Organisers of MTN Champs Grassroots Athletics meet

Posted : 10 November 2023

The organizers of the grassroots athletics competition, "MTN Champs," announced on Thursday that the competition is a national development intervention aimed at achieving its ambitious goals of nurturing future sports stars for the country.

Ifeanyi Udom, MTN's Senior Manager of Sales and Trade Development for the South West in Ibadan, pointed out that the championship was established to discover and nurture future athletic talents.

"These are talents we expect will represent Nigeria on the world stage," she said during a press conference to unveil the Ibadan leg of the MTN Champs Series.

The Ibadan leg, which is the third in the four-series competition, is scheduled to take place from Thursday to Saturday at two venues.

The competition is currently underway at the Lekan Salami Stadium and the University of Ibadan Sports Complex.

The secondary school athletics championship received nearly 4,000 entries from over 2,000 athletes and had previously been held earlier this year in Benin and Uyo.

Udom, who spoke at length about MTN's aspirations for the sport of athletics in Nigeria, added that the sponsors' expectations were that the championship would also promote brand loyalty.

"This is achieved by supporting the strong desire of young Nigerians to excel both in academics and sports."

She added that MTN's sponsorship of the competition was consistent with the brand's history of supporting and nurturing local sports activities, as evidenced by various sponsorship activities.

"MTN's involvement in athletics will undoubtedly produce a new generation of athletes who will proudly carry the Nigerian flag on the world stage, making athletics the second most popular sport in the minds of Nigerians."

Also speaking at the event's unveiling, Raheem Fatai, Director of Sports Facilities at the Oyo State Sports Council, assured of the state government's full support for the event.

Fatai, who represented the state's Youth and Sports Commissioner, Wasilat Adegoke, said this was to ensure the competition's huge success.

Segun Omodunni, the Secretary of the Athletics Committee of the Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF), also emphasized the importance of the Federation's involvement in the competition.

"We are pleased to be partnering with Making of Champions (MoC) to host a competition of this magnitude.

Therefore, we appreciate MTN and MoC for the excellent work they are doing.

We are partnering with MoC by mobilizing the schools, and this is evident in the large number of entries received.

But this also indicates the need for more competitions.

MTN has taken a step, and we appeal to other organizations to also get involved so that our students are happy and can contribute more to the country."

Taldang Tanimu, an Assistant Secretary with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), also stated that the Federation is committed to providing the technical support required for the competition.

"We will not only do that but also ensure adjustments and improvements where necessary," he said.

Deji Ogeyingbo, MoC's Country Manager, also emphasized the importance of moving the competition across the country to discover and nurture talents that could soon make the nation proud.

He assured that the competition is recognized by World Athletics, the world governing body for athletics, as all times recorded are registered in the World Athletics database.

Others present at the championship's unveiling included Olympic medallist Deji Aliu, who is the Nationwide Meet Director for MTN Champs, and sprinter Enoch Adegoke, who is the MTN Champs Ambassador for Ibadan.

Competition at the MTN championship is divided into three age categories: cadets (under-14), youths (under-17), and juniors (under-20).

The youth and junior competitions, as well as the finals, will take place at the Lekan Salami Stadium from Thursday to Saturday.

On the other hand, the University of Ibadan Sports Complex will host the cadet competition's 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, and 4x100 meters heats on Thursday and Friday.

It will also host the cadet competition's 100 meters semi-finals.

Organisers of MTN Champs Grassroots Athletics meet

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