Spires five-a-side street soccer tourney off to flying start

The last 16 fixtures of Spires five-a-side street soccer tournament kicked off on a blistering note, yesterday, at the Prestigious Stable Football Pitch, Surulere, Lagos.

The opening matches saw fans going wide with excitement as the players put up fine football artistry, and at the end of the opening round games, the fans went home vowing to return to the arena to witness more action.

In some of the matches played yesterday, Yahweh FC defeated Peckins FC 4-3, Toprocks FC beat ASD Academy 5-3 and VVD FC were 4-2 better than Owibesebe FC.

The opening fixtures was witnessed by several football personalities, among whom was the CEO of Spires Media, Dr Femi Bankole-Alibay, whose outfit organised the tournament.

Speaking after the matches, Dr Bankole-Alibay said: “I am excited with what I am seeing today; the turn out and the excitement created around this tournament.

“The overall aim of the SPIRES five-a-side tournament is to unearth talents on the streets of Lagos not captured by the various football academies.

“With what I am seeing today, the future of this tournament looks great. We are here to redefine street soccer in Nigeria, as well as harness the immense talents within Lagos communities.”

He revealed that the winner of this season’s tournament will pocket the sum of N5 million in prize money, while the runners up and the third placed teams will get N3 million and N1 million respectively.

He also disclosed that there are other prizes for the most valuable player (MVP), the best goalkeeper and coach of the tournament.

The tournament will end on December 7, 2024.