Ogba Ijaiye Football Club has won the 2022/23 Elephant Cup, a five-a-side grassroots soccer tournament, organised for teams in Agege area of Lagos State.

The team defeated Mago FC 3-0 in the final of the tournament ,played at the Ashade Ogba Playing Ground on Monday, to emerge winner.

Ogba Ijaiye FC, along with 11 other teams, participated in the tournament ,which started on Oct.18 ,2022.

The victorious team had qualified for the knock-out stages of the tournament after emerging as best loser at the group stage .

Ogba Ijaiye FC was rewarded with cash prize of N500,000 for their effort, while the runner-up, Mago FC, was rewarded with N300,000.

In his post-match remarks, Mr Felix Ajanaku, Chairman of Elephant Cup, thanked God for the success of the league.

Ajanaku said that the football competition had been in existence for almost 22 years at the same venue, and had kept improving every year.

“I appreciate and thank all the teams that participated in the league from the beginning, for their sportsmanship and fair play attitude during the matches.

“The game went well and the players showed some level of maturity during the tournament.

“We also thanked the supporters and the spectators for their peaceful conduct and during and after the matches,” he said.

Speaking ,Mr Yinka Ogundimu, a lawmaker representing Agege Constituency 2 in the state House of Assembly, applauded the organisers, saying they had done well to have kept the tournament going for over 20 years .

“This is marvellous. The match is something we look forward to every year as it is way of gathering youths and taking them away from social vices.

“We are glad tournament attracted a lot of young people and also gave the youth the opportunity to showcase their football talents,” he said.

The lawmaker also advised youths to shun violence during and after the general elections ,urging them to keep themselves by acquiring skills for self reliance.

Mr Rotimi Odusola, the representative of Guinness Nigeria ,one of the sponsors of the tournament, said that the grassroots competition was a great initiative .

He said his organisation would do more in the coming year, to further lift the competition.

Odusola said the organisation was pleased to give support to the grassroots football competition and the host community.

“This is a fantastic competition. We, Guinness Nigeria, are very pleased to give our support to the competition and the community.

“This is one of the things that we reckon with as an organisation, empowering and engaging the youths as we all know that football is a fantastic engagement opportunity.

“That’s why we are encouraging Elephant Club to continue this event and we will continue to give our support as we are doing today.

Mr Fabian Etuk, the representative of COLMAT, another sponsor, said that he was highly impressed with the grassroots competition.

He promised that that his organisation would continue to support the tournament.

“We thank the organisers of the competition. Elephant Club is a great grassroots tourney.It gives young people the opportunity to showcase their skills.

“Our organisation will not hesitate to support the grassroots competition next year,” he said.

NAN

The maiden edition of the Ludo National Championships is set to hold in Lagos from July 18 to July 23.

The Organisers, Mrs Olaide Graham, the Chief Executive Officer, Gbolad Continental Venture, said this during a news conference on Wednesday in Lagos.

According to her, the event, set to hold at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, will have two different categories of participants.

She said that the participants were expected to compete at the tertiary institutions in Lagos and in other parts of the South West region of the country.

The other category would have people come by from all spheres of life, which cut across genders and ages 16-90, provided they have hands and can see.

“We are delighted to organise this historic event which is the first of its kind in Lagos and is expected to grow nationwide.

“The game of Ludo is not new, but it is yet to be transformed to be an event that would bring together for the purpose of recreation and national cohesion.

“Our ultimate purpose is to bring the game to limelight, reduce stress, tension, improve reasoning, and increase creativity, focus and strategy.

“We also intend to reward players accordingly as we project a wide acceptance of the game,” she said.

The Ludo National Championship is being supported by the Lagos State Sports Commission and the Redeemers University, Ede.

(NAN)

OGC Nice have reportedly agreed personal terms with Nantes winger, Moses Simon, ahead of a potential summer move.

Nantes, according to a report in RMC, are willing to sell Simon, who played a key role in their Coupe de France success last season.

The Canaries president, Waldermar Kita told a press conference on Wednesday that Simon was among a group of players who would be allowed to leave should an interesting offer arrive.

“We would be delighted if they stayed, but if there are interesting offers, we would have to think about them,”Kita stated.

“Are there any offers? That’s part of the backstage business of the transfer market; I can’t talk too much about it. I can just say that those players are here now.”

Simon scored six goals and provided eight assists in 30 league appearances for Antoine Kombouare’s side last season.

He has also been linked with a move to Leeds United and Brighton & Hove Albion