The chairman, Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, SWAN, Akwa Ibom State Chapter, Comrade Solomon Bassey has reacted to the 0-2 loss of the Super Eagles of Nigeria to the South African team, Bafana Bafana at the Godswill Akpabio International stadium and the subsequent blame on the pitch.
Comrade Solomon describe as lame the blame on the pitch but rather attributed the loss to several contributory factors most of which played out off the pitch.
He pointed such factors ranging from facility management glitches on and before match day, to clashing interest between some NFF sponsors and certain traditional roles which breached agreements reached earlier before hand with the football Federation.
A typical example is the Aiteo final training session which was moved to the training pitch without due and proper arrangement against the earlier agreement.
According to the Chairman, before the NFF would think of moving the Super Eagles future matches from Uyo, the Glass House should explain to Nigerians the rationale behind the freedom given to players before the match to relate with the thousand of fans who thronged Le Meridian to take photos with players thereby distracting them.
Amaju Pinnick, the NFF President himself came with a large contingent to the hotel. The players were all over on the social media with fans rather than being indoors having pep talks with their various coaches or better still watching the South African very recent match prior to that encounter as well as reviewing their game plan for the game.
Again, Pinnick should explain to Nigerians his involvement in the crisis bedevilling the Nigeria Supporters Club which led to having two factions present at the stadium fighting each other instead of supporting the players.
Similarly, the number one Sports journalist in the state called on stakeholders in the state to wake up to their responsibilities and ensure that things are done properly and in line with international standards and best practices.
He urged that all stakeholders be kept in the know and carried along for more effective execution of such epoch-making events, especially in the area of information dessimination which is his own forte, quoting the swan National President, Comrade Honour Sirawoo, he said, "we are key to Sports development, because we hold the key to effective sports promotion, hence our role is very essential.
Comrade Bassey highlighted the ripple economic effect of hosting such games as a major plus to the positive drive of the government of the day, which should not be neglected.
The SWAN boss further called on the stakeholders to carryout a post mortem of the event as a guide towards future events in order to avoid Uyo losing the hosting right it currently enjoys to other centres waiting to pounce on such a golden opportunity.
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