Ex-international, Friday Ekpo, has urged the Nigeria Football Federation to commence preparations for the next Summer Olympic Games billed for Tokyo, Japan in 2020 now.
Still basking in the euphoria and celebration of the bronze winning Olympic team, Ekpo said the best time to start putting up new strategies and blue-print that would make Nigeria win a gold medal in football at the next Olympics is now.
According to him, the ‘fire brigade’ approach to things would no longer help Nigeria to reclaim its lost glory in football.
“The Dream Team did their best to win something for Nigeria out of all the events Nigeria registered or qualified to feature in Rio, Brazil, They shamed their critics and I am happy for them. It was not easy but they put up good fighting spirit against all odds.
“The team almost missed the competition. There were no tickets to fly the players to Brazil a day before their first match. Yet, they managed to win their first two matches in the group. I saw a determined team with neversay- die attitude. I was impressed with their over-all performances. Their only medal ranked Nigeria among the countries that won medal,” he said.
Still talking about preparations, he said United Kingdom invested so much in her athletes and finished the Games on a respectable position.
Reports have it that when Britain discovered it was lagging behind in the previous Olympics, it turned things around with a massive investment in athletes. The country came up with an eight-year cycle of investment to get results by funding athletes to the tune of £60,000 annually per head.
Along with its partners, it invested £543 million in assistance to 1,300 athletes for the Rio Games. Now the country is counting its blessings after Games.
“Nobody gave Dream Team any chance but they were determined to make names for themselves. We need to change our way of doing things. Sports generally need attention. The Federal Government should do something about sports development in this country,” he said.
