The Ondo State Football Stakeholders Forum is not happy that the state government is planning to sell the two state-owned clubs – Sunshine Stars and Sunshine Queens of Akure.
OsunDaily News has reported that the Ondo state government has made the Sunshine Stars and Sunshine Queens FC available for private individuals or groups interested in buying the clubs or partnering with the state government in running the clubs.
According to the state commissioner for youth and sports development, Mr. Bamidele Ologunloluwa, the state government will start listening to interested parties from the end of the 2022-2023 season.
In reaction to the development, Otunba Dele Ologbese, the coordinator of the Ondo State Football Stakeholders Forum said in a statement that the state government took the decision without due consultations.
Ologbese said stakeholders had frequently engaged the Ondo State Government on how Sunshine Stars can be properly repositioned to become self-financing without necessarily needing the government’s funding. He described the proposed plan as high-level insensitive and a breach of the social contract.
He added, “It would be most appropriate to ask Governor Rotimi Akeredolu to tell the whole world why he singlehandedly took such a sensitive decision without the input of stakeholders and for him to point out any of his remarkable achievements in the sector since he assumed office six years ago.
“This objective assessment is hinged on the fact that he did little in developing sports infrastructures and most importantly his inability in building an Olympic size stadium in the state like what immediate past Akwa Ibom State’s governor, Goodwill Akpabio, did by constructing an international Stadium in Uyo.”
