Wahidi Akanni, a former Chairman of Lagos State Football Association (LSFA), says football is back to its cradle as Surulere Local Government has won the hosting right for the 2023 Lagos Street Soccer Championship (LSSC) in October.
Akanni said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.
The former player of the defunct NEPA FC of Lagos said the tournament would help keep youths engaged.
“Surulere is known as sports city. That’s where a lot of us came from. There were lots of open spaces where we played football.
“And with the presence of the National Stadium and Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere rightly earned the appellation sports city. I’m glad that this year’s edition will be hosted here.
“This championship will engage the young ones positively; this tournament will definitely be the starting point for some of the stars that it will produce,” he said.
Chairman of the Lagos Street Soccer body, Bolaji Yusuf, announced the award of the hosting right during a visit to the Chairman of the Surulere LGA.
According to Yusuf, Surulere is the preferred choice out of the several hosting bids submitted across the state.
The Yusuf-led committee is tasked with reviving the visions of the pioneers of the championship inaugurated in 2008 by the LSFA.
He said, “We are glad to announce that Surulere will host the 2023 Lagos Street Soccer Championship opening ceremony.
“This decision was taken after several considerations by the committee in conjunction with the Lagos State FA that charged us with the mandate of leading this big project of reviving street soccer across the state.”
Yusuf, a former Senior Special Adviser to former Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, noted that the championship grew in scope, purpose, and prospects and became a formidable platform through which grassroots development of football improved.
He said it was a testament to the success story of Public-Private Partnership in the socio-economic development of the society.
Speaking, the Surulere LGA Chairman, Sulaiman Yusuf, applauded the Lagos State FA and the Lagos State Street Soccer body for deeming the ‘Sport city’ worthy of hosting the opening ceremony.
“We are excited about this development. Using sports as an engaging tool for the teeming youth of Surulere is part of our core mandates.
“We are glad that the Lagos State Street Soccer Committee has given us a platform to actualise this vision,” he said.
He commended the Lagos FA led by Fouad Oki for reviving grassroots football in the state, adding that the Council would work with other stakeholders to hold a befitting hosting ceremony.
No fewer than 3,000 teams with more than 30,000 players and officials as direct beneficiaries over a period of seven seasons from 2008 to 2014 across all the 377 wards in Lagos State.
