By Victor Okoye
Abuja, Oct. 29, 2023 (NAN) Mouktar Mohammed, the Chairman, FCT Football Association, says Nigerian clubs can become a success story in terms of growth and development, using the Bayern Munich model.
Mohammed spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday from Munich, Germany where he is currently on a tour of Bundesliga side, Bayern Munich Football Club.
He noted that Bundesliga clubs have continued to lay down the standards for the rest of the world, in terms of financing, structure, sponsorship and followership.
“I had the rare opportunity to see the dynamics that have made the clubs in the German top-flight the most profitable in world football.
“I think Nigerian clubs can indeed learn a lot from Bundesliga sides who go into commercial partnership with local companies in their respective areas of base.
“They draw financial strength from such contracts, rather than go cap-in-hand to state governors, who in Nigeria, will starve them of funds,” he said.
The FCT boss said the tour brought to the fore the begging question of why Nigerian clubs were always begging from hand- to-mouth from self-serving state governors.
He noted that these governors usually see the clubs as mere pawns to be used in their hands to fester their selfish and inordinate desires.
NAN reports that the Bundesliga was established in 1962 in Dortmund by the German Football Association.
Its first season started in 1963 but its structure and organisation, along with Germany’s other football leagues have undergone regular changes right up to today.
The Bundesliga is now being operated by the German Football League, which is the Nigerian equivalent of the Premier Football League Board, chaired by Gbenga Elegbeleye
Mohammed said that unlike the Nigerian League, which is mired in financial troubles, the Bundesliga is financially strong and founded on a business model that mandates clubs to be majority-owned by German club members.
“This is basically to discourage control by a single entity, which accounts for great support that a team like Bayern Munich enjoy from residents of Munich.
“Unlike the government ownership club structure in Nigeria, German clubs in the Bundesliga operate under the 50+1 rule structure that stipulates that teams are majority- owned by by German club members.
“Bayern, for instance, draw its support from locals in Munich, creating a sense of belonging for the fans, who see the club as their own and generally feel compelled to support them, through thick and thin,” he said.
He noted that all these generally accounted for why a club like Bayern had sold all its tickets for the 2023-2024 season since February.
He stressed that it was irrespective of the fact that the Bundesliga had the lowest ticket prices and the highest average attendance out of Europe’s five major leagues.
The football administrator also noted that youth development was the cornerstone of German football success.
“Unlike in Nigeria, where football clubs run without academies to mint the next youngsters that will take over from the league stars, Bundesliga sides have world-class academies.
“These academies regularly churn out players that go as far as playing in the country’s top-flight league.
“A case in point is the Bayern Munich Academy, which, to their credit, has been a ready supply chain of players for Bayern’s main team.
“A classic example is Thomas Muller, a true and true Bavarian, who grew from the academy team to become a top striker for the 32-time Bundesliga champions,” he said.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
