19 Nov 2018

The 2nd edition of the Under 15 (U-15) Bola Akindele Cup is upon us as the build up to the tourney commenced with a Press Conference and Trophy Presentation. The event which was covered by various media houses such as NTA Channel 10, MiTV, Lagos Television (LTV), Brilla fm, Bond fm, This Day Sports, Complete Sports, The Nation and the Sun newspapers, held at the Head Offices of Courteville Business Solutions Plc where the sponsor of the tourney, Dr. Adebola Ismail Akindele is the Group Managing Director (GMD).

The initiative which is organized by The Lagos State Grassroots Association is a 32-team tournament in a round robin sequence would be played all around Lagos from the 7th of July 2018 with the finals coming up on the 19th of August, 2018 at the Campos Mini Stadium Ajele, Lagos Island.

In the Chairman of the Grassroots Association’s speech which was preceded by an opening prayer, it was highlighted that 2 of the lads from the first Edition of the U-15 Bola Akindele Cup in 2017 have received call ups to the Nigerian U-17 squad also known as the Golden Eaglets. The Association also expressed gratitude to Dr. Akindele for his continued support of the initiative.

Dr. Akindele mentioned in his speech that he would love if there was a synergy between other football bodies within Lagos State to help support the youth on this initiative. He also congratulated the 2 boys that got the Golden Eaglets’ call-up, hoping the competition will produce more stars that would represent the junior cadres and eventually blossom into stars that would become members of the Super Eagles. He also prayed that Lagos State would continue to nurture these future stars.

Dr. Akindele got questions from Press who had questions like;

  • what Dr. Akindele would gain from the initiative to
  • what the prize gifts ranged from to
  • if there would be a girls version of the competition

The GMD was clear in response stating that it was his joy to see talents grow and that he was not in it for any particular gain.

He also mentioned he would be donating a N1, 000, 000 (One Million Naira) for the cause which was doubled from the N500, 000 (Five Hundred Thousand) he provided at the Maiden Edition. The N1, 000, 000 would be shared amongst the top four teams with first going away with N400, 000 (Four Hundred Thousand Naira), second would be given N300, 000 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira). The third place team would go away with N200, 000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira) with the fourth placed side going away with N100, 000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira).

To wrap up the response to questions asked with regards to a female version, Dr. Akindele said from next year he would be willing to support a female version of the tournament.

A few of the budding participants were introduced at the Press Conference with a few of the coaches also recognized before the official presentation of the trophy and a closing prayer to bring the event to an end.