FA Chairman Sola Fanowopo pledges to revive women’s football in Osun State

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

After he was elected chairman of Osun State Football Association (FA), Sola Fanowopo promised to revive women’s football in the South West state.

The state women’s football team, Osun Babes suffered relegation to the second tire following its bottom of the log finish at the end of the 2022/2023 Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) Premiership.

The Chartered Public Administrator is of the view that a lot needed to be reviewed as far as women’s football is concerned in the state to take it to lofty heights.

“I have been speaking with the management of Osun Babes. The weather is not clear yet,” Faowopo told Diamond FM Ilesa.

“We are still expecting the final statement from the management of the women’s football league but be that as it may, we know that they are facing several challenges.

“We need to review how far we have gone. We are not happy with the state of women’s football in Osun State generally. We are not happy with the state in which Osun Babes is at the moment.

“We would review things and hope that tomorrow would be better for Osun Babes. The important thing is to have competitive club sides. We want our teams to be very competitive.

“We can’t sit here and say that our teams would be at the top of the log but what an average football fan would love is a very competitive team. Even if we are not winning competitions, your must be very competitive.

“The expectation should be that every team we present in Osun State for any league or competition, we would make sure that they are very competitive so that everybody would be happy, win or lose which is the most important thing for me.”

Fanawopo is a chartered public administrator and a community development enthusiast.  Before his election as Ogun State FA Chairman, he holds the position of President of the Igbajo Development Association (IDA).

Sola spearheaded the establishment of the Igbajo Sports Commission, Africa’s only grassroots sports commission.

The commission gave birth to Igbajo United Football Club, Nigeria’s only community-owned football team with both male and female teams as well as Under 10 and Under 16 development teams.

Igbajo United FC is affiliated with both Osun Football Association and the Nigerian Football Federation.