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No fewer than eight local governments teams in Lagos State will take part in the 9th edition of Senator Anthony Adefuye grassroots football championship 2026, which holds at the Bariga Sports Centre.
The tournament kicks off today and ends on Wednesday, August 12, 2026.
According to the secretary, planning committee, Mr Wellington Amadasun, “we are optimistic that this tournament will promote and showcase young, talented and potential professional footballers that can do well locally and nationally in club sides to project the mission and vision of APFAN towards breeding soccer talents with academic excellence.”
“Some of the teams that will be participating in the tournament are Blueliners FC, Olugbani boys, Melody FC, Brings Ocarina United FC, Brave Int’l FC, Owode United, Bariga FC and Sammy FC, these are all male teams”
“While the female teams are FC United squad Angels, Jagunmolu queens, Gasfat ladies, Green Stars Queen FC, Victory Queens and Murich Queens”
“Senator Adefuye is one senator that has passion for sports, especially football and this is one way to honour our leader as he celebrates his birthday”
Mr Adesina Adeboye, a member of the committee said the tournament would also serve as a scouting platform for both the men’s and women’s national mini-football teams.
Speaking further, he said “it encourages the younger people to participate in sports, and they are able to play a more technical game in these small spaces instead of the larger game, and that is why we are launching this sport. We are also trying to pick the Nigerian team from this competition as well. We have started the scouting process already.”
16 teams, comprising of men’s category and women’s category, will contest the league in the four-a-side format, playing across thirteen match days over the course of the month.
Mr Tosin Osinowo, also a member of the organising committee explained that participation is open to clubs rather than individuals, with players required to be aged 16 and above, and that both grassroots and professional clubs were free to register.
“There are quite a number of objectives towards organising the league. Number one is to discover talents; secondly, it is to engage them so that they can be abreast of the rules of the game and be up to the international standard,” he said.
“Also, it’s an opportunity to continue to engage the community both locally and statewide because we know that football is a uniting force and it brings people together. It also keeps, you know, the young ones busy and takes them away from vices.”
Osinowo said a key objective of the competition was to identify players who could represent Nigeria at continental and global mini-football tournaments.
