Ali Makes Case For Grassroots Sports

Former national long jump champion, Yusuf Ali, has charged the National Sports Commission, NSC, and other sports stakeholders in the country to give utmost attention to grassroots sports.

Ali said the future of the nation’s sports lies on grassroots sports development in the country.

He added that there is need for the NSC to scout for young athletes to replace the ageing ones in the country.

“NSC needs to scout for young talents and nurture them to stardom. This will help bring back the nation’s glory in athletics and other sports. That is how our great athletes were discovered. We need to go back to the basics,” he said.

Ali, however, expressed displeasure over the decline of the nation’s athletics, saying Nigeria’s dominance on the continent ended due to the negligence of grassroots sports development.

“Other countries on the continent have caught up with Nigeria in athletics. We fail as a nation to formulate and implement developmental programmes. Many of us were discovered in schools sports. The likes of Falilat Ogunkoya, Mary Onyali and chioma Ajunwa were all school sports products,” he said.

—Olusegun Abidoye