Skating Federation to tackle image problem — President

The President of Roller Sports Federation of Nigeria (RSFN), Joseph Evah, on Tuesday, said that concerted efforts were ongoing to put the sport in the good light.

This, according to him, is to improve on its image and sponsorship drive.

Evah said that the federation had concluded plans to deal with all those putting the sport in a bad light.

He said that skating was not a dangerous sport, but that those skating on the highway were the ones giving the public a wrong notion that it was a dangerous sport.

“Image problem is one of those challenges facing the federation because some skaters are skating indiscriminately on the highway by holding on to moving vehicles.

“This habit has to stop henceforth and we have put machinery in place to ensure compliance.

“We have alerted the various law enforcement agencies of our resolve to end the indiscriminate skating on highways.

“The image problem will be tackled; we want to let the public know that we are not touts.

“We have undergraduates and graduates among us, and so we are engaged in noble sport.

“The problem is that some of those that are engaging in the indiscriminate skating are not our members, all our members have their identity cards so anyone caught should produce his identity card,’’ he said.

Evah said that part of the punitive measure in ensuring discipline and sanctity in the sport was the suspension of one of its top coaches for indiscipline bothering on improper skating.

“To tell Nigerians that we are serious with discipline as regards skating on the highway, one of our top-rated coaches has been suspended for a year. We don’t just want to talk we want to act.

“We are also monitoring situations in other states across the federation as regards improper skating; our members are responsible and we want more youths to be engaged in the sport.

“If we are talking about taking our youth off the streets and putting end to insecurity, we should be talking about sports because it can effectively engage our youth.

“Our youth can effectively use their talents to create jobs in sports because they love it.

“Looking at our growing presence in all the states in Nigeria, one can attest to the youth’s involvement in sports,’’ he said.