NSSM speaks on business of sports

The Nigeria Society for Sports Managers (NSSM) has called on stakeholders in the sports sector to develop new evolving financing strategies for sustainability of the country’s sports industry towards general economic benefits for all.

The NSSM spoke on Thursday after a four-day national conference in Ilorin, Kwara state.

The conference was themed “Leveraging on global dynamics of sports management for optimum sustainability of sports industry in Nigeria”.

In an eight-point communique issued at the end of the conference held at University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), the sports body called for a change in the future narratives of sports management in Nigeria.

They also decried what they called little involvement of private and public investment to refocus the management of Nigeria’s sports, saying stakeholders in the sector had yet to fully embrace sports as business enterprise.

After weighing the prevailing situation in the sports sector, the managers recommended the revival of regular intercollegiate sports competition among tertiary institutions for talent identification and maximisation of potential.

They posited that the global dynamics in sports management should reflect competent qualified technocrats to manage sports, in addition to effective sports management system for talent identification and development through systematic school-based intra-mural programmes.

The managers also urged supportive public/private sector initiatives in all facets of sports management, while emphasising that the new dimension to sports marketing approach should be developed to enhance sports development and effective sports management.

Muhammed Baba Gambari, president of the NSSM told TheCable on Thursday that the national conference would serve its purpose of contributing meaningfully to sports management in Nigeria over the years.

“We are proud of our roles as academics and we hope to continue to contribute our quota in the years ahead,” said Gambari, a professor in the department of physical and health education at Bayero University, Kano.