Playing in China is better than warming bench in England

A.U. Mustapha

Former chairman of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF Electoral Committee, AbdulAkeem Uthman Mustapha said it is better than for players to be playing regularly in China and other leagues than warming the bench in England and other big clubs in the world.

He made this disclosure recently in his office in an exclusive interview with a group of journalists with Hotline News’ correspondent in attendance.

Mustapha who is a lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN said wherever a player plays does not really matter, the most important thing is that the player is playing regularly and can deliver. It is better for a player to be playing in the Chinese league regularly than sitting on the bench in the English Premier League.

He stated, “I think we are 170 million Nigerians and we need just 11 players plus eight or nine players. I think the starting point is wherever the player is or wherever he is playing, any player that can deliver and is relevant should be brought into the team in respect of where the player is playing.”

He continued, “Whether we like or not, the future of football belongs to Asia. The Chinese league will be the best league in the world very soon. They have the resources and they have the capacity. In England, you see stadium of 70,000 to 80,000 capacity, very soon we will see stadium of 350,000 capacity and that tells you something.

“The Chinese have the passion and they are turning to sports and football now. So the fact that somebody is playing in China should not be a minus for the person as it were. It is better you play competitive football in the Chinese league than for you to be warming the bench in England it doesn’t add up,” he noted.

Barrister Mustapha in his regalia

On Nigeria’s next match against Cameroon, Barrister Mustapha said the loss to South Africa is a wake-up call and a blessing in disguise. “I have watched Cameroon for almost two week, I watched all their matches and I think they are better prepared because they have played competitive matches and the understanding among the players will be much more better and they need those grade A matches to prepare them for the world and nation cup qualifiers. Having said that, I believe we have a very good team and a very good coach and the administrators that can take us there.”

“The loss to South Africa I believe is something like a blessing in disguise. But before then, there was this complacency amongst us that we have qualified and all the remaining matches are mere formalities to the extent that it is happening at the early stage of the qualifiers. I think it is a wake-up call for us, if everybody works together, we know where we are now and we know what it takes to take us there. I think we can make it,” he concluded.