22nd February, 2016
Taiwo Adelu
The maiden edition of the Asisat Oshoala U-17 Football Tournament gets underway on Tuesday in Lagos.
The tournament, which is sponsored by the 2015 BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year award winner, Asisat Lamina Oshoala, will be competed by 24 female football teams in Lagos to win prize money and a trophy.
According to the organiser, the grassroots football competition will hold at the Bishop Aggrey playground, Mushin, Lagos from 23-27 February.
Sponsor of the tournament, Oshoala said that “this competition is about giving back to the society and the community where I started my playing career from. The reason I’m sponsoring this tourney is that we need to develop the game of football from the grassroots.
“This competition is basically for young ladies. We need to get the kids off the streets, get the ladies out of the streets and get them off prostitution. The football tourney is a week-long event and it’s not going to be about football alone, we will also devote time to talk and educate ourselves on how we can join hands to develop our talent, that is sports and education.”
Teams featuring in the maiden Asisat Oshoala Football Tournament include FC Robo Ladies, FC Phoenix Queens, Royaltoms, COD Ladies, Kadesh Ladies, Tokas Queens and others.
Asisat Lamina Oshoala (MON) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays for Liverpool Ladies in England.
She was named best player and was the highest goal scorer at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
She was also named best player and second top goalscorer with the Super Falcons team who won the 2014 African Women’s Championship.