Overwhelmed by the victory of the Super Eagles over Chipolopolo of
Zambia, Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung has begun moves for President
Muhammadu Buhari to host Rangers International of Enugu for winning the
Nigeria Professional League.
The Minister disclosed this even as
he berated organizers of the league, the LMC, for not inviting him to
the Enugu end of the season match involving Rangers and El-kanemi
Warriors.
“I would have been in Enugu for the match if the LMC had
the courtesy of inviting me. I would have either been there or send a
representative. The LMC has done a good job in spite of their decision
not to carry me along. However, I have instructed them to do me a memo
on how the league went. I will act on their memo by getting the
President to honor Rangers. That way, we would further be taking the
league to the next level and make it more attractive to corporate
sponsors,” Dalung said.
The
Sports Minister said he was particularly happy that Rangers are back to
the top of Nigerian football at a time when President Buhari is back in
power.
“The last time Rangers won a trophy was in 1984 when
President Buhari was military President. Bouncing back 32 years after, I
think the club need to present their trophy to the President and
subsequently it can become a tradition for winning clubs to present the
trophy to the President. This will rub off positively on the league
which needs more government backing to grow.”
Dalung who was in
Ndola for the 2-1 victory of the Eagles over Chipolopolo of Zambia
stressed that the LMC still have a lot of work to do, especially in the
area of officiating.
“The LMC has done well, but there are still
grey areas to be worked on and improved upon. The area of refereeing.
We’ll look into them and create an atmosphere that will create keener
competitions for players in our league”, Dalung said.
