By Daily Sports on February 9, 2017

It’s the states FA cup season; the time of the year, when professional and non-league sides lock horns for supremacy. The time when small clubs seek to challenge the existing ratings and cause upsets by beating bigger clubs. However, this year, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has increased the registration fee for the FA cup from N37,000 to N50,000 and this is threatening the participation of some poor grassroots sides.

Just as looking to cause upsets, grassroots clubs participate in the FA cup in order to showcase their good talents with the aim of giving them the needed exposure to go on to get good deals from bigger professional sides so that the financial fortunes of the local clubs can improve.

But with some clubs suffering from financial constraints, with static incomes, the increase in the registration fee is causing some panic as regards their ability to participate in the competition.

"It’s so tough raising money to take part in the FA cup. Raising the registration fee is the last thing that poorer grassroots sides need now," one grassroots club administrator told me.

Another added that if not for the fact that the FA cup is only one of the few major competitions in Edo State, his team would have backed out because of the increase in the registration fee.

Some states over the years have tried to reduce the financial burdens on clubs by getting corporate sponsors to float the state's FA cup. Last year, Froth Group, a consortium of companies sponsored the Edo FA cup and handed jerseys, balls, a N500,000 cash for winners of the competition as well as other financial incentives to participating teams. Although it is not clear whether they will be sponsoring the Edo FA cup this year as at the time of writing, a repeat of such in the country could go a long way to encourage some clubs to look for money to pick up the FA cup forms and thicken the development of football at the grassroots by exposing their players.

Sponsorship is a very crucial part of such competitions. Last year, my club Benin Warriors won the Edo State league but after spending N45,000 to enrol and incurring huge costs of playing matches in the league, we were rewarded with zero naira by the state FA who said they were unable to get sponsors for the league.

That surely is enough to discourage teams from plunging huge resources for such competitions and the effect on football in the country could be dire.

Source Daily Sports

Posted February 9, 2017

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