By Bushrah Yusuf,
Football is undoubtedly the most popular sport in the world and Nigerians would stop at nothing to show
[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”8″]their love for the round leather game.
In spite of the ethnic and religious differences among Nigerians, football is, perhaps, the only unifying [pro_ad_display_adzone id=”10″]factor that brings everyone together.
Over the years, Nigeria has been a force to be reckoned with in African football and even on the global [pro_ad_display_adzone id=”10″]scene.
However, the recent dismal performance of some Nigerian teams, particularly the Super Eagles, has left[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”10″] some unanswered questions in the minds of the people.
The most touching issue was the Super Eagles’ inability to defend the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title it won in 2013 after failing to qualify for the 2015 edition billed for Equatorial Guinea.
Questions are often asked about where Nigeria we got it wrong and what can be done to salvage the situation.
The different stakeholders involved in the sport have proffered several solutions but the crux of all the suggestions centres on the need to go back to the grassroots to discover talented football players.
They underscored the necessity to revisit the period where inter-school and inter-state football tournaments were organised, recalling that some of the nation’s revered stars were discovered through such tournaments.
The stakeholders will, perhaps, be quite happy with the coming of the President’s Cup Football Tournament, a private-sector driven initiative designed to promote the growth of football, particularly at the grassroots level.
The tournament is an age-grade tournament where any player who has played in any of the Nigerian leagues will not be allowed to feature in.
The President’s Cup Football Tournament, which is meant for players within the ages of 16 to 19, will be played from the local government to the state levels before its grand finale at the national level.
Qualifiers will be played at the local government level before progressing to the state level, from which qualifiers for the zonal elimination stage will emerge. Qualifiers for the national stage of the championship will be determined at the zonal stage.
Mr Alhassan Yakmut, the Chairman of the tournament’s Organising Committee, said that the essence of the football tourney was to carry along Nigerian youths, who had passion for the game, to express their talent in soccer.
“One of the fundamental human rights, according to a United Nations (UN) resolution, is that children and the youth should be given a safe environment for play, recreation and display of talents.
“And this is why we are anchoring on that resolution by providing a formidable platform for Nigerian youths to express their talents in
soccer,’’ he said.
Yakmut said that the prime objective of the tournament was to discover hidden talents that will serve as feedstock for the national teams.
He stressed that the tournament, being an age-grade competition, would facilitate an arrangement in which players would be able to feature in various national age-grade teams before their eventual transition to the senior team.
“Since the tournament is for players between the ages of 16 and 19, if you are a 16-year-old player and you are good enough, you can join the under-17 team.
“And if you are 18, you can be in under-20 team and if you are 19, you have under-23 competitions to participate in before graduating into the Super Eagles.
“So, it is a developmental process, if well followed,’’ Yakmut said
Besides, Mr Darlington Anyanwu, the Vice-Chairman of the President’s Cup board, said that talents, who would be discovered from the tournament, would have an opportunity to be groomed in foreign football academies, as part of efforts to prepare them for the national teams.
He said that apart from this, winners in the tournament would be given kits and cash prizes.
“At the board level of the President’s Cup, we have initiated discussions with foreign soccer academies.
“On our part, we have started discussions with world-class academies like Minnesota Stars in the U.S., we are working out a relationship with them to serve as off-takers for the talents that will be discovered.
“And we are also in discussion with Arsenal youth team.
“The whole idea is that at the end of the tournament every year, we would be able to identify stars to be taken to these places to
ensure that they are well-tutored.
“Behind this whole concept, the organisers of the President’s Cup are of the opinion that in the next 10 to 12 years, Nigeria will be able to win the World Cup via the input of the talents amassed through the tournament,’’ Anyanwu said.
On tackling the potential menace of age-cheats or “discovering’’ already discovered talents, Yakmut said that the board was working in collaboration with the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) and the Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF).
NFA’s Director of Competitions, Mohammed Sanusi, who is the Chairman of the tournament’s Technical Sub-committee, said that players already playing in the Nigerian league would be detected via association’s records.
He said that any team, which fielded such players or over-aged players, would be disqualified from the tournament to serve as a deterrent to others.
“We will be strict in our screening exercise to ensure that no player who has ever featured in any of our leagues will participate.
“And we will also screen out over-aged players and any team caught fielding any league or over-aged player will be disqualified from the
tournament.
“This is to serve as deterrent to others so as to achieve the objective of the tournament,’’ Sanusi said.
As regards fears about the sustainability of the tournament, Anyanwu said that the football competition, being a private-sector initiative, would be sustained over time.
“This concept started in 2011 and why it didn’t debut in 2011 is that it has to go through some processes in order to ensure that all stakeholders are involved.
“The President’s Cup tournament is private-sector driven initiative, undertaken in partnership with frontline government agencies, and the underlying concept is that it will continued to be sustained outside government funding.
“There is no fear of the President’s Cup tournament collapsing in the near future,’’ Anyanwu added.
The tournament is now at the zonal elimination stage, as the states are already through with their state finals.
The zonal elimination matches of the tournament will be played in the six geo-political zones of the country.
Two teams are expected from each of the six geo-political zones for the Round of 16 stage of the competition which would be take place in four centres in Abuja.
The quarter-final and the semi-final matches will also be played in Abuja.
The third place match and the final match will later take place at the National Stadium, Abuja. (NANFeatures)
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