Sunshine Stars: No plan to sell club says new management committee

The newly constituted 3-man committee to oversee the affairs of Ondo State Football Agency (ODSFA) says the government has no plan to sell off Sunshine Stars FC.

Chairman of the Committee and Deputy Governor of the State, Mr Lucky Ayedatiwa, stated this during a familiarisation visit to the association’s office in Akure on Wednesday.

Reports state that Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu had appointed a three-man committee to help repositioning the agency in the wake of protests by players of Sunshine Stars.

The players had protested alleged rumoured sale of the club and non-payment of salaries and match bonuses on Tuesday in Akure.

Ayedatiwa said the mandate of the committee among other things was to ensure adequate funding for state football clubs through partnership with investors and sponsor.

According to him, this will prevent the clubs from dying a natural death as it was obvious the clubs were not self sustaining.

He noted that football was a serious business that required huge funding and assured that the committee would work with relevant stakeholders to reposition the agency for optimal performance.

Aiyedatiwa said that government was weighing the option of inviting serious investors to invest in the club side as government alone could not shoulder the responsibility, given the effect of COVID-19 on the economy.

He, however, called on the public to disregard the speculations in some quarters that the government was contemplating selling the Sunshine Star FC.

The deputy governor was accompanied by other members of the committee and Attorney General of the State, Sir Charles Titiloye.

The Administrative Secretary of ODSFA, Mr Femi Moyinolorun, assured the committee of support to achieve their set target.