Bright Omokaro, an ex-international, has said that for genuine grassroots football development, there must be progression of players from one level to another, so as to give hope to upcoming players.

Omokaro stated this on Thursday in Lagos, in an interview against the backdrop of a dearth of genuine grassroots sports development in the country.

“Take a look at the 80’s and the 90’s, there was progression, for instance I and a lot of others played in the primary, secondary school and in the domestic league, and finally the senior national team.

“What this means is that there is competition, and it makes players go the extra mile to ensure that they make the final cut, we don’t have that today, now upcoming players have no assurance of playing for Super Eagles.

“Administrators, handlers need to do better, there should be a structure that ensures a seamless transition from junior to senior cadre,” Omokaro said.

Omokaro, also fondly called 10-10, said that in order to build a formidable team at all levels, coaches should look inwards and follow the progression of the quality of players that were passionate about.

” Take a look at our domestic league, who reckons with it, those playing in the domestic league do not have hope of playing in the senior team, if the coach is only focused on foreign based players.

“Upcoming players have nothing to look forward to, as per playing for the national team, which is the ultimate for any player, should this trend continue, our football will continue to dwindle.

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“Do we see the coach of England, relying on other foreign leagues to build up his team, he can decide that he is picking players from his domain and he’d still have a solid team, we can’t boast of that, and that’s a shame,” the former Bendel Insurance player said.