Kwara Can Get N500 million In Off Season Revenue From Footballers-- Brand Expert

 SPORTS BUSINESS

Leading sports business consultant and journalist, Shogo Shodunke, believes that Kwara can tap into football talent exports to make outstannding revenue repatriation in the league off-seasons while also explaining that this belief informs the idea behind Saturday's unvailing of ABS Football Club Talent Hunt and Development Program.

As part of its program to resume the league season after returning to the NNL after relegation, the club believed to have exported more talents across the globe in recent times, unvailed the talent hunt project, its new technical adviser for the season, Umar Danlami Kwasau and also stated its resolve to win promotion to the elite league, NPFL, by the end of the season.

Speaking on the money spinning potentials of soccer talent export, Shodunke reterated that nothing makes for easier revenue and prosperity generation than encouraging and nurturing talents.

"In Lagos alone, we can say that about N7.2 billion was remitted into the state in the off-season by players from abroad. This was when the likes of Victor Osimhe and others returned during the off seasons. 

All we got was Taiwo Awoniyi who put in about N50 million into Kwara which still small. The transfer of Awoniyi was about N16 billion, compared to what he put into competion and other investments, is quite small," he said.

According to Shodunke, some of these money find its way into properties, education and more sports promotion and the economy and society benefit from them.

"We are trying to see where we can create a place where we can have young talents. We have seen that Kwara happens to be one of the best places where we can have young talents.

"Apart from our own projects, we have been able to produce over 162 players in just eight years. 

"We have a lot of players all over the places but we have not been able to get returns on them. We are producing and not getting returns. 

"But now we have to be calculating in what we do. 

"If we send players abroad, we want the returns to come back to the society," Shodunke said. 

"The sports consultant currently works with ABS.

Speaking further on the project, Chief Alloy Chukwuemeka, Director of Football, ABS, the man in charge of the entire project, the Talent hunt is the soccer club's newest product.

"This programme is targeted at youths of under 18-21 and will be selected from six centers from 6 geopolitical zones of Nigeria namely Kaduna, Bauchi, Ilorin, Ado Ekiti, Owerri and Calabar. 

"It's basically to expose young talented footballers to seek careers abroad as part of efforts aimed at youth development and growth of football," Chief Chukwuemeka said.

Also, the players are to be scouted from six designated, Kaduna for North West; Bauchi for North East; Ilorin for North Central; Calabar for South South; Owerri for South East and Ado Ekiti for South West.