Football: Source future talents from Higher Institutions' League - Don

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A university don, Prof Sam Otamiri, has said the best way to develop future talents for international football competitions is to look the way of the Higher Institutions Football League for Nigerian universities as a veritable source of scouting for players.

Otamiri, who is also the Chairman of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education Sports Council, Port Harcourt, made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Uyo .

He said the league was established by the Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA) to discover talents in football from the university communities.

He noted that the competition, which first edition began in 2018 had lived up to its objective by producing professional players from the Nigerian universities, some of whom were already playing for professional clubs within and outside the country.

“The competition is achieving its targeted purpose because at the end of the competition last year, more than five students from Nigerian universities were contracted to play in different professional football clubs within and outside Nigeria.

“How else can we project our talents, I think at the end of this second edition more students will be exposed to playing better football, for better prospects and for better revenue. I think we are achieving the reason for the establishment of this competition,” Otamiri said.

The professor of Educational Management and Basic Education, said that apart from harnessing talents from universities, the competition also fosters unity, cooperation and deepens interaction among Nigerian universities.

He expressed satisfaction with the cooperation and commitment received from the vice-chancellors and university managements toward the success of the competition..

According to him, the vice-chancellors were cooperating and all the universities qualified to play were always present during the competition.

On the standard of officiating in the game, the professor commended the organisers and the officials for the standard exhibited in the higher institutions football league.

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