Sunday Dare praises competitive impact and high level of matches in NNL Super-4

Former Sports Minister Chief Sunday Dare praised what he described as a highly competitive impact between the clubs in the recent second division Super-4 contest. Nigerian National League (NNL).

Sports247 reports that this year’s NNL Super-4 came to a close on Friday at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne, Ogun State, where Sporting Lagos FC managed to overtake their local rivals, Inter Lagos, on goal difference after losing the last match to them and both finished tied on six points.

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Also on the final day of the week-long competition, Kaduna’s Ranchers Bees made sure they did not leave the former community empty-handed as they defeated Gombe United’s Doma Stars 3-1 to move up to third position, also on goal difference as both finished with three points each.

Reacting to the dramatic twists and turns that occurred during the competition matches on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Dare said it was a reflection of the growing trend of realistic competition taking place in Nigeria’s domestic football sector.

Dare, who is now Senior Advisor to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, said: “The Prenier League and the NNL are the benchmarks of the impact of national football in Nigeria.

“When I was minister, I knew there was a need to bring back a sense of competition in our league. We wanted to remove the stigma that a team traveling from Remo to Maiduguri must surely lose.

“We wanted to make sure the result is not written before we even get to Maiduguri. Each team has to compete for their results and points.”

However, while praising the new life in the NNL and the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL), Dare added the need for more discipline among referees and coaches, to remove any remaining stain on the sector.

“We still need to instil discipline and integrity to stop corruption among Nigerian referees. We were happy to see a new board at the helm of the NNL and we know those who run the NPFL.

“We knew that the NFF had to sit down, otherwise football was going to die in this country. The stadiums were always practically empty and we had a trace of corruption among our coaches.

“For our league to be truly competitive, we need to set a lot of requirements. Even in Ghana, it is not that easy, but they have a structure to make their league competitive.

“They have the requirements that make it a real competition. We saw a real competition in the last Nations Cup. It was fierce, very fierce. That is the spirit of football.

“We must all know that football without real competition is dead,” stressed Dare, who was a special guest of honor during this year’s NNL Super-4 opening ceremony in Ikenne.