Omidiran Babes Football Club of Osogbo has returned to Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL), Ayo Omidiran, the club’s founder and financier, said on Tuesday.
Mrs Omidiran told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that she had registered the club to participate in the 2019/2020 amateur cadre of the NWFL.
The club, which was one of the pioneers in the Nigerian women’s football league, is making a return after almost 20 years of absence.
“Ayo Omidiran Babes FC is back to the league. We have been registered to play in the amateur league and, hopefully, we shall climb to the women’s professional league in a couple of years,’’ Mrs Omidiran, a former Executive Committee member of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), said.
She stated that the club was making a return because of her passion for the football sport and the desire to make a statement of developing young women through football.
“Football is a passion and I am glad to return to full participation and this time to stay.
“The team which will be under the supervision of the Ayo Omidiran Foundation is expected to discover and develop young female players.
“These players will not only take Omidiran Babes to the top but also progress to play for bigger clubs in Nigeria and abroad.
“We want to take girls off the streets and help them develop their talents and move on in life,’’ the former member of the House of Representatives said.
She however pointed out that Omidiran Babes FC did not return because she wanted to use it as a springboard to return to the NFF Executive Committee.
“We are back for football, and not as some people are already insinuating. It is to contribute in developing the girls and football.
“I don’t need to own a team to be an Executive Committee member of NFF. No, I don’t.
“I have a foundation that is helping indigent members of our society and I just feel I can also do so with football which I have a passion for. That is what informed the return of Omidiran Babes,’’ she added.
Mrs Omidiran also revealed that a full-fledged and forward-looking technical crew which would handle the team has been put in place at the club.
“Members of this technical crew have been recruited, and the names of these team officials and management officials will soon be made public.’’
(NAN)
