21st July, 2015
Taiwo Adelu
Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, SWAN, Lagos chapter will hold its week-long 2015 Lagos SWAN Week from 24- 31 July, 2015.
The week, which will feature football tournament, tug of war and a day seminar, is sponsored by a Nigeria’s leading sports betting company, Winners Golden Bet, 5ive Sports and OWU.
The Week will start on Friday, 24 July with a novelty match between a selected Nigerian former internationals team and Lagos SWAN veterans at the Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium Surulere Lagos, while the group stage of the football competition will commence on Monday, 27 July. On Wednesday, 29 July, the Director General of the National Sports Commission, Alhassan Yakmut and the President of Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Amaju Pinnick will be keynote speakers at the seminar which takes place at the Lagos SWAN Secretariat. The final day will see sports journalists competing in a “Tug Of War” competition alongside the third place play offs and finals of the football event on 31 July.
According to the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, LOC, of the Week, Debo Oshundun, the Lagos SWAN Week is not only about a football tournament, as the seminar is being planned to bring to the fore important issues affecting Nigerian sports.
He said Yakmut’s paper will be on “Funding Sports in Nigeria” while Pinnick will speak on “Globalizing Nigerian Sports: A Challenge for the Nigerian media”.
In the draws for the football matches, last year’s silver medal winning team, City FM are drawn in Group A with Radio Nigeria, Voice of Nigeria and SuperSport Nigeria. Group B is made up of TVC, SilverBird Television, Sports vision, Inspiration FM and Cool FM.
NTA will face Nation/Sportinglife, Channels Television and Skysports Nigeria in Group C, while the defending champions, SportsDay will battle News Agency of Nigeria, Complete Sports and Top Radio in Group D.
“This year’s event promises to be action packed. The “Tug Of War” competition is added to add spice to the week event. I want to thank our title sponsor, Winners Golden Bet and other partners such as Nigerian Sports Award, OWU Sportswear and 5ive Sports Limited for their support,” Oshundun said.