Renowned sports writer and former General Manager of Heartland Football Club of Owerri, Fan Ndubuoke is happy that Rangers won the 2015/16 NPFL season, but is at the same time sad that his home state team, Heartland Football Club of Owerri’s fate is hanging in the balance.
In a chat with Sports Vanguard, Monday, Ndubuoke who is a former National President of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria expressed satisfaction with the just concluded season of the Nigeria Professional Football League, saying, “the League Management Company has done a marvellous job,” yet there are still some grey areas that need urgent attention. Ndubuoke spoke with Jacob Ajom. Excerpts:

What is the significance of Rangers’ victory to you as a person, and to the people of Enugu in particular?
I will tell you straight away that I am from Imo State. But we (as Ibos) all grew up to adopt Rangers as our team. I am smiling for Rangers because they won the league and at the same time sad that my state team, Heartland of Owerri is fighting relegation. I cannot say categorically what their fate is because I am yet to get the official position of the LMC. I am smiling because Rangers played the best football this season. Their matches were the most televised and everybody saw that they won clearly. They combined youth and talent and exhibited the character of a highly technical side. That is what we saw.

Some clubs would have kicked against live telecast of their matches because they want to hide to play. They would not want the whole world to see them play. But Rangers’ matches were always on the screen. They won squarely.

We have also seen what motivation can do to a team. When you have a governor who knows what keeps his people happy and pursues it, his election can be guaranteed. For the Enugu people, Governor Ugwuanyi’s second term is secured after this achievement with Rangers.

It would be sad if Heartland is relegated. Now that Rangers have won the league and Heartland is going down, that means we would lose the bragging right to Rangers because they were the only two clubs that were yet to be relegated since the league system began.

Now that Rangers have won the league, do you think they will do well in the continent?
That would depend on what happens next. What has held us back in the past is frequent changes in personnel – changing of coaches and players. Once a team wins the league, you notice players exodus and coaches are changed. My advise to Rangers management is to strive to keep these players. The only areas they need to beef up are the central defence and a good goal poacher.

How would they keep the players when, for instance, a team from north Africa or Europe come with dollars to lure them away?
Government must do something in terms of setting down stringent measures that must be followed before players can leave the shores of this country. The LMC too has a lot to do in this respect. Presently, you see some players going to even Togo, in the name of playing professional football.

Another way of keeping these players at home is for the management to enhance their welfare. Not necessarily by increasing salaries. Things like insurance can guarantee a lot of incentives for players. In Europe, when a player breaks his leg, even if he is sidelined for a year, his salary continues to run regularly through his insurance. In Nigeria, when a player suffers such fate what happens?

What is your assessment of the just-concluded Nigeria Professional Football League season?
The League Management Company has done a wonderful job, especially in the aspect of marketing the league. They have been able to link the NPFL with other major leagues in the world, like the La Liga.

Sponsorship has also soared as many corporate bodies want to associate with the league and clubs too have been attracting sponsors.

The LMC has also been able to bring back the fans to the stadium. The Friday night match initiative is commendable. The season went very well.

But there is still the problem of officiating. Most of the referees, indeed, majority are still being compromised. Some club chairmen too are still doing underhand gestures to undermine the rules. From five weeks to the end of the season, I expected the LMC and the NFF to have met and review the attitude of some referees.

But that is not taking away from Rangers success. I don’t think anybody doubts Rangers’ triumph. They were the best team and played the best football throughout the season.