. Gets April 18th kick-off date
Global Sports giants, CitySports Africa, pioneer of CitySports League, says all is now set for the maiden edition of the Easter Cup slated for April this year
Fielding questions from reporters during a press briefing held at the company’s head office in Lagos on Thursday, CitySports Africa CEO, Shola Opaleye revealed that the 2-day tournament kicks off from April 18th to 19th
He added that the tournament will offer U-9, U-12, and U-15 the much-needed platform to showcase their talents with 48 participating teams in attendance.
The tournament format will see 16 teams in 4 groups (A, B, C, and D) of four teams each. There will be a round-robin group phase that will produce teams for the quarter finals, semifinals, and finals.
Opaleye emphasised that there will be no prize money for the eventual winners; rather, the first, second, and third teams will receive a trophy and medals, while participating players will receive a ‘I am a CSL challenger ‘trophy
According to him, The goal of CitySports Africa and by extension CitySports League is to make the Easter Cup one of the biggest youth football tournaments in Africa, providing a platform for young talent to gain exposure and access global opportunities. Besides, the company hopes to expand the tournament and strengthen partnerships for an even greater impact.
‘CitySports Africa is a sports development institution. We are totally into sports development right from grassroots to professional level and our track record lays credence to the fact that we are a serious organisation.
‘Statistically, in football, maybe only 2 percent make it up to the professional level. Give or take let me just say one percent. At CitySports Africa, we try to make sure that if we have a hundred children in our programme, we ensure that the entire 100 have a good place to end up and not just one or five percent.
‘The only way we have done that is to create our leadership concept where every child is made to develop themselves through leadership, teaching and programmes. That is the way they can guarantee success in their careers.
‘Part of our plans is to prepare the children medically well through a comprehensive assessment with our partners before going into competition of this magnitude.’’ Opaleye concluded.
