Former Super Eagles and Premier League football star Sam Sodje over the weekend condemned in very strong terms the prevalence of paedophiles among youth coaches in Delta State and other parts of Nigeria. The retired footballer, who presently shuttles between London, England, and Delta State where he contributes to youth engagement and empowerment through sports, is sad that coaches who are entrusted with young children are abusing them sexually and destroying their tomorrow and the society is not doing enough to arrest the criminal practices. Said Sodje, “Sports is a powerful tool that takes millions out of poverty in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world, the present economic difficulties in Nigeria have led many parents to encourage their children to participate as a get-out-of-poverty vehicle. “In their hurry to ensure their wards participate in sports, they give them out without doing due diligence or proper background checks of the so-called youth coaches. “Majority of the so-called youth coaches are of questionable character and their motive is to sexually abuse these children, not to give them coaching tutorials.” Sodje who has traversed every nook and cranny of Delta State and other parts of Nigeria in the course of promoting his initiative “Life After Sports” revealed that he has heard too many stories of coaches who engage in the act of sexually abusing children in the course of offering coaching services in the different sports across the country, Delta State not being an exception. The former football star isn’t just condemning the act; he’s also demanding urgent action. He’s calling for coaches involved in such immoral acts to be named, shamed, prosecuted, and punished similarly to how pedophiles are treated in Europe, America, and other regions. Sodje also urge parents to do serious background checks about coaches they want to entrust their children with, “I am therefore using the medium to offer strong advice to parents to ensure that they carry out due- diligence from top officials of various sports associations across the country, Delta State inclusive, to ensure that children do not fall prey to the activities of these unscrupulous coaches with their high inclination for immortality and sexual abuses against underage children. “As parents, we have the responsibility and the duty to protect our children from these wicked people that are living amongst us in the society.” He also called on administrators to “I want to also seriously call on all the administrators of the various sports associations to make it a point of duty to carry out proper character venting of individual coaches that are attached to them and ensure that the bad eggs in their midst are disengaged and specifically banned from working with children to protect our innocent boys and girls for the good of the family, the sports sector and the society in general.” Sodje said that instead of romancing the issue, we need to call a spade a spade and stop the shenanigans before it gets out of control. The football star who played for top and iconic English sides like Brentford, Reading, West Bromwich Albion, Sheffield Wednesday, Watford, Charlton Athletic, Notts County, Portsmouth, and Greek club Skoda Xanthi, said he is ready to lead the fight against this ugly practice in sports and the society at large so that our children that practice and excel in their God’s given talents, without their today and tomorrow being destroyed by paedophiles.
