The Imo government has said that it will harness local talents in the state to save the state-owned Heartland Football Club of Owerri from collapse.
The state’s Commissioner for Sports Development, Mr Evaristus Onyeocha said this while addressing newsmen in Owerri, on Tuesday.
Onyeocha who decried the Heartland FC’s relegation to the Nigerian National League (NNL) said that holistic efforts were being made to improve the quality of the team in the nearest future.
He expressed happiness over the “ improving “ state of the club’s feeder U-13 team adding that with proper training of the feeder team and their deployment to the senior squad, Heartland FC will be the team to be in the future.
“ If we train them very well, I don’t think anyone will beat Heartland FC in the next five years “, Onyeocha said.
He further said that the government was carrying out “ serious renovations “ at the Dan Anyiam stadium, Owerri, to bring it up to speed with modern stadia standards.
He also promised to follow up on the ongoing construction of an Olympic standard swimming pool in the stadium to ensure its timely completion.
He however commended Imo athletes for representing the state at sporting events such as the National Youth Games, National Sports Festival and the Niger Delta Sports Festival.
He restated the government’s commitment to sports development at the grassroots and other levels in the state.