Niger Tornadoes FC of Minna on Thursday unveiled Coach Bala Abubakar as the club’s new Technical Adviser with a charge to win 2019 the state’s FA Cup.
The club’s Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Aliyu, while unveiling Abubakar in Minna, also mandated him to ensure that Tornadoes returned to the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Niger Tornadoes were relegated at the just-concluded 2018/2019 NPFL season.
But Tornadoes is to play Kano Pillars on July 24 for the FA Cup final in Kaduna where they play their home matches because of the ongoing rehabilitation of the state’s stadium.
Aliyu said that the choice of Abubakar for the job was based on his wealth of experience and ability to deliver when it mattered.
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“We want you to ensure that Niger Tornadoes win the FA finals in Kaduna on Wednesday. We will console our supporters on the current relegation status of the club.
“You must also work hard to bring the club to where it belongs, the premier league,” he said.
He urged the supporters to pray for the success of the club in all its outings.
Similarly, Dr Mohammed Gana, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sports, announced a 406 Peugeot car which was shown to newsmen as official vehicle to the Technical Adviser.
Gana also delivered a cash gift of N1.5 million pledged by the management if the team got to the semi-finals of the FA, which he surpassed.
Abubakar said that the players would be restructured to get good results and appealed to the supporters to shun sentiment.
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He added that the best players would be used to execute matches and pledged to work with the technical crew to get positive results.
NAN reports that Abubakar, an indigene of the state, led the club to a second place in the 2017 AITEO Cup finals with Akwa United in Lagos.
Abubakar is the immediate past Technical Adviser of Kwara United and also among the technical crew of the Super Eagles to the AFCON 2019 where the Nigerian side won Bronze.