There is palpable tension around the Ondo state-owned Sunshine Stars Football Club of Akure due to poor results and sales news as some fans and key stakeholders have demanded for the removal of the State Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, Dele Ologun, for the team’s poor outings.
Trouble started for the Ondo state-owned Sunshine Stars Football Club of Akure after they failed to win their last three games of the match day 13 of the Group B encounter of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) against Rangers FC.
Sunshine Stars have been winless in the last three games of the NPFL.
Sunshine Stars had drawn the Wikki Tourist FC away in Bauchi on match day 10, played 1-1 with Doma United in Akure on match day 11 and the latest with visiting Rangers also drawing 1-1 on match day 13 encounter.
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Some fans and key stakeholders who spoke with newsmen at Akure Stadium after the Sunshine Stars-Rangers game, attributed the poor results of the team to irresponsible timing of an outburst by Ologun on the planned sales of the team.
Stakeholders had frowned at the move by the Ondo State Government to sell the two state owned football clubs, Sunshine Stars and Sunshine Queens.
The stakeholders criticized the choice of sale of the club as being ill-advised and revealed that the state’s overall sports development would suffer if the state government were to move forward with the proposal.
One of the fans, who identified himself as Emmanuel Ayodele said, “even if the club will be sold, the Commissioner has not managed it well, why discuss the issue now when the team is at the critical stage of the football season.
“Mr Ologun has shown clearly is not capable of managing a sensitive public office. He is not competent at all. You can see fans are not happy. The team is not getting good results at home. He has used that issue of sales to distract the team further. We advise Mr Governor, and his deputy, Aiyedatiwa to immediately remove the man please,” the angry fan said.
Another football fan, who also spoke with journalists, Ojo Akinbo said there is nothing totally wrong with privatizing the team provided the government carries all of us along and follow due process, but for Mr Ologun to be using such to be distracting the players and coaching crew, it is condemnable and he should be sanctioned before he destroys the team.
“Since the Sports Commissioner has been discussing the sales of Sunshine Stars, the players and the management are no longer focused on football matters. It shows Mr Ologun does not know how to manage critical issue and we want him to be removed,” Ojo insisted.
But in his reaction, Ologun said, “the game we had a few days ago, even the blind could see that we were robbed. It is a broad daylight robbery, even the match before this one and this would be the third time. I am not a striker, people can be mischievous and it doesn’t matter it is part of sports anyway.
“So if they are calling for my removal, there is no problem about that, it is normal. Football is a unifier. So it is normal when some people feel they should have won when they lost and it is normal when they react. But hope is not lost yet and I understand our people.”
