11th May, 2020
Coach Godwin Izilein has advised the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) not to be in a hurry to conclude the suspended Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
Izilein said that Nigeria could not afford to compare itself with some other countries that were trying to kickstart their leagues suspended over the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The former Golden Eaglets handler said that football authority must not only consider the issue of money, but also the health of the players.
Recall that the nation’s football authority, just like other countries of the world, had in March suspended the league over the COVID-19 pandemic.
Izilein said that the NFF must not be in a hurry to conclude the league, especially against the background of the daily increase in the number of persons affected by the disease.
“They can, however, gradually reintroduce the league when the number of infection is reducing. We must not compare ourselves with other countries who are on the verge of kickstarting theirs, as they have good medicals to care for their players in terms of emergency,” he said.
On what should be the lesson from the pandemic, Izilein said, “This should rebuild the minds of those in authority to always do the right thing.”
He said that the lesson was a two-way thing.
“Either we learn from it or we sink with it; we must also consider what to do to take care of those with us and how to sustain the development of the game,” Izilein said.