Dare stated this while briefing the press at the National
Stadium in Lagos on Friday, calming nerves over the resumption of the Nigerian
league which has been on a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The minister dismissed insinuations that the country’s
football is dead but admitted that interest in Nigerian football has waned over
the years.
He noted that aside from the pandemic which has claimed
thousands of lives across the globe, the football league in the West African
country has not resumed due to issues with the organisers.
According to him, the ministry will be meeting with the NPFL
and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to fine-tune plans for the restart of
football in the country. Clubs, they will be an assessment of teams’ readiness
to resume action, stressing that the league will resume with the teams that are
ready.
NFF President, Amaju Pinnick had on March 19th, 2020
announced the closure of football activities in Nigeria, citing the increased
number of COVID-19 cases in the nation.