Nigeria To Partner Hungary On Grassroots Football Development

Nigeria To Partner Hungary On Grassroots Football Development

Ibraheem Lateef Ayodele

The Federal Government has expressed its willingness to partner with the Republic of Hungary on grassroots football development by ensuring a successful hosting of the Dreamland Embassy of Hungary Football Tournament scheduled to take place in Abuja between November 14 - 20, 2022.

The Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, gave the assurance on Saturday in his office in Abuja, when he received the Hungarian Ambassador to Nigeria, Amb. Sandor Beer who came to brief him on the preparedness of the Tournament as well as solicit the Ministry's support towards the success of the competition.

According to him, the game was an opportunity for Nigeria to showcase its budding football talents at the grassroots to harness them for international competitions 

Dare, therefore, assured of the Ministry's readiness to collaborate with the Republic of Hungary in ensuring the success of the tournament.

He explained that Nigeria, being a football-loving nation, had a lot of football talents at the grassroots who can be trained into taking the game as a career.

The Minister, therefore, urged the Hungarian Government to furnish the Ministry with the database of her citizens who are already playing football at a professional level in their country for documentation and statistics. 

"We need the contact information of these young ones so that we can stay in touch with them, and celebrate them as ambassadors on our website, in our speeches, and in the media; they can become role models for our teeming youth. We will bring our Coaches to share ideas and rub minds with the Coaches from your clubs to develop a robust domestic grassroots football league in Nigeria," he said.

Earlier, the Hungarian Ambassador to Nigeria, Sandor Beer, stated that he was in the Ministry to update the Minister on the level of preparedness for the competition and to further solicit support for the success of the Tournament.

He informed me that Scouts from Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, and Romania will be visiting the country during the event, to see prospective Nigerian footballers who can be recruited into their various clubs.

Amb. Beer added that the 7-day Tournament is expected to feature 16 Nigerian teams from Lagos, Abia and other States across Nigeria.

The President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee(NOC), Engineer Habu Gumel, who was part of the visit, thanked the Minister for receiving Ambassador Beer warmly and providing a conducive environment for such grassroots partnerships and collaborations to thrive in the country.