…promises to provide the team with a brand new bus in 2025, as well as look into other teething challenges bothering the football club
By Our Reporter
In his commitment to developing football in Cross River State, Governor Bassey Otu has made a 100 per cent increment of subvention to the State-owned soccer team, Rovers Football Club of Calabar.
The Governor, who thanked the management and players of Rovers Football Club for holding the forte for the team with a rich history in the annals of Nigerian football, amid underfunding, noted that the increase from five million to 10 million as subvention for Rovers Football Club underscores his determination to reposition football and sports in general in the state.
“Let me thank and congratulate you for what you have been doing over the years. Rovers is a club with a very rich history. This government is poised to promote sports as a business,” he remarked while receiving the team’s players in the governor’s office premises.
On the players’ health and wellness, Otu directed that immediate medical attention be given to injured footballers. He also promised to provide the team with a brand new bus in 2025, as well as look into other teething challenges bothering the football club.
The state’s number one citizen also commended the Rovers Football Club 18-year-old goalkeeper, Clinton Ezekiel, who was on international duties with Nigeria’s under-20 national team, for flying Cross River colours and making the state proud.
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He prayed for more open doors for the players as they pursue their football dreams, with a charge to the staff and players of Rovers Football Club to double their efforts in the hope of returning the Club to its pride of place as a major force in Nigerian football.
In her remarks, the Commissioner for Sports Development, Mrs Agnes Atsu, the players’ visit to the governor became necessary to present some challenges bedeviling Rovers Football Club, which is five games away from concluding the Nigerian National Football League.
Also speaking, the club’s captain, Inyang Asuquo highlighted some of the issues facing Rovers Football Club including lack of adequate funding, rickety team bus, poor medical attention to players, and funding for players’ camping, among others.
The captain thanked the governor for his swift response through the increment of subvention for the team and other positive assurances given to the club. He promised that his team would do everything within its power to repay the confidence of the present administration.
Highpoint of the meeting was the under-20 returnee’s presentation of his jersey to the governor and a photo session of Otu and the elated players.