By Rasaq Oboirien
Hajj Liameed Gafar, the egg-head of the Lagos State Football Association, has revealed that in-form Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman of Atalanta, and new Super Eagles invitee Tolu Arokodare for Nigeria’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Zimbabwe, are all products of the Lagos FA State League.
Gafar emphasized that the league serves as the largest football incubator for top teams in Nigeria and, indeed, across Africa.
The 2025 season of the Lagos State Football Association (LSFA) State League will kick off on March 19, featuring 14 weeks of thrilling football.
This season, a total of 14 male and 10 female teams will compete, divided into the Atlantic Conference and Mainland Conference. They will battle for the maximum 3 points in a home-and-away league format at selected certified venues across the Center of Football Excellence.
Following the unveiling of the teams and the draws held at the LSFA office on Ogunlana Drive, Gafar stated, “I want to emphasize that five or six stars currently in the Eric Chelle Super Eagles were talents scouted in this league some years ago. These players never played in the NPFL, but this platform was the pathway that led them to Europe.”
He highlighted the following players as Osimhen (Ultