1.0Mathematical 7https://mathematical7.com/m7rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="4M5VaeHO8P"><a href="https://mathematical7.com/m7/football-business-and-government/">Football, business and government.</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://mathematical7.com/m7/football-business-and-government/embed/#?secret=4M5VaeHO8P" width="600" height="338" title="“Football, business and government.” — Mathematical 7" data-secret="4M5VaeHO8P" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=https://mathematical7.com/m7/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js /* ]]> */ </script> https://mathematical7.com/m7/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/sports_business.gif212142Football clubs, business and government are on my mind. Many people, even within the sports sector, have been advocating that for the sports industry and sports to grow in Nigeria, States and the Federal governments must hands-off the running of sports. I am of a slightly different opinion. In Nigeria, as in most parts of Africa, government and sports have always been together in an undefined but necessary relationship that has sustained sports. The relationship may not have been the best and may not have helped to develop the industry as quickly and as profitably as several stakeholders believe is possible using the immense power and followership of sports, particularly football, but it has surely sustained sports. My four decades of direct personal experiences within the system, makes me conclude that for the foreseeable future football, governments and business must go together, hand in hand, for the sports business to sprout and take a firm hold. I observe that the call for governments, state and federal, to hands off the running of sports in the country is not backed by empirical evidence. So, I want to look at the sector subjectively too, but through the lens of football. The Nigerian environment may be peculiar. Through the years, football clubs as successful businesses concerns have failed. That should provide an indication that something is not right with the present way of running things, and that the whole matter requires some deeper and more critical thinking beyond the chorus of empty, clarion calls. Rather than delve into abstract theories and using examples from environments and cultures like the USA and the UK that are completely different from Nigeria’s to drive the argument for governments’ divorce from clubs, I want to use my experiences in one of the most popular football clubs in the country, a club that should ordinarily attract unprecedented followership and business, to wade through the labyrinthine perspectives that stand as obstacles for a different school of thought. There is no law that forbids any other individual or organization from setting up private clubs and running them to achieve what State governments have failed to do, I ask - what stops those that canvas for government’s divestment to set up their own and be successful so that they can be the new light? The story at the end of the day is that several such private clubs were set up in the past. Every single one of them failed to become a successful venture. Name them, they all ‘died’ after a few years. Beyond Ibadan and Shooting Stars FC, in other parts of the country, individuals set up private clubs. They include Abiola Babes FC, Alyufsalam Rocks, Raccah Rovers, Ranchers Bees, Asaba Textiles, etc. They all went onto extinction under the pressure of unidirectional funding – down a drain pipe. None could survive as a business, making a profit to sustain itself. Even Abiola Babes FC, owned and funded by the richest man in Africa in his time, had to be disbanded after serving its other political objective of promoting the man in African football. The same thing happened to Leventis United FC and even Stationary Stores Football Club. They were financially asphyxiated. Without the power to attract massive followership as a result of their different kind of ownership structure, other clubs owned and funded by parastatals of the federal government also folded up – NEPA, Airways, P and T, Super Two, and so on and so forth. The only clubs that have survived the Nigerian environment through decades in the country are the football clubs owned by State governments. That tells us something.