Gusau promises full support for Beach/Futsal football

President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Musa Gusau, has promised to leave no stone unturned in his quest to see that beach soccer in Nigeria returns to its rightful place in Africa and on the international stage.

Gusau stated this on Thursday in Abuja during the inauguration of the futsal/beach soccer sub-committee headed by NFF Executive Committee member, Otuekong Nse Essien.

The NFF boss said he believed in the ability of the committee members to turn the fortunes of beach soccer around for the best and return the game to its glorious past. He added that Nigeria being off the radar from beach soccer competition in recent years does not bode well for the nation while appealing that all hands must be on deck to make Super Sand Eagles a force to reckon with again in beach soccer in Africa and at global level.

“We’ll make sure we make things happen as far as futsal is concerned. And that is why we have inaugurated this board so that we can start working and achieve what we intend to achieve about beach soccer in Nigeria. I’m happy to see that we have committed people in the committee and I know they are going to do their best and ensure that Nigeria returns to its glory days when it comes to beach soccer and futsal.

“A lot of time when I travel to CAF meetings or events, people used to ask me “what is going on about Nigeria beach soccer? We want to come to Lagos for beach soccer”. I think it’s the right time now for us to go back and then try and see what we need to do to make sure that beach soccer is well received in Nigeria.

“I must say today is happy for all of us because we know in the last five or six years Nigeria has been off when it comes to futsal or beach soccer, especially at the continental and global level. But we feel it’s important for us to see how we can go back and improvise. Before now we are a force to reckon with when it comes to beach soccer.

“But along the line, I don’t know what happened but now we have seen and realise that as a board we need to move ahead. Because for beach soccer by the grace of God, this is the first beach soccer international tournament that will be taking place in Africa in Seychelles next year. I think it will be a thing of joy for Nigeria to be part of that historic event,” Gusau stated.

The chairman of the sub-committee, Nse Essien, in his remarks, while assuring that the committee will deliver on its mandate, however, called for the support of corporate organisations, rich individuals and private citizens so that the Beach Eagles can do well at the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Mauritania. He assured that members of the committee will give their best to take beach soccer in Nigeria to greater heights.
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This is a task that is not insurmountable because I have a team of people that are committed. We are not afraid of it because we have been in this game of football for some time now. In fact, you know that we had a League that ran for about four years and we are going to consolidate on that. These are people with experience. We will tap from their experiences and then go to Mauritania.

“The (NFF) President has assured to give us the needed push and the support that we need. But we are not going to rely only on the NFF alone and that is why we are calling on Corporate Nigeria to also look at how they can support us to make beach football thick. A lot of people who have taken from Nigeria should also try to plough back through competition like this. We have the banks, and the multinationals. We have also reached out to individuals for their support,” Nse Essien said.

The Chairman of chairmen, Alhaji Ahmed Yusuf (Fresh) will serve as vice chairman. Other members are former NFF Executive Committee member and Chairman, Plateau State FA, Honourable Suleiman Yahaya-Kwande; foremost journalist, Mr Richard Jideaka; Chairman, Lagos State FA, Liameed Gafaar; vice chairman, Niger State FA, Yabagi Alhaji Baba and Alhaji Aminu Mohammed Inuwa. Abubakar D. Umar Barde will serve as the secretary.