Decree 101: Embrace dialogue, NOC urges Sports Ministry, NFA
THE Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) at the end of its board meeting on Thursday, in Lagos, resolved to appeal to the Federal Ministry of Sports and Social Development (FMSSD) to work with the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) toward effecting the desired changes in the laws guiding football in the country so as to avert attracting sanctions from the World soccer governing body, FIFA.
"It is our view that football should be run in line with the statutes enunciated by FIFA, with some adaptations to suit local conditions, just like the NOC is guided by its constitution adapted from the International Olympic Charter.
"Some changes can be effected in the laws without attracting the wrath of external bodies. The decree, now an Act of National Assembly, is not sacrosanct. The contentious areas in the laws can be removed," the body said.
The NOC noted that it was sad that the country failed to produce sparkling form by failing to win many medals at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games in Greece.
The committee believes that the pre-Olympic Games training tour to Germany, Cuba and Bulgaria were good and indeed the best preparation ever held, but admitted that the teams did not have the benefit of attending many championships that could have been used to regularly gauge the performances of athletes prior to attending the Olympic Games.
The Ministry of Sports and national sports federation, it stated, should ensure that teams have funds to attend many championships in the build-up to major games.
"The NOC notes that there is the need for government to release funds for the games early enough so that preparations can begin early. The roads to winning Olympic gold medals are paved early and, therefore, preparations ought to commence early. It takes the end of an Olympic Games to begin preparations for another," it added.
The NOC urged federations in the Olympic movement to always ensure that selections of athletes are done with utmost care such that only credible athletes with the right age ranges are selected to represent the country.
Also, the committee observed that many of the athletes to the games were not always sincere with their ages.
"Federations must be strict with age cheats to propel sports development," it asserted.
It was the view of NOC that there must be a return to the former intercollegiate system at which identified talents are sponsored through Nigerian and American universities in order to sustain the drive to breed talents.
NOC resolved to urge government to institute a "Trust Fund" at which companies and philanthropic organisations can contribute. Agreed percentages of their profit could be contributed to the fund, it said.
The committee then tasked its technical commission to produce a position paper that will seek to re-define the relationship of the NOC with the national sports federations and the Ministry of Sports over the build-up process prior to major games like the Olympics and the Commonwealth games.`
