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Nigeria’s Football Reform Must Reach Football Academy Gates

Okoku

๐—ฅegulation, education and accountability cannot begin only after the player becomes a professional

๐—•Y PAUL LUCKY OKOKU

Nigeria is talking about a new era in football: ๐—ด๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ, ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†, ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜€, ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป, ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€.

But reform cannot begin at federation headquarters and end in the league boardroom. It must reach one of the first places where a Nigerian footballer enters the organised game:

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ.

That is where children first encounter structured development, where parents place trust in adults promising opportunity, and where talent can acquire commercial value.

If Nigerian football is serious about reform, ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ.

๐—ก๐—œ๐—š๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—œ๐—” ๐—›๐—”๐—ฆ ๐—”๐—Ÿ๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—”๐——๐—ฌ ๐—ข๐—ฃ๐—˜๐—ก๐—˜๐—— ๐—ง๐—›๐—˜ ๐——๐—ข๐—ข๐—ฅ

On ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ, ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ, the ๐—ก๐—™๐—™ ๐—˜๐˜…๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฒ directed its Technical and Legal departments to produce fresh guidelines for establishing football academies in Nigeria and a framework for genuine grassroots development consistent with FIFA rules.

That decision belongs in the broader reform conversation.

If Nigeria wants a stronger development pathway, it must know ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป, ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด.

๐—”๐—ก ๐—”๐—–๐—”๐——๐—˜๐— ๐—ฌ ๐—œ๐—ฆ ๐—ก๐—ข๐—ง ๐—ฆ๐—ง๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—˜๐—ง ๐—™๐—ข๐—ข๐—ง๐—•๐—”๐—Ÿ๐—Ÿ

Many of us learned football in streets, school fields and open spaces. Somebody brought a ball. Older players taught younger ones. Talent announced itself.

That culture produced footballers.

But an organised academy is different.

Once an institution recruits children, charges fees, employs coaches, enters competitions, promises pathways to professional clubs or becomes involved in moving players, ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜†.

An industry dealing with children, careers and money cannot operate on handshake standards.

๐—ช๐—›๐—”๐—ง ๐—ฆ๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—œ๐—ข๐—จ๐—ฆ ๐—ฆ๐—ฌ๐—ฆ๐—ง๐—˜๐— ๐—ฆ ๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—š๐—จ๐—Ÿ๐—”๐—ง๐—˜

There is no universal European rule requiring every academy owner to sit the same examination. We should not claim otherwise.

What serious football systems regulate is the environment surrounding youth development.

๐—จ๐—˜๐—™๐—” club-licensing rules require structured youth-development programmes covering qualified personnel, facilities, medical support, football education and schooling. ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† operates recognised youth performance centres subject to formal standards and quality management. ๐—™๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ formally approves elite training centres connected to professional clubs and combines sporting development with academic support.

Different systems, same principle:

๐——๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฑ, ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ.

๐—ช๐—›๐—”๐—ง ๐—ฆ๐—›๐—ข๐—จ๐—Ÿ๐—— ๐—ก๐—œ๐—š๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—œ๐—” ๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—ค๐—จ๐—œ๐—ฅ๐—˜?

Nigeria should create its own ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜€๐˜†๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ.

Minimum standards could include identifiable ownership, registration, qualified technical staff, safeguarding policies, suitable facilities, medical procedures, accurate player records, parental consent, written agreements, education for school-age players and periodic inspection.

Academy directors should also understand rules concerning minors, registration, transfers, football agents, training compensation and player welfare.

Nigeria could create a ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€, including formal education and assessment.

That would be a Nigerian reform choice, not a claim that every European owner sits the same exam.

Coaches obtain qualifications. FIFA football agents satisfy licensing requirements. Clubs operate under licensing standards.

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€๐—ผ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—บ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ.

๐—ช๐—›๐—ข ๐—œ๐—ฆ ๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—ฃ๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—ฆ๐—˜๐—ก๐—ง๐—œ๐—ก๐—š ๐—ง๐—›๐—˜ ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—”๐—ฌ๐—˜๐—ฅ?

Clarity becomes urgent when development turns into business.

An academy owner is not automatically a ๐—™๐—œ๐—™๐—”-๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜. Developing a player and representing that player in a football transaction are different functions.

So when an academy player moves to a club, ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ผ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€? ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€? ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜†๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐˜€? ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜†? ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜†, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ?

