Football
FC Ifeanyiubah (FCIU) head
coach, Yaw Preko says the scheduling of matches in this season’s Nigeria
Professional Football League (NPFL) is detrimentally affecting performances of
clubs in the top division.
All sides is the country’s
top flight have played four matches in ten days and Preko says the strains and
physical demands are too much for the players to cope with.
The former Ghana
international striker explained that the peculiar geographical terrain of
Nigeria makes it even more demanding for footballers with two games scheduled
for every week in the opening two weeks of the season.
“(On Wednesday), we did
not really settle early on and it was the same for Rivers United and this was
because both sets of players were fatigued.
“The long travels and the
time (required to recover and recuperate is so short) that it is killing
everybody.
“Even though they (Rivers
United) got a point, it was clear they did not play to their usual standard
because of fatigue,” Prekosaid.
FCIU and Rivers United are
two of Nigeria’s four representatives in Caf’s inter-club competitions this
year and Preko says the scheduling of domestic games may negatively affect both
sides in the Champions League and Confederation Cup.
“It is very hectic
travelling (by road) for over ten hours and I am talking from the point of view
of a former footballer.
“Nigeria is very big; it
is very different when compared to other countries.
“In Ghana for instance,
when you travel (by road) for five or six hours, you would have (covered a lot
of ground).
“Every coach wants to
parade his best so it is very difficult to rest players.
“You are forced to take
your best players along because you don’t want to underrate any team.
“Even if a player sits on
the bench, he will still be fatigued because he has embarked on a long journey.
“I believe we will get
time (or the fixtures to be spaced out) before we play on the continent to slow
things down.
“The teams have to prepare
themselves if not, I believe it will take a toll on the teams representing
Nigeria on the continent,” he said.
FCIU will next travel to
Bauchi (a trip of approximately 622 kilometres) to face Wikki Tourists in their
next league game on Sunday.
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