Director of Delta State Sports Council, Amaju Pinnick, has called on the National Sports Commission to move the National Sports Festival to the Federal Capital Territory for the next 10 editions in order to relieve the states of financial burden.
“The facilities is Abuja are among the best in the world, but today they are not what anybody would want to visit because of the neglect,” Pinnick said.
“The essence of hosting the sports festival in various states is to encourage the states to develop their sporting facilities. If the NSF is moved to the FCT, the states can concentrate on hosting junior and intermediate championships which should be able to churn out raw talents at the grass-root level.
“The burden of the NSF should be left to the Federal Government. Lagos State, for instance, spent about N5bn on the games, but this amount could be used to build more schools and hospitals if the Federal Government would take up the responsibility of the games.
“The impact of hosting the games by the state is huge. A time will come when the state will avoid hosting the sports festival because of the financial burden.
“The move to Abuja will also reduce the win-at-all-cost approach adopted by hosting states. It will also motivate athletes to qualify for the event because they will aspire to be at the FCT to compete, just as every player in England wants to play at the Wembley Stadium.”
Pinnick, whose state finished at the top of the medals table with 116 gold, 97 silver and 75 bronze medals, said the secret of their success was making the athletes comfortable by providing all they needed during preparation for the games.