I don’t believe in foreign coaches – Akpatason

A sport-loving lawmaker, Rep. Peter Akpatason, (APC-Edo), says he does not believe that foreign coach are better than indigenous trainers.

Akpatason told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday that Nigeria had a lot of talented coaches and ex-footballers that could manage the national team creditably.

He urged the Nigeria Football Federation to look inward and pick from the numerous trained coaches that abound in the country.

“Sincerely at one point when I saw the behaviour and the output of Sunday Oliseh, I was tempted to consider the need for a foreign coach.

“But when I look at the stock of ex-footballers and trained coaches that we have in this country, I believe the failure is not exclusively the fault of the individuals.

“I believe that it requires a holistic approach. We will sit back and look at what is wrong with our approach to sports development in this country.

“I don’t think that these foreign coaches are better than Nigerian coaches.

“I think it is the environment that is not conducive enough; and so I won’t support a foreign coach for now.’’

Akpatason urged the football house to build on developing football rather than look for professionals to feature in the national team.

“Well what is happening in sports is not different from what was happening to Nigeria as a country.

“We have missed the track in so many ways, today we are experiencing change and we hope that the change will actually deliver as expected.

“In that respect, sports is part of the change we are talking about.

“Sports administration has not actually been the best in recent times. After Clemens Westerhof and his team, we have not actually seen serious focus and concentration on developing the people.

“But emphasis has shifted from using those that have found a way to develop themselves or who have been lucky to be developed by some international organisations.

“That cannot be the approach.

“We have to look at how to develop them from the grassroots and to make sure that at every point in time we have some skills in reserve.

“But just picking on the best and taking them out there will not help us.’’

Akpatason said sports administrators in the country should be people with strong commitment and not politically motivated.