Abuja – A CPC chieftain Dennis Aghanya has attributed the problems in the nation’s sports sector to the unwillingness of sport administrators “to put round pegs in round holes”.

Aghanya stated this in Abuja on Friday in an interview

He said that engaging a foreign coach for the nation`s national team might not be the solution to problems that had spanned over a long period.

This, he said, was so because no foreign coach could understand the problems of the nation`s football more than indigenous coaches.

Foreign coaches, he added, do better when quality and tested players had been assembled for them.

The nation`s sporting challenges, he added, could only be tackled by indigenous coaches, stressing that Samson Siasia as the Coach of the Super Eagles was fit enough to handle the assignment.

He said that : “The moment we employ a foreign coach and have our local coach to serve under him, it will be very impossible for such local coach to freely and effectively bring out the best in him.’’

Aghanya, therefore, advised that Siasia should be allowed to continue with his job, warning that “ any attempt to remove him will spell doom for the nation`s soccer”.

“Moreover, most African countries who appreciate the stuff in the young man will not hesitate to employ him.’’

He further said that the controversy that had trailed Siasia`s as the head coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria since the team failed to qualify for the Nation’s Cup was uncalled for.

“The young man should be encouraged not to lose focus and to remain on track.

“Siasia did not just emerge from the blues but as a result of his track record with the junior teams,’’ Aghanya noted.

He expressed optimism that if left as head coach of the Super Eagles that Siasia has the capacity to revamp the nation`s soccer.

He said that Nigerians may not be in the best position to rank indigenous coaches in terms of performance, stressing that Siasa had distinguished himself as a coach who understood the peculiarity of the nation`s football.

He said that the problem in the nation`s sports sector could be traced to the late 80`s when sporting activities began to dwindle in schools across the country.

“In the 70’s and early 80’s sporting activities were the only recreational activities available to take tension off people’s shoulders as football competition was frequently organised among schools.

“Trophies were also competed for at local government level, zonal level and state level during that period,’’ Aghanya said.

All this, he noted, became a thing of the past in the late 80`s with the influx of private schools where every available land was used for schools without consideration for sporting grounds.

He said that that had adversely affected soccer and other sporting activities in the country.

The CPC chieftain said Ghana football also suffered a similar fate in the 90s, stressing that Ghana has started to reap the “fruits of her labour” as it went back to the roots to lay a better foundation. (NAN)