Over 500 youths battle for honours at football tourney

football Photo: flooy / Pixabay

Over 500 aspiring footballers are battling for honours at the maiden Paul Onuora and St. Eve football competition holding in four centres in Lagos.

Tagged ‘Paul Onuora Football League,’ the competition, which kicked off with teams drawn from 20 local councils of the state, is holding at the National Stadium training pitch, Eagles Club field, and the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) field, all in Surulere.

Speaking before the kick off, the sponsor, Paul Onuora, said the tournament is a vehicle to extract the best potential from the youths, stressing that ethnicity or religion are not considerations for participating in the competition.

“I expect the players to be of good behaviour, character and association. You can’t be playing football or any other sport and at the same time, embrace drugs, cultism, armed robbery and other nefarious activities. You cannot succeed.

“Beyond the tournament, we want to expose the participants to scouts from Europe. We are bringing in some managers and scouts to unearth the hidden talents.”

Also speaking on the competition featuring U-17 players, founder of St. Eve, and brain behind the league, Evelyn Okereke, said the initiative is to keep youths busy during this long vacation and also creates opportunities for talented ones.

“As a mother, I thought of a way to help our youths and close that gap between the rich and poor, and there is no better way than sport.

Football is one of the biggest sports in the world, which affects people in different ways. Very soon, some people will start worshipping football. It’s going to be the latest thing in the world,” she said.

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