Ahead of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League, Rangers International Football Club, Enugu, has started scouting for quality players that would beef up the team.

The club stated that the signing of players already penciled down by the club would commence in earnest.

General Manager of the club, Amobi Ezeaku disclosed in Enugu on Monday that the search for quality players to prosecute the championship which begins in August this year has taken the club beyond Nigerian club sides.

He stated that Rangers International would participate in the competition with the aim of winning, stressing that her record in the continental championships so far had been encouraging.

He said: “We are on the continent. What it means is that we must plan.

“We must look at financial criteria, we must look at the technical aspect, the infrastructure among others.

“We have started our scouting review. We have gone round Africa to get players that we need to beef up the team we have for the CAF championship.

“We are going to do our best to make Nigeria proud on the continent. We have played in CAF before and we have maintained good records.

“We will compete and not participate. We have the technical depth and with the quality of players we have and the ones we will sign, we will make Nigeria proud.”

Ezeaku dispelled rumours that Rangers Technical Adviser, Fidelis Ilechukwu had notified his intention to quit the club.

Stressing that there was no truth in the matter, he said that the Coach was happy with the club, having leveraged it to raise his coaching profile.

“Ilechukwu has maintained a good run since he came on board of the Nigerian League.

“He did well with Mountain of Fire and other clubs he handled but with Rangers, he won the league trophy.

“He will be featuring in the continental championship from August and we are confident of his ability to take us far in the competition.

“If he is going out of Rangers, it will not be in hiding. He has a contract with the club and we are certain that we are meeting our side of the bargain”, he stated

Also speaking, Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Lloyd Ekweremadu, assured that the state government was committed to ensuring the success of the club in the championship.

He stated that already an inspection of the Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium had been conducted, assuring that the rehabilitation of the stadium would soon commence.

He thanked Governor Peter Mbah and the sponsors of the club, Afrinvest Nigeria for the financial commitment and support that helped the club lift the trophy.

Group Managing Director (GMD), Afrinvest, Ike Chioke, said the organisation would continue to sponsor the club, stressing that the partnership with the club was a way of providing employment and promoting soccer in Nigeria.

Chioke, who expressed joy that the sponsorship agreement which his company signed with Rangers last year was yielding fruits, urged the private sector to support the growth of football in the country.

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