The Ondo State Government has announced its readiness to put Sunshine Stars up for sale.
The Akure-based team is one of the established and recognisable clubs in the Nigerian Professional Football League, that is owned by the state government.
The Owena Whales have, however, been rocked by consistent financial problems over the years with funding from the state government often hard to come by and as a result, players and club personnel are not remunerated as at when due. This has led to multiple strike actions and threats to sue the government.
It is now time the publicly-run outfit find a way out of such problem. Ondo State Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, Bamidele Ologun said per the Punch: “The state can decide to sell the club, Sunshine Stars FC, if we get the right price and most importantly if the right company that has the right experience comes on board.
“What is important to us is to develop these sports and developing these sports doesn’t have to be done by the state government.
“We are looking at investors who will come on board and run this club professionally and these days you know money is very essential in football, it’s big business and ordinarily, government doesn’t have anything to do with business.”
Ologun further stated that the most important factor is for the club to operate in a professional manner that brings financial stability.
“The government should just be there to form policies and other things; so why not (sell) the club. For example if my friend, Adriano (foreign scout) gets back to Europe and he is able through our partner, Mr Lanre Moyero, bring a billion dollar for us to get Sunshine Stars FC,” he continued.
“And for us, once Sunshine Stars FC is sold, for example, we can always have resources to do what we need to do, grassroots football, that is the main deal; that is where there is real development.
“What matters to the government is for Sunshine Stars FC to be run professionally.”
Sunshine Stars was established in 1995 and they have never won the league title in their 27-year history, but have featured in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup, reaching the semi-finals in 2012 and 2011 respectively.
They finished the 2021-22 NPFL season in 11th place with 51 points, narrowly escaping relegation by four points.
