CAF and FIFA instructor Adegboye Onigbinde on Tuesday called for the establishment of a medical department in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Onigbinde made the call while delivering a paper titled “Areas of Fitness’’ at the ongoing NFF/CAF B-Licence Coaching Course, organised by the NFF technical department in Abuja.
According to Onigbinde, establishing a medical department will ensure that the medical staff are regularly trained for the day-to-day football challenge.
“This will ensure that they don’t just have a medical doctor for the football teams but a special football doctors,’’ he said.
Onigbinde, whose topic dwelt on intellectual fitness, psychology, medical, physiological, technical and tactical aspects of football, noted that a good coach was one who could improve the players’ intellectual fitness.
He also said that coaches should be able to think constructively to impact positively on players, noting that coaching went beyond what happened on the pitch.
The former Super Eagles coach added that coaches should have speed, strength, flexibility, agility, stamina and endurance to be able to succeed.
Amodu Shaibu, Technical Director, NFF said that coaches were to be blamed for the misfortunes of their teams, since they take the glory when the teams perform well.
Shaibu urged the coaches to be alive to their responsibilities in order to be reckoned with in their coaching career.
Robinson Okosun, a former psychologist of the Eagles also presented a paper on the psychological aspects of the game.
James Peters, another instructor and former Assistant Technical Director, NFF presented a paper on “the qualities and responsibilities of the coach/manager’’.
No fewer than 60 participants are taking part in the coaching course which started from Nov. 16 to Nov. 28.
