Chairperson of the Nigerian Women Football League (NWFL), Aisha Falode, is convinced that putting the right structures in place would lure fans back to the ladies’ game. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) board member, who has been busy building alliances with some relevant organs across the world in pursuit of excellence for Nigerian women football, at the weekend disclosed that her ambition is to ensure fans regularly add going to stadiums to watch women football matches in their calendar.
This, she said, could be done by creating a family friendly atmosphere at match venues across the country.
Speaking during the just-concluded NWFL/LaLiga Show Your Other Side Challenge, Falode said her body went into an alliance with the Spanish LaLiga in its bid to build a sustainable league and also offer the players opportunities to enhance their careers.
“Football belongs to the fans, and it is important to create opportunities and platforms to engage and interact with them beyond match days.
“The NWFL is building the blocks of confidence of Nigeria’s football lovers to buy into our vision of evolving into a global league brand eventually.
“We won’t get there all at once. It’s taken so much to get to where we are today, and it will take so much more to arrive at our desired destination. This is why it is important to get the cooperation and collaboration of all stakeholders- the fans are a major part of the collaboration.
“One of such collaborations is responsible for this event, and with many more purposeful relationships like we have with LaLiga, we will go further towards our goal.”
She thanked the LaLiga for its strategic partnership in building the blocks of making the Nigerian Women Football League a strong force among women football leagues in the world.
Falode said: “In 2018, in an agreement signed in Spain by me and the La Liga Women’s Department, La Liga entered a partnership with the NWFL that enables Nigerian women league champions embark on a tour of Spain, where quality games will be arranged for them to further raise the standard of the game.
“The same agreement included the institution of a technical partnership with the NWFL to train all coaches in the NWFL Premiership clubs in Advanced Coaching Courses and Seminar aimed at boosting their technical knowledge.
All these culminated to the world-class standard of play exhibited by all the teams that qualified for the Super Six in Ijebu Ode.
“The deliberate efforts of La Liga to take Nigerian women’s football league to the pinnacle of the gender game in the world, is well appreciated.”
Earlier, NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, commended Falode and her team for their consistency and renewed vigour to further develop women’s football in Nigeria.
He praised NWFL for showing that it has the capacity to grow the game to the highest possible level, adding that the body has demonstrated that with dedication and careful planning women football could rise to great heights.