Mushin, Oshodi shine at Sports for Hope tournament

Team Mushin and Team Oshodi at the weekend emerged champions in the football and volleyball events respectively of this year’s Special Olympics Nigeria Sports for Hope project held at the Campos Mini Stadium, Lagos Island.

In the final of the football event, Team Mushin defeated Team Agege 1-0 to win the tournament, while Bariga beat Ajegunle 4-3 on penalties to claim the third position after the match had ended 0-0 in regulation time.

In the volleyball event, Team Oshodi triumphed over Surulere to win this year’s championship, while Team Ikorodu settled for the third position as it overpowered Team Isolo.

The competition, Sports for Hope Project for Persons living with intellectual disability, is a community initiative of Special Olympics Nigeria and was sponsored by the Embassy of France. The initiative was launched in August 2019 and has created avenues for inclusion, empowerment, and positive lifestyle choices.

Speaking on the event, the Embassy of France in Nigeria Ambassador, Jerome Pasquier, said France was happy to assist in organising the event, adding that he hoped the partnership would endure for years.

“We are very happy to help organise this event because sports is a very good means of creating a link between community genders, and young people with intellectual disabilities and sports are also very good at creating an atmosphere of friendship and cooperation.

“Sports is something we are pushing for and we are happy to do this in Nigeria. I hope the partnership will last and this year’s event has been a big success and I hope it will develop and have the real Olympics in Lagos and not only the Special Olympics,” he said, adding that the partnership with Special Olympics Nigeria has been a good one.

“I hope they will do more, do the job themselves and we will be there to help them,” he stated.