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Lagos FA: At Maiden Meeting, Technical Committee Discusses Far Reaching Solutions On Football Dev’t

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The Technical Committee of Lagos State Football Association rose from its inaugural meeting held recently to deliberate on a number of issues on the development of round leather game in the state.

Led by Alhaji Liameed Olawale Gafar thanked the board of Lagos State Football Association (LSFA) headed by Alhaji Fouad Oki for its commitment to the growth and development as well as repositioning the face of football in the state within the short time of inauguration, adding that the board’s effort to come out with good football policies and the bold initiative to resuscitate football competitions such as Oba’s Cup, Lagos Street Soccer, IBILE Games, LAFA Super League, Principal Cup, and Lagos Junior League among other should be well commended.

On the annual Lagos FA Cup, the Committee resolved that it is better to begin preparation for the tournament early. To this end, it appointed Mr Sulaiman Rasheed and Coach Benson Edema to identify some good locations that would be used for the forthcoming FA Cup.

“The Committee also agreed to make the Lagos FA Cup more inclusive by taking the competition into the hinterland instead of concentrating on some particular locations as has been the case in the past. It is also resolved that venue proximity to teams should be a major factor during the FA Cup, considering the economic situation of the country at the moment,” a Communique made available after the maiden meeting reads.

The Committee at the meeting proposes a far-reaching innovation that will change the face of the school sports competition, the Principal’s Cup. According to the Committee, the Lagos FA board should divide the Principal’s Cup into two- Junior and Senior Principal’s Cup.

“It is observed that schools these days have junior and secondary schools, and stemming from popular demand, the technical committee, therefore, recommends that the competition be played separately.”

On the Lagos State League, the Committee resolved to revive the Lagos State League. “It was unanimously agreed by the members that the best two teams from each of the five divisions would qualify for the League and the two top teams would represent the state at the national playoffs.

The Communiqué reads further: “In order to prepare the Lagos-based NPFL, NNL, and NLO teams for the 2023/24 season, the committee concludes to organize a pre-season tournament from September 20 through 27, 2023 to keep the teams fit, ahead of the new season. The committee has proposed to use Onikan Stadium for the week-long event.

“During the deliberations, the Chairman of the Technical Committee, Alhaji Liameed Olawale Gafar expressed optimism that more teams from Lagos would be promoted to the NLO, NNL, and NPFL from next season owing to the strong support from the Oki-led LSFA Board.

“The committee agreed that with the various football competitions lined up by this administration, there is a need for additional sports facilities and renovation of existing ones to accommodate the busy football calendar of the LSFA. Upon further deliberations, the committee resolved that the LSFA Board should appeal to the Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to see that the ongoing renovations taking place in Agege Stadium, Ifako-Ijaiye Sports Center, and other sports centres be expedited.

“In order to present formidable teams in the various categories that would represent the state at future national football competitions, the technical committee proposed four coaches in these age categories: U-10, 13, 15, 17, and 20 for both males and females. The committee suggests that 40 coaches should be deployed in all the categories.

“The LSFA Board should strongly consider the possibility of deploying one or two Coaches to each of the 5 Divisions in the State and saddle them with the task of identifying budding talents as it used to be many years ago.

“The technical director of the Technical Committee, Tajudeen Disu also expressed delight with the caliber of members in the committee and reminded the members of their primary assignments. While commending the members for their commitment to the committee, he remains upbeat that the Oki-led board would take football to the next level and therefore urged football stakeholders in the state to exercise patience with the new administration.”

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We have a modern sports administration in Lagos – Aiyepeku

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Sports administration has moved beyond the outdated rhetoric that characterizes the Nigerian system and inevitably leaves the country behind when results do not match inputs.

However, things have become different in Lagos over time, especially since the administration of Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the helm of the Lagos State Sports Commission is ensuring that round pegs are put in round holes.

The duo of Mr. Sola Aiyepeku, Executive Chairman and Mr. Oluwatoyin Gafaar, Director General of the Sports Commission are goal scorers and technocrats in sports administration.

There has been synergy between the Sports Commission and other stakeholders, both in the public and private sectors in order to drive the THEMES agenda of Governor Sanwo-Olu.

Chairman Aiyepeku gave an insight into how sports is being run in the Centre of Excellence on Wednesday when he was the guest of over 300 journalists covering the ongoing 7th National Youth Games in Asaba, Delta State. The Youth Games has witnessed a high influx of sporting media since its inception at the Asaba 2023.

Aiyepeku told the journalists that he was ready for any jab of questions from the sportswriters, as he knows his onions when it comes to facing the inquisitiveness of sporting media as he was on media practitioner.

