nigeriahow
In football-loving countries world over, the establishment and management of clubs is done by private entities, whose motive of ownership is good return on investment in the beautiful game.
The owners of these football clubs are often fascinated by what they hope to get from proceeds on gate takings, sales of souvenirs, TV rights, and most especially, the resolute loyalty from the clubs’ ‘die-hard’ spectators, who are actually the drive behind globalising these clubs beyond the shore of where the league is being played.
In How not to run a football club, an article in UK’s The Conversation magazine, it was noted, “clubs seeking high level and regular success must resort to buying the best talents and paying a lot of money for them.
Alternatively, a club can develop its own talents, but this too takes time and, indeed, money. But making money in football is severely restricted by the potential costs that clubs can incur.”
Another submission in The Guardian of London Magazine, How to Run a Football Club, stated, “a football club is different from any other business entity.
The stakeholders in this case are the fans. The fans’ investment is their support, while their return comes in the form of the emotional gratification all football fans desire, be it through chasing promotion, surviving relegation or a cup run. In order to guarantee this return, all a football club needs to do is exist.
[FILES] NFF President, Amaju Pinnick.
“Despite this clear difference, in order to guarantee the future of all football clubs, the worlds of football and business have to work together. For too long, football clubs have not followed the basic principles of running any successful business. Beyond being successful as a club, there needs to be assistance from the Football League to guarantee the long-term survival of all clubs.”
However, reasons for setting up of clubs in Nigeria differ. While majority of the clubs are formed to create jobs for the youth, some came out of passion or love for the game.
But worse off is the fact that in the clubs run by the various governments the funds released to manage them are mismanaged and unaccounted for, and at the end of the day, the clubs are not able to fulfill their potentials, as against the money making motive by clubs in the western parts of the world.
