Olatunji Mohammed, a staunch supporter of Kwara United Football Club of Ilorin, on Wednesday called for improved welfare conditions for the club’s players and management officials to raise their spirit.
Mohammed, popularly called Elando, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the 21st National Sports Festival (NSF) in Asaba.
The retired footballer stated that he travelled with the team to most of their away matches in the 2021/2022 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season.
He contended that as a result of this he was in a good position to advise on the club, and was sure the team would do better if their welfare was reviewed for better.
“Basically, I think it is just on their welfare, because I followed them. I watched all their away matches.
“They should improve on it for the players and entire management. When their welfare is improved upon, the spirit to play will be there,” the football enthusiast said.
He, however, commended the club for their participation in the 2022/2023 CAF Confederation Cup competition, saying they needed to build on the lessons of the game to help in future events.
“Kwara United did very well, and we will not underrate that. It is a game of win or lose, and they did their best.
“I think they have not done badly. For many years, they had not gone continental, but now we were there and they have proven themselves.
“But we have to learn from all our mistakes and in the future, we will build on it,” Mohammed said.
On his motivation for supporting sports events in Kwara, Mohammed said his love was in-built being a former footballer and squash player.
He added that he was not ruling out the sponsorship of a sports tournament if there was the financial capacity.
“I have the love for sports. I played football too, and I played squash. So, that is just my interest. It is an in-built interest from the onset.”
Mohammed however insisted there were better facilities in Kwara than they are in Delta, adding that the North Central state was also blessed with talented athletes.