By Daily Sports on July 20, 2018

The name Ferdinand Oji is now becoming more known in the Benin City football circles and also internationally. Oji is a young grassroots football club owner who has leveraged his love for the round leather game by going into players’ management as well. Today he is a licensed players intermediary and has a couple of players under his Chinice Sports Investment Limited management company who are making an upward climb in the game globally.

Mr. Oji is also widely admired for the solid welfare package he puts in place for players at his academy, ensuring that they stay focused in the game and get the right physical, mental and financial platform to perform well in football.

Oji works assiduously to scout some of the finest young players around Benin City and some other towns and villages and has quickly turned his Rock Stars football club into a solid grassroots club beaming with veritable future stars.

Rock Stars surprised many with their impressive performances in the Edo state FA Cup this year where they got to the semi-finals of the competition.

One of the star players under Oji’s management is hotshot Pascal Durugbor, a young attacker who is having a sensational season in Sweden with Vaxjo FC in the 3rd division after he joined the team in January.

He’s currently top scorer of the league with 9 goals in 11 matches and 5 assists to boot.

Durugbor was spotted by Swedish sports company Tiki Taka during their scouting program in Benin City in December last year, where he performed creditably in a mini competition organised by Tiki Taka.

Oji sat down with Nelson Dafe (Daily Sports Senior Correspondent) to answer some questions related to his football management career.

Daily Sports: You’ve got a number of players, some of whom are turning professional now. What are the prospects of them becoming household names in the game?

Oji: I believe the future is bright for them because they already proving how good they can become. It’s just a little time before they are spotted by some bigger clubs because I trust their quality.

Who is the biggest asset under your management and how would you describe him?

I’ve got a lot of good players and Pascal (who joined Vaxjo in Sweden this year is one of them. He’s got a lot of goals in him as he's showing and he’s a very well-behaved player on and off the pitch. Good lad.

Paschal Durugbor is currently scoring lots of goals in the third tier of the Swedish League, in what aspects of his game do you think he can work on to make more improvements?

The only aspect I want him to improve on is still his goals scoring ability; scoring goals make you great as a footballer, so I want him to always score and never stop scoring.

What do you look out for before signing a player?

I first look at how disciplined a player is, his attitude towards coaches and team mates, and above all his level of play.

As an intermediary, do you look forward to cooperating with other clubs (including grassroots clubs) to manage their talents? If so, how do you intend to represent the interest of such players, in the area of being their sponsors and also work with the parent club to make sure there is mutual benefit for all parties?

I am open to any player or club who will seek my representation. There are lots of talents out there that are always misguided in terms of making money from them, but I work according to the law guiding football management. Any club that has got talent and wants me to represent such a player can be assured of a full participation in the proceeds on the event of the success of that player in the future. It all boils down to the mutual agreement put in place between both parties, but all the same, it’s the player’s career and future that is very important.

Where do you see your Chinice Sports management company in the near future?

Chinice sports has a structure that in the near future will be a household name in sports management around the world. We are driven towards true development of players and I will want other agencies to do same for the progress of football in Nigeria.

Source Daily Sports

Posted July 20, 2018

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