Lagos Agog For Tella’s Tourney

By IFEANYI EDUZOR

The chairman of Nigeria Football Coaches Association, (Lagos State Chapter), Prince Isaac Adesola Adeagbo, has implored all the 57 Local Governments of the state to register their teams for the forth coming late Golden Eaglets Coach, Theophilus Adeyemi Tella Memorial Cup Championship which will kick off later this month.
According to Prince Adeagbo, the aims and objectives of the competition is for Lagos State to select a standing team for the 2010 National Sports Festival.
“The forth coming late Tella Memorial competition will no doubt serve as an avenue for the Lagos State chapter of the Nigeria Football Coaches Association to select a standing team that will be trained for the 2010 National Sports Festival”, he opined.
“We are not happy that Lagos State is not featuring in the soccer event of the 2008 National Sports Festival holding in Kaduna State next November. Since his Excellency, the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) is a footballer and sports loving Governor, we shall not sit on the fence and watch football plunged in to the limbo during his tenure of office. Hence we wish to bring Lagos back to the top again”, the chairman who was accompanied by his treasurer, Coach Okey Igwokwe stated.
Prince Adeagbo, a former defender cum captain of LUTHCOL FC, Lagos further dropped the hint that the participating teams from the 57 LGA would be divided in to ten zones for the preliminary matches.
According to him, two teams will qualify from each zone, while the best four losers would be added to the 20 teams to make the number of qualifiers to 24 teams.
“When we get the 24 teams, they will be divided into four groups of six teams to play in a round robin league basis, first after which the first two teams from each of the four groups will qualify for the quarter finals, semi finals and final”, he stated.