S ROLE

Government sure has a role to play in the development of sports but this is clearly defined in the provision of facilities for communities and support for schools and amateur sports. It is always expected that having invested in these the industry of professional sports should take care of itself. A breach should be declared if this maturity does not occur because, indeed, babies must grow from boys to men.

The LMC has been consistent on the call for our clubs to embrace change in their philosophy of being, policy, structure and operations so as to ensure business viability and commercial success. It has suggested and developed templates for the divestment of certain percentage of government shareholding on the clubs for community participation through part ownership and funding.

It has talked so much about the need for the institutionalization of club feeder teams, a prime condition in FIFA/CAF licensing regulation, by which clubs can develop their own players locally at minimal cost, reduce the incidence of always having to buy plenty new players every season at huge cost and at the risk of disrupting the blend of the team, and, importantly, selling such players locally and internationally for profit afterwards. Conformity is still not very visible.

WHY LMC IS BARKING WITHOUT BITING

Interestingly, the LMC seems to have good reasons to be barking but never biting. It may not be about the fist of sand. They reason that a hard drive might leave us with no league as, presently, probably only a couple, if any, of Nigerian league clubs are registrable by FIFA regulations and a bang could be counter-productive. Reminds one of Hamlets melancholic “to be or not to be.”

It is not exactly a Catch 22 situation but the association of club managers seem also to understand the fears of the LMC in this regard and are thus playing “you-can’t-touch-this” with the whole idea of the league reforms. The hide and seek may leave us just shuttling in the crypt, with all motion and no movement.

While we wait for the club managers and their state governments to come to realization and effectively embrace the reforms, the incidence of inaction will continue to strain the treasuries of the states while the huge potential for the professional development and commercial growth of the clubs and the league, with the attendant deliverables and contributions of this sports industry to nation building, remains in dormancy.

To shift from this low point, I will, if I were to be a governor, engage the club management and support them to chart the part of professionalism and community involvement in the state club, not only to reduce the burden on the state purse but necessarily to help the club achieve its full industry potential for even greater delivery of benefit to the players, communities and the state itself.

And, importantly also, so that, next time, we wouldn’t need to stop the league because oil revenue went down or because some new politicians are in. That is the definition of stability.