MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS OF SOCCER AS A PROFESSION IN NIGERIA

Today, soccer all over the world is regarded as an important sport which has over millions of players around the world. The organization and management of soccer around the world has however been faced by many challenges especially in Nigeria. It is the duty of the National sports commission, Nigerian football federation and various sports bodies that has to do with the organization and administration of soccer in Nigeria.

Management problems of soccer as a profession that can be encountered in Nigeria include;

a.       Inadequate funding

b.       Poor state of facilities and equipments

c.       Age cheating

d.       Inadequate sponsorship

e.       Level of income

a.      Inadequate funding

The unavailability of proper funds has made the management of soccer as a profession in Nigeria difficult. Funds are regularly needed for the maintenance of the profession because it would be difficult for any profession to survive without adequate funding. When funds are not made available or are not enough it would be tough to manage and organize soccer activities as facilities and equipments would not be readily available, players might not be paid well and lots of people who want to venture into the profession might lose hope.

b.      Poor state of facilities and equipments

When facilities and equipments that are meant to be used for the management of soccer as a profession are in poor state, there would be major problems that would arise and such profession would not develop. Nigeria soccer has suffered from this because most of the stadiums are not always in good state and equipments are always too old and sub standard because of the poor management of them.

c.       Age cheat

Soccer players in Nigeria have been known to reduce their age for so many reasons. Age cheat by Nigerian footballers have lead to many problems as regards the management of soccer as a profession in Nigerian sports. When a player of 25 years registers his age as 15 years old, you can imagine the ten years difference and this would start manifesting in grass root soccer and hence would impede its development.

d.      Inadequate sponsorship

The level of sponsorship in Nigeria as regards soccer is low compared to other developed sports nations. Sponsors that are readily available are usually chased out because of factors ranging from poor organization to corruption by the individuals in the management. For an industry or company to sponsor soccer in Nigeria, they would ensure they also gain attention but this would be almost impossible when it is not properly organized.

e.      Level of income

Naturally if a profession has high income, lots of people would want to venture into it because of the extrinsic reward they would develop from it. In Nigeria however the reverse is the case as soccer players are not well paid with some players collecting far below the average and minimum wage of the country.