.Abia govt says she can’t sustain funding of state owned clubs
By GEORGE ALUO
THE down turn in the nation’s economy and dwindling resources of state governments may force Abia State Government to review her funding of Enyimba FC and other state owned clubs.
Apart from the Peoples Elephant as Enyimba is fondly called, Abia State government also bankrolls three other clubs- Abia Wariors, another premier league side, Abia Comets and Abia Queens.
Saturday Sunsports investigation revealed that these four clubs collectively gulp about N50m of the tax payers money every month, a situation which the state Sports Commissioner, Chinwe Nwanganga confessed is becoming too much of a burden for the state.
Beyond being a heavy burden, Nwanganga revealed that other sports are suffering because virtually all the budget for sports goes into the funding of the four soccer outfits.
The commissioner who spoke exclusively to Saturday Sunsports recently in Port Harcourt disclosed that the government had presented a bill to the state House of Assembly that could see Enyimba and the other clubs being handed over to the people with government only having a share.
He said disbanding the clubs may not be the best option, but he was quick to insist that something must be done in the area of alternative funding if the clubs must not become history.
Hear him: “The truth is that funding the four clubs owned by the state is a big burden. The present administration inherited four clubs, Enyimba, Abia Warriors, Abia Comets and Abia Angels. They are costing us so much to maintain. We pay the salaries of the players, their coaches and they go for matches. We can’t keep doing this in the face of dwindling resources. There is hardly anywhere outside this clime where government fund professional football clubs. If you saw the Friday night game involving Rangers and Enyimba in Enugu, it was watched by a sell out crowd. In Kano, the story is the same, so we need to give the club to the people. Corporate bodies have to come in too. Aba and Kano are cities where the people watch matches. The clubs owned by Abia State just have to start fending for themselves. We are waiting for the year to end and for the Enyimba stadium to be completed then decisions would be taken. We don’t intend to disband any of the clubs, but there must be alternative way of funding them, that is the only way the other sports can breath.”
Nwanganga pointed out that the state need to pay attention to other sports.
“The Nsugbe Games Village is not functional at the moment. We have assessed the level of job to be done there and we know if we throw N60m to N70m in the place, it would bounce back. We need to fix the place so that our athletes can camp there ahead of the National Sports Festival in Calabar later this year.”
On the Enyimba stadium project, Nwanganga said the rising foreign exchange rate is taking its toll on the project as the state would now need well over N200m to complete it.
“When we awarded the contract in January, the dollar rate was about N150 to one dollar, but today the dollar to naira rate is about 350 and the contractor says he needs over N200m to complete the job. That is huge and a big challenge for us. However, the governor wants to see the place ready and he is doing all he can to see how to finish it. We hope Enyimba will play there before the end of the CAF Champions League group stage.”
Nwanganga stated that Enyimba can still go far in the money spinning CAF Champions League despite losing her first game at home to Zamalek.
“Who says we can’t go to Egypt and get a result. We played well at home in Port Harcourt but the players did not play a relaxed game. They were too much in a hurry. The coaches should work on the finishing of the strikers. I believe it is not over yet for Enyimba.”