1996 Olympic gold medallist, Patrick Pascal (MON), has advised ex international to invest in grassroots football programs in their respective states.
Pascal who is the Chairman of the Bauchi State Football Association said former Nigeria football players must get involved in football administration in their various states if they want to make serious impact in the round leather game.
He said policies making will be easy if they are in charge of their Football administration of their states.
The former utility player said, “I am not excited that most ex internationals are not coming out to make meaningful contributions to the game they love so much but the truth of the matter is that they can have a say if they are in control.
“My advice to former players who represented the country at various stages is that they need to return back home and organize various community football tournaments in order to be recognized by their immediate environment. One of the ways other ex internationals can make their voices heard is to also be in charge of the Football Associations (FA), then they will not be sidelined”.
He said other former players have the capacity to identify exceptional talents but must have either coaching certificates or agents licenses.
Pascal said, “Everyone cannot go into sports administration but others have their eyes on coaching or scouting. They must ensure that they get coaching certificates from CAF which is our African body or FIFA coaching courses.
Others can decide to go for scouting programs so that they can help identify hidden talents from the grassroots and outside the country”.
