Spires 5-Aside: Lagos Agog For Epic Final

The finals of this year’s Spires sponsored 5 ASIDE Naija Street Soccer Tournament comes to an end this afternoon at the Prestigious Stable Football Pitch, Surulere, Lagos
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Two teams, All Saints from the Badagry Football Division and White Tigers of Lagos Island will lock horns for the N5m top prize while ASD Academy will go head to head against 2 Odds in the classification match.

The Chief Executive Officer of Spires MEDIA, Dr Femi Bankole-Allibay, has been speaking on the journey so far and why he and his team have been working tirelessly to give Nigerians one of the best organised and innovative Street Soccer Tournaments.

“It has been a very wonderful journey since we started this tournament in April involving over 52 teams. First, the huge interest shown by the number of clubs tells us that we are on the right course.

“Our focus is of course to use this tournament to empower the youths in Nigeria and discover talents that could end up showcasing their talents at the highest level of football, using Lagos State as a starting point.

“I must say that my team and I are thrilled by the huge interest shown by the participating clubs and the level of competition shown by the players.
“Today, we give God the glory as we look forward to an exciting and epic final this evening.

“I am very confident that with the level of preparations put into the entire tournament and the final in particular, football stakeholders will see a whole new dimension of organisation and innovative delivery in grassroot football.

“Friday December 6th, my team and I spent the whole day at the venue putting the necessary things together to ensure we deliver a world class finals,” Dr Alibay, a PHD holder in Sustainable Development at the Prestigious University of Middlesex London, added.
Football stakeholders have described as awesome the high level of organisation and innovation in the tournament.

Ex internationals, Friday Elaho and Etim Maradona Esin, who were invited to mentor the players and officials of the finalists speak of their experiences.

According to Elaho, the Algiers ’90 Nations Cup revelation, “the organisation of the Spires 5 Aside shows that Nigeria has talents that can transform our football to a whole new level.

“The level of creativity and innovation in organisation is top notch. For example, this is the first time players of a grassroot tournament are been accommodated in a very decent hotel and transported to the match venue with air conditioned bus, something most clubs in Nigeria are finding it difficult to do.

“Again, ex internationals like me were invited to mentor and train with the players. You could see the excitement in the players and officials, most of them were seeing me face to face for the first time.

“For me, this experience will stay with me for a long time. To say I enjoyed myself is an understatement. I say kudos to the organisers for upping the ante in football organisation.”

For Etim Esin, Spires MEDIA has taken grassroots football organisation to a whole new level. ” I am so excited with what I saw this morning, good atmosphere to play good football, good motivation to play good football and good environment for the beautiful game.

“I have never seen a grassroots football tournament with this high level of organisation. This is good news coming from Nigeria. I commend the organisers and urge them to keep up this great work,” the player fondly called Maradona said.

Esin used the opportunity to talk to the players on the need to be disciplined on and off the pitch sharing how lack of indiscipline truncated his flourishing football career.

Former Edo State Football Chairman, Frank Ilaboya, who was the Special Guest in the semi- final match, also shares his views.

“I have been following the Spires 5Aside since it started early this year, but this is my first time coming to watch.

“My first observation was the ambience of the tournament, professionally done that I thought I had missed the venue initially. The players well kitted and above all, they were provided with accommodation and buses that take them to the match venue.

“The scene takes you back to major tournaments where players and officials drive to match venues in luxury buses.

“I must commend Spires Media for taking grassroots football to this new level, this is how it should be,” Mr Ilaboya added

Having listened to the praises showered on him and his team, Dr. Alibay picks up the story again.

“Honestly, we are excited that people are appreciating our efforts so far. To us, the best is yet to come, this is just our first outing and it’s like testing the microphone.

“All I can say is that Nigerians haven’t seen our best yet. Next year will see much more improvement and innovation.

“We are here not just to promote grassroots football, but to do it with a touch of class.
“Let me also use this occasion to thank our sponsors and partners for believing in us, not forgetting our very dedicated team.”

This year’s winner will smile home with N5m Naira, while the runner up and 3rd Place teams get N3m and N1m respectively.
The final match this evening kicks off by 4 pm, to be proceeded by the 3rd place match.

The Director General of the National Sports Commission, Chief Bukola Olopade will be leading array of dignitaries including top business moguls and the nation’s foremost sports editors to the finals.