By Daily sports on August 10, 2021

This week, there were some issues in sports that got underway; the good the bad and the ugly. The good is the appointment of Steve Abiodun Olarinoye as the Executive Chairman of Kwara State Sports Commission. Steve is an astute sports administrator of the first order. Therefore, he is a round peg in a round hole. He showed gritty when he served in various national sports federations. It is on record that Steve is an intelligent administrator that would reinvent sports in Kwara State if given the free hand and tools to do his job.

Daily Sports team wholeheartedly congratulates Steve on his new appointment and one hope that he would use his vast acumen to steer the activities of sports in the state and give the people their desired goal. He has the capacity. No more, no less.

As it is now the curtain on this season’s Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) was drawn last week and Akwa United FC was crowned. The Akwa United FC team has come a long way and has also shown steady improvement and perseverance and this year no doubt has proved the right.

One must give thumbs up for the State Government since the team was formed despite huge investment over these odd years that give no ultimate result which is topping the elite league which qualifies them to be one of the representatives of the country in the prestigious CAF Champions League this term. It was no mean achievement and the management of the team got it right this time.

Our own Paul Sports Bassey as the Chairman of one of the first-rate teams in NPFL put his vast experience to bear and fought a great fight beating the likes of Felix Anyansi Agwu to it this season.

Bassey, a veteran sports journalist of great repute has never say die spirit and his has been in sports for as long as one could remember. I started reading him keenly in 1977 at the prestigious Government College Umuahia where sports held sway in old Imo State nay old East Central State.

One is not surprised that his acumen in football administration. He judiciously used the past years as gestation period which paid off handsomely this season and next stop is to prepare the team well because of the stiff opposition it will encounter from game one. It needs solid preparations in all ramifications. Quality players must be recruited sound bench that knows its onions in all facets must be hired too. Elder Paul Bassey knows what to do in order to gain powerfully in the continent premier championship.

We again wish the team all the best. Also Rivers United FC and Enyimba International FC that will be in African shooting range, preparations remain the key. Bitter truth is that precise recruitment, focus, zeal, determination to conquer as they pose against the other equally strong side in Africa must observe to the letter. Good luck to the three teams until the fourth emerges from the Challenge Cup to join Enyimba International FC in the second tie of CAF Confederation Cup. It has graduated into yet another tug of war because of the quality clubsides that vie for honours too.

As you will bear me out if you read this column last week when it comprehensively discussed the just concluded 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in Japan how Sports Minister, Sunday Dare is shortchanging sports in Nigeria for his personal gains and his ambition in 2023 in his State Oyo State where is angling to take a shot as Guber aspirant under this failed APC platform.

Sunday Dare came into sports, instead of doing what would benefit sports men/women, officials, coaches and other critical stakeholders, he’s busy dividing and ruling wrongly.

He sadly put every foot wrong hence the crisis that engulfed the entire arena which climaxed is woeful failure in Japan 2020 Olympic Games. Sunday Dare it is unambiguously clear is a monumental failure.

To objective observers of Nigerian sports especially since Sunday Dare’s appointment would quickly acknowledge that the man has no mission to improve sports from where his equally failure immediate predecessors left off. He worsened and polluted the arena

He came in with the mindset of divide and rule and this is the resultant effects where Nigeria performed woefully; the most woeful outing in recent Olympic Games. Sunday was busy amassing wealth that would enable him contest to the primary election on APC platform in Oyo State. Sunday Dare will be slugging it out with many that have deep pocket on who picks APC ticket for the 2023 guber election.

That was what majorly affected Nigeria’s performance in the Games. Inadequate preparations and sundry climaxed all. Tokyo Olympic Games no doubt has exposed the hypocrite Sunday Dare and some sports journalists mounted since he assumed duty in the Sports Ministry.

The conspiracy has been let open because the athletes were falling like pack of card in their events even sports the country has comparative advantage were not spared. The consolatory medals of Silver and Bronze from Ese Brume and her wrestling colleague, Blessing Oborududu were celebrated as if it was overall medal win. Already Sunday Dare has started justifying the failure. The story or fall out of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will continue to reverberate as pundits and critical analyst will continue to serialize this kind of outing after much was spent in the face where Nigerians were grieve hungry occasioned by bad governance by Buhari and his APC.

Trust Daily Sports (www.dailysportsng.com) to, as usual, be in the forefront to keep our numerous readers on top of the remote and immediate causes of the shame Sunday Dare and his cohorts unleashed on the country after disgrace where athletes of Nigerian origin was banned for drug related cases.

The woes of the just concluded global Games are legion yet Sunday Dare is working in the eyes of his paid Sports Writers. History will judge him harsh for bringing sports on its knees.

Keep faith with our social media handles. Keep shooting hard till next week. The struggle continues!!

Source Daily sports

Posted August 10, 2021

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