Lagos floats U13, U15, U17 teams, revives J-League

Posted : 21 July 2023

The newly elected Lagos State Football League (LSFA) Chairman Fouad Oki and the Vice, Liameed Gafar are now poised to fulfill their election promises that will usher in the new Lagos Football Association Board.

The new Lagos State Football Association Board has restated their plan to reposition football in the state, which include reviving a slew of grassroots competitions.

Speaking at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena on Thursday, Day 2 of the ongoing selection of players for the 2023 National Youth Games in September, its Chairman Fouad Oki, a top goalkeeper in his day, reeled out the plans, seeing the large number of talented youngsters in attendance.

Chiefly among the plans is to bring back the Lagos Junior League, which featured teams from the various Local Government Areas of the state and produced several top players, including Leicester City and Nigeria midfielder Wilfred Ndidi.

The plan is to bring back Street Soccer, the Speaker’s Cup, and other competitions that made Lagos the hub of football activities in the recent past.

He also revealed plans to form U13, U15, and U17 teams to represent the State in competitions in the various categories.

This was after he watched the large pool of talent at the screening session strut their stuff on the pitch.

The exercise enters its third day today, when the consortium of coaches will assess new sets of players after the ones selected on Tuesday and Wednesday were asked to stay away from Thursday’s exercise and show up on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Football Association Technical Director, Tajudeen Disu, harped on the need to stamp out manipulations and biassed selection of players to represent the State at the National Youth Games in Asaba and other competitions in the various categories.

The former Nigeria defender who won several honours in grassroots football for Lagos State said “Everyone is pleased with how well the exercise has progressed after just two days.

``We are excited by the large number of talents participating in the exercise.

“Once again, I wish to restate that everyone must strive for excellence. There is no margin for errors, favouritism, or manipulation of any kind.

``Any coach found indulging in these acts will have himself to blame. Coaches can bring players, but they will only add value to the exercise if their players are good enough.

``We would certainly not tolerate coaches smuggling bad players through the back door.

“The new Board is unbending in its resolve,'' he said.

Disu added: ``The chairman and his vice chairman, Liameed Gafar, have the required savvy to deliver wholesomely, and you can see them leading by example.

``Once the head is right, the rest of the body follows suit because the head leads the body. I have no shade of doubt about Lagos football being better off under their watch.

“We want to bring back the glory days of Lagos football by making sure the right talents are identified and projected to the world, and we must get it right from the grassroots to have a brighter future.”

The ongoing screening exercise will round off at the weekend, with the best 40 players invited to camp for the continuation of the selection process, preparatory to the National Youth Games to be held from September 7–17, 2023.

Lagos floats U13, U15, U17 teams, revives J-League

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