By: Gracious Akujobi Residents of Akure, the Ondo state capital have lauded the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, for its U-13 grassroots football development programme.
In separate chats with the National U-13 team media officer, Bunmi Haruna, the football fans expressed delight that the NFF has taken it upon itself to fish out young football talents from the grassroots, which they opined will drastically reduce the issue of age falsification in Nigeria football.
“U-13 programme? This is fantastic, I never knew the NFF were into something like this, it will definitely benefit our football in the future.”Faruwa Akinyele, an assistant lecturer at the Federal University of Technology, FUTA, Akure, said.
Mr Femi Akinnaanu, a civil servant, said the NFF deserved to be commended for the programme.
“It’s a laudable project, it gives me joy watching little kids like this play football, and if this programme is sustained, it will be a rallying point for Nigeria football.”
“This is very interesting, I didn’t know young children like this can play football that will still make sense.” Miss Olaoluwa Iyodo, a student, noted.
The National U-13 team is currently in Akure for a four-week camping exercise.
Meanwhile, the National U-13 coach, Danladi Nasidi, said he will start inviting more players, while adding that players who have failed to measure up to the team’s requirements since the camp opened a week ago, will be decamped to give way for the new ones.
So far, 31 players are currently in the team’s camp at the Love and Peace hotel in Akure. Invited players were picked from the 2012 National U-13 Youth Championship, which featured eight teams, Sokoto, Edo, Kaduna, Imo, FCT, Ogun, Niger and Ekiti states.
All invited players have reported to camp except for players from the FCT who were busy with their preparations for a tour of Spain. It would be recalled that the FCT U-13 team emerged champions of the 2012 National U-13 Youth Championship, played last December in Abuja and would go on a foreign tour of Spain in the first week of October, 2013, courtesy the FCT’s minister of state, Jumoke Akinjide.
