After the Ejike Ugboaja FC (EUFC) invitational tournament ended in Abuja on Wednesday, about nine young Nigerians picked at the scouting program will as a matter of urgency jet out of the country to join their new clubs abroad.
The three-day tournament commenced on Monday at the Area 3 playing ground in Abuja, where teams from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Lagos featured.
About 70 players participated in the program but only nine of them were picked by the scouts. They are Aliyu Umar, Kasim Longcat, Mohammed Raheem and Salihu Abdulafeez.
Also selected are the quintet of Musa Baba, Idris Kyari, Joshua Odirichukwu, Habeeb Ishiak and Williams Goodluck.
Two of Ejike Ugboaja FC players are currently plying their trade with Apolonia FK in Albania after they were picked at last year’s edition of the EUFC scouting program.
However, Naim Halili (Sports Director) of Kukesi FK who led the pack of scouts to the EUFC invitational tournament admitted that Nigerians have raw football talents but lack the needed program to groom the players for the European market.
He said that training programs here in Nigeria are an eyesore but wondered how the Nigerian players are still excelling abroad.
Halili, therefore, advised that if the right facilities and training programs are to be injected into Nigerian football, the country will dominate the world because talents are everywhere.
He also urged FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike to collaborate with private investors to build modern facilities for football in the capital city and make Abuja a sports destination like it obtains in other climes, adding that football is a big business and must be seen as such.
