Acting General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Dr Emmanuel Ikpeme, has recognized integrity, transparency and accountability as important to restoring public confidence within the federation and attracting company sponsorship to Nigerian soccer.
Ikpeme acknowledged that adverse perceptions of the NFF have broken its popularity amongst potential buyers, stressing that significant reforms are crucial to persuade companies to assist the federation.
“The negative perception about the Nigeria Football Federation is a statement of fact, and that has even affected how people see us and how sponsors see us,” Ikpeme mentioned.
He defined that securing sponsorship would stay tough except the federation improves its picture and demonstrates credibility to potential companions.
“When we talk about sponsorship, you don’t go to a corporate person to talk about it when he himself does not have a very good picture about the organisation you are coming to talk about,” he acknowledged.
Ikpeme maintained that his precedence is to set up a tradition of integrity throughout the federation, acknowledging that management should show the values it expects others to embrace.
“Mine is to bring integrity. I’m not perfect, but that is what will drive me,” he declared.
“Integrity will translate into transparency and accountability.”
The NFF official expressed confidence that restoring belief would encourage company organisations to spend money on Nigerian soccer and assist the federation change into much less depending on authorities funding.
“We just got to do that, to get people back to believing in the Nigeria Football Federation, and then the corporate world to believe in the Nigeria Football Federation,” he defined.
Ikpeme argued that Nigerian soccer possesses enough industrial potential to finance extra of its actions if correctly managed.
“Football, if we handle it well, with new perception, we should be able to handle certain of our responsibilities, not necessarily depending on government 100 per cent,” he mentioned.
He pointed to soccer administrations in different international locations that efficiently meet important monetary obligations via various funding sources.
For Ikpeme, rebuilding the NFF’s credibility will not be merely a matter of public relations however a crucial step in the direction of attracting funding and making a extra financially sustainable future for Nigerian soccer.
