NFF Election: Grassroot Football, Education Of Players Are My Priorities – Farouk Yarma

FRANCIS ACHI/Katsina

Less than 24 hours to the Nigeria Football Federation elective congress in Katsina state, Mallam Farouk Yarma, who is vying to become a board member from the North East of Nigeria has said that grassroots football and education of players are the driving force behind his ambition to come on board of the NFF.

Speaking to PM EXPRESS in Katsina, Yarma, the chairman of FC Yarmalight of Gombe, the team that just gained promotion into the Nigeria National League (NNL) , said that he has been given back to the society through football and if he is elected into the board of the NFF, it will be an avenue for him to contribute more to the growth of football.

” I will promote the issue of grassroot football and the development of the players not just through football, but also their education as well if I am elected as a board member of the NFF. At the moment , I run a football team and I have been running the team for more than a decade and in 2013, the club produced a World Cup winner with the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria, ” Yarma said.

He added : “We have a lot of players that the club has produced and playing in various clubs in Nigeria Professional Football League and some clubs in the foreign land. It gives me joy to be giving back to the society. The society has done a lot for me and I think serving as in the NFF board is one of the ways I can continue to develop Nigerian youths”.

In a country where millions of youths wants to embrace football as a career path without proper education to guide them through the right path, Yarma said this is a problem that has created heavy burden in his heart that must be fixed so that most Nigerian players will not continue to make errors that has ruined the flourishing career of Nigerian players in the past.

” It gives me so much pain to see many Nigerian players with poor educational background which has affected the issue of their contract. Signing a contract without understanding some of the implications in the document is a big problem in our football.

“The education of Nigerian players is very important . It is a heavy burden for me that must be looked into if I get to be elected as NFF board member from the North East.

The youthful football administrator from Gombe state will be contesting against Babagana Kalli from Borno state and Musa Duhu from Adamawa state for the two slots allocated to the North East zone.