“How Dare We Bury Rufai Like This?”: Super Eagles Legend Sunday Oliseh Slams FG
- Former Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh has berated the Federal Government for abandoning late Peter Rufai
- Peter Rufai, an African football icon, was buried after a funeral mass at the Catholic Church of Visitation, Lagos, on Friday morning, August 22
- Oliseh outlined how governments at all levels can help build an ecosystem where sports can thrive
Super Eagles legend Sunday Oliseh is unhappy with the manner late Peter Rufai's burial was handled by the three tiers of government in Nigeria.
The legendary goalkeeper passed away at the age of 61, after losing his battle with a prolonged illness, which reportedly plagued him since 2012.
Source: Getty Images
Rufai was finally laid to rest after a mass at a Catholic Church in Lagos on Friday, August 22.
His funeral ceremony was graced by top-ranking officials in Lagos State, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), and some players from the famous 1994 Super Eagles squad, per NAN.
The African icon played alongside Sunday Oliseh, Austin Jay Jay Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo, Daniel Amokachi, Austin Eguavoen, and late Christian Chukwu, among others, per Vanguard.
Oliseh drags Federal Government
Sunday Oliseh has joined other ex-internationals in berating the Federal Government and Lagos State Government for their inactive role in the burial ceremony of late Peter Rufai.
In a post on X, the Super Eagles legend explained that Peter Rufai is not an ordinary citizen but a player who brought joy to the faces of Nigerians.
He pointed out that the Government of Ghana held a state funeral for Christian Atsu when he died in an earthquake in Turkey in 2023. He said:
"If Ghana can bury Christian Atsu the way they did, Nigeria, that is the giants of the world, how dare we bury Rufai like this? How dare we do that?
"Come one, he is one of us; he's our blood, he's our legend."
Source: Getty Images
Oliseh proffers solutions
Former Borussia Dortmund star Sunday Oliseh said the ecosystem of football in Nigeria needs serious restructuring.
The former Super Eagles captain said football is no longer recreational but a business, which can create opportunities for ex-internationals and others. He said:
“If we are going to look for solutions to solving Nigeria's problem, for these kinds of things never to happen. First of all, we have to restructure our football; we have to give ourselves a football system and make it viable.
“Football is not entertainment anymore, football is business and the moment we never put that into our mind, our consciousness and subconsciousness that we have to fight for football because it's a business that feeds people, we'll never get by.
“Football is now a business so what we have to do is to make sure that the local league is viable. This will create employment for ex-players and market around the football.”
Oliseh discloses his first salary
Legit.ng earlier reported that Super Eagles legend Sunday Oliseh has hit back at the claims that his generation made a lot of money during their careers amid the controversies after Peter Rufai's burial.
The former Juventus star referenced himself as an example, noting the culture shock he had when he received his first salary at RFC Liege in Belgium.
Source: Legit.ng