Those roles should never be vague.

The player may be developed by an academy, represented in a transaction by an authorised professional, employed by a club and collectively represented as a worker by a playersโ€™ union.

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€.

๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—”๐—ฌ๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—ฆ ๐— ๐—จ๐—ฆ๐—ง ๐—ž๐—ก๐—ข๐—ช ๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—œ๐—ฅ ๐—ฅ๐—œ๐—š๐—›๐—ง๐—ฆ ๐—•๐—˜๐—™๐—ข๐—ฅ๐—˜ ๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—ฌ ๐—ก๐—˜๐—˜๐—— ๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐— 

Football education cannot stop with first touch, positioning and fitness.

Players preparing for professional football should understand ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜€, ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜€, ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป, ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€, ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ, ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜€๐—บ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป.

They should know the role of the playersโ€™ union before something goes wrong.

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—น๐˜‚๐—ฏ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป.

A young footballer should not discover his collective representation only after wages go unpaid or contractual rights are violated.

๐—ž๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป.

๐—œ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป.

๐—ฃ๐—”๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—ก๐—ง๐—ฆ ๐—ก๐—˜๐—˜๐—— ๐—˜๐——๐—จ๐—–๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก ๐—ง๐—ข๐—ข

Parents are often entering an unfamiliar industry.

A mother may be asked to sign a document she does not understand. A father may be told someone can take his child abroad. Families may hear ๐—ดโ€œ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜,โ€ โ€œ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น,โ€ โ€œ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟโ€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ โ€œ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜โ€ without understanding the consequences.

Academy regulation should therefore include parent education about safeguarding, financial obligations, authorised representatives and rules governing minors.

The purpose is not to block opportunity.

๐—œ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป.

๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—š๐—จ๐—Ÿ๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก ๐—–๐—”๐—ก ๐—ฃ๐—ฅ๐—ข๐—ง๐—˜๐—–๐—ง ๐—ง๐—›๐—˜ ๐—”๐—–๐—”๐——๐—˜๐— ๐—ฌ ๐—ข๐—ช๐—ก๐—˜๐—ฅ

Legitimate academy owners also have something to protect.

Many spend years developing players, paying coaches, renting pitches, buying equipment and supporting transportation before anybody outside the academy knows a youngsterโ€™s name.

FIFAโ€™s training-reward system recognises that development can create financial entitlements through ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜€๐—บ๐˜€.

Accurate registration and documentation therefore matter to both player and academy.

For the player, ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜†.

For the academy, ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜.

For the system, ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†.

๐—”๐—–๐—–๐—ข๐—จ๐—ก๐—ง๐—”๐—•๐—œ๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—ง๐—ฌ ๐— ๐—จ๐—ฆ๐—ง ๐—ฅ๐—จ๐—ก ๐—ง๐—›๐—ฅ๐—ข๐—จ๐—š๐—› ๐—ง๐—›๐—˜ ๐—˜๐—ก๐—ง๐—œ๐—ฅ๐—˜ ๐—–๐—›๐—”๐—œ๐—ก

A genuine reform cannot choose where accountability begins and ends.

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ. ๐—–๐—น๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜€. ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ. ๐—”๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€. ๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€โ€™ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜.

And academies entrusted with developing children should be ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ, ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ, ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜€.

That does not mean suffocating grassroots football. Street football should remain free. Community football should flourish.

But once somebody establishes an organised academy and enters the pathway toward professional football, ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป.

Nigeria possesses too much talent to leave that pathway to chance.

A new era will not be measured only by ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ.

It will be measured by whether ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜†๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜€.

Whether the parent understands what is being signed.

Whether the academy knows its obligations.

Whether the coach is qualified.

Whether the agent is licensed.

Whether the playerโ€™s development is documented.

Whether the player knows who represents him.

And whether a child can enter football with a dream and emerge with ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—บ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜.

That is where reform becomes real.

๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ.

๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜†.

๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฒ.

๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ.

๐—”๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ.

๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—น ๐—Ÿ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐˜† ๐—ข๐—ธ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐˜‚
FIFA Legend | Former Nigeria Flying Eagles Vice-Captain | Former Super Eagles International | AFCON Silver Medalist | Football Historian | Football Analyst | Investigative Football Writer | Journalist-at-Large | Founder & CEO, Greater Tomorrow Childrenโ€™s Fund (GTCF)

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