The Chief Executive Officer of HotSports Group, Taye Ige, spoke to The PUNCH concerning the Rio Olympics and the current NFF crisis
How has the preparation been
for the Rio Olympics? Given your experience of the London 2012 Olympics
and the 2014 World Cup, how has the interest of Nigerians been so far?
To say the least, the preparation has
been chaotic. With the sports ministry that is saddled with the
responsibility of preparing our athletes completely engrossed with NFF’s
dog-fight, federations are on their own as far as preparations are
concerned. Again, with the DG – Alhaji (Al-Hassan) Yakmut, who was
directly in-charge in 2012 removed, a vacuum seems to have been created.
We are going down the same lane we have
travelled over the decades preparing for the Olympics. The lackadaisical
style in our preparations is also affecting the interests of Nigerians.
It is quite a challenge marketing the games. We do hope that as the
Games draw closer, more people will show interest about being in Rio de
Janeiro for the event.
But it does also look like the downturn of the Naira could affect the plans of Nigerians desirous of watching the Games.
It does seem so, unfortunately. With a
US dollar exchanging for as much as N300, only the very few can afford
to go to Brazil to watch the Games. Equally the World Cup experience
has shown that Brazil is very expensive. But we still some period left
before the games commences; we are hoping that there could be some
improvement in the economy and that interest of Nigerians would also
increase.
Is there anything special you marketers are offering to encourage fans and make Rio de Janeiro quite memorable for them?
This depends on individual marketer and
the purpose such marketer intends to achieve. There could be promos
(predict and win) and gift items. For those who are hooked on to
HotSports, we are offering them packages that will bring the events and
athletes quite close to them. We have announced some and we hope to add a
lot more.
Football is always the biggest selling
point for Nigeria for events like this…how worried are you that the
current Nigeria Football Federation crisis can force FIFA to ban Nigeria
and thereby removing the U23 Eagles from Rio.
Everybody is worried about the current
situation at football federation. As marketers, football
administrators, sportswriters and even fans, we all stand to lose a lot
should FIFA ban Nigeria. At the moment, Nigeria has budding players
coming through the ranks that could make impact in Rio. But all that
will be scuttled if FIFA sanctions Nigeria. The loss will cut across,
definitely. For the media, I can imagine the volume of adverts and
endorsements that could be lost. Since the Dream Team that paraded the
likes of Kanu and Austin Okocha won the 1996 Olypic gold Nigerians have
always desired to watch the soccer team at the Olympics. I still
remember how keenly they followed Beijing 2008 and so I hope that the
NFF issues are sorted out quickly.
I believe beyond the Olympics such rancour have not help Nigeria get the real value of the national football teams.
Very true even though some believe
Nigerian teams perform better in crisis. As a result of the rancour,
teams prepare for competitions haphazardly; there is distraction and
loss of focus by coaches and players. The true value of the Super Eagles
can better be gauged when there’s absolute peace and tranquilly in the
FA. For now corporate bodies pick interest but then walk away before
much can be achieved because of constant bickering.
Basketball is also huge for
Nigeria as it was in London 2012 with the NBA line up for D’Tigers…What
are you doing in that direction?
We work solely to meet the demands of
our clients. We are not just going to serve them in one direction. We
know Nigerians love football, athletics and basketball and we are
mindful of that. And with the Tigers arriving in Rio as African
champions, I believe the impact will be quite huge.
What are your expectations from Team Nigeria? Any medals hope?
It is difficult to predict given the
prevailing situation and the fact also that some qualifiers are still
ongoing. But so far it’s not quite encouraging. Athletes would need to
go extra miles by themselves if they really want to win medals
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