Former First Vice President of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Garba Attahiru has attributed the dwindling fortunes of handball to the face-off between a former President of the federation, Dauda Yusuf and the veterans Association.
Attahiru, a former Chairman of the Niger State Handball Association, who spoke on the unimpressive performance of the men handball national team to the just concluded Africa Nations Cup in Gabon, noted that the result of the fight culminated in Nigeria’s poor performance at competition.
“For me, the fight was selfish in nature. What should have been done under the leadership of Yusuf was for everyone to come together and fashion out a way of improving the fortunes of the game. Instead, they allowed personal interest get the better of them, which consequently brought the game to its knees,” he added.
On the way forward, the former HFN VP called on stakeholders to support the new HFN board headed by Sam Ocheho. He noted that it is the only way the game can grow again. “The fight between Yusuf and the veterans really affected handball development in the country. But the new board needs support to thrive.”
The former technical adviser and team manager of Niger Tornadoes said that sponsors would not invest in a federation that is at loggerhead with stakeholders. He noted that other countries have moved ahead of Nigeria while we were bickering.
“The new board has started well and I am happy with the performance of the team despite the poor results. Now, we know what went wrong and how to fix the problem. The new board needs a Technical Study Group (TSG) that will come out with a way forward.
“We need to organise three national competitions that would keep our players busy and ready for continental engagements.
The coaches who took the team to Gabon should also be retained for the sake of continuity. The coaches should also upgrade their knowledge, while the veterans should sponsor a championship every year.
“With these, we can be sure of a decent outing in the 2022 or 2024 edition of the Nations Cup,” the former Executive Director/Chief Executive officer of the Commonwealth Handball Association stated.