The session at the media centre of the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba was very entertaining, informative and educative as some of the journalists later confessed to Independent News Express.

Aiyepek took the time to explain to the journalists how sports are practiced in Lagos State. According to him, the administration lacks the old-fashioned style.

He stressed that as an administrator who has seen it all in the world of sport and traveled near and far, he knows that modern ways of working deliver results.

He revealed how the Sports Commission has integrated over 400 games masters and mistresses from educational districts in Lagos State into a modern school sports system by given them retraining at a recent workshop.

“It was a kind of revolution because we showed them the best sports practices. Not only have we equipped them to carry out their active-duty duties, but we have also equipped them with knowledge so that they can be useful to the society and their families after their service,” Aiyepeku said.

He also revealed what the state is doing to ensure that no sport is left behind.

“We value development, which essentially means giving everyone a sense of belonging. We have also managed to separate and classify these sports so we can focus on the results.

“We don’t necessarily want to win at all costs like other states do, but we want to advance the development agenda. According to us at the Lagos State Sports Commission, we are not desperate as we see these youth games as a talent scouting program,” he added.

He said that the Sports Commission also places a strong emphasis on development, as many of Lagos’ athletes benefit from some form of grant to help them prepare for and compete in tournaments without stress.

Aiyepeku stressed that Lagos is a breeding ground for athletes and will continue to be at the forefront of ensuring the comprehensive development of athletes.

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Sports Minister Excited About Young Talents Emerging From National Youth Games

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The Honourable Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh has expressed his delight over the number of emerging talents being discovered at the ongoing National Youth Games, taking place in Asaba, Delta State.

Senator Enoh stated that the Games stays true to its purpose of providing a platform for young talents to be unearthed.

He noted that talents are not in short supply in the country, what is needed is the platform for visibility. He stressed that the ministry is not oblivious of this need, and his administration is determined to make available these platforms across the federation.

“This edition of the National Youth Games has given visibility to very talented kids that represent the future of our sports as a nation. Availability of talents has never been a problem for our sports, but instead, the provision of platforms for these talents to be seen has remained our Achilles heel,” the Minister said. “This administration is committed to ensuring that platforms are available for budding stars, especially in our rural areas.”

“While our elite athletes continue to make us proud, we want to guarantee the future by creating a production pipeline for emerging talents to come through, transition, get nurtured and collect the baton when the time is right on the elite stage,” Senator Enoh concluded.

At the end of Day 6, Delta State remained top of the medals table with 36 Gold, 25 Silver and 23 Bronze medals. Lagos State sits second with 18 Gold, 12 Silver, and 15 Bronze medals, while Edo State occupies the third spot with 17 Gold, 12 Silver, and 13 Bronze medals.

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Lagos Cycling Gold Medalist Canvasses For Regular National Tourneys To Keep Athletes In Top Form

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The need to have regular local competitions is necessary to keep the athletes, especially the young boys and girls, who are outstanding in the National Youth Games in their top form and busy out of social vices.

This was the submission of one of Team Lagos cyclists, Isiaka Ibraheem who won two medals at the Asaba 2023 Games.

Ibraheem, a student of Government Junior College, Ikoyi, Lagos won a gold medal in the Point Race on Thursday. He had earlier won a silver medal in the Individual Time Trial.

While Ibraheem was so excited winning the gold and silver medals for Team Lagos, he wanted the sports authorities at both the state and national levels to organise more competitions to keep the athletes busy as lack of regular competitions slow down the development of the athletes in their choosing sports.

“We cannot demand for more at this stage if not for any other thing but to keep the athletes busy and in good form. When there is no competition, the form of these athletes would definitely go down. I want to beg the Federal Government of Nigeria to channel resources into exposing athletes from the National Youth Games to more local and international competitions,” Ibraheem said.

He gave kudos for what the Lagos State Government is doing for sports in the state, adding that the officials in Lagos Sports know their job and they take the welfare of the athletes serious.

“We have good training before traveling down to Asaba and this is what helped most of us at the National Youth Games,” he said.

Head Cycling Coach in Lagos, Lukman Oyebola also corroborated Ibraheem that more competitions are needed to give these young athletes future in sports.

He said if there could attention for Ibraheem, who had proven beyond reasonable doubt to be a good cyclist, the country would be better for it in the nearest future.

“Ibraheem is just going to 14 and the potential in him is great. I have no doubt that he would win gold in Asaba because he performed very well in tournaments we went to in Ibadan and Ogun State recently,” Coach Oyebola said.

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