Ondo State-owned Sunshine Stars and Sunshine Queens, are for sale according to the state’s commissioner for youth and sports development, Bamidele Ologunloluwa.
In an interview with Crest FM in Akure, Ondo state capital, Ologunloluwa said Sunshine Stars and Sunshine Queens who are currently competing in the Nigeria Professional Football League and the Nigeria Women’s Professional Football League respectively, will be sold to interested parties at the end of the 2022-2023 season.
The sports commissioner asserted that the clubs needed to be privatized for proper management, which might entail the government either fully ceding control of the clubs or forming a partnership with investors.
According to Ologunloluwa, the club will be sold to any company or individual with a proven track record.
He claimed that no one had shown interest in the clubs at the moment and that the club was not currently in the market to prevent distractions since the season is still ongoing.
“The government is saying we need the club privatized, that way the government may be funding the club, but it’s not going to be one 100%. Then the private organizations can come in and partner with the club”, the commissioner said.
“If a club like Manchester United for example says there is a club in Ondo State called Sunshine Stars and we want to have them as our feeder’s team, are you saying we are not going to sell? We will sell immediately.
“Not because we didn’t like Sunshine Stars, because it is even good for us as a state, it is good for the boys, for sports development, because the government has no business in business.”
He added, “We just registered a company now; Ondo Sports Limited, Sunshine Stars FC, Sunshine Queens, Risings Stars put together.
“At the end of the season, we are going into full-fledged privatization. It is better for us as a state, but some people don’t understand this. Once it happens, they will thank Mr. Governor.
“People need to understand that if the right company takes over Sunshine Stars, there will be more jobs, nothing like losing a job.
“It has to be in the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding), they must have their offices in the three senatorial districts, they must have their ministry in the districts to harvest legs”.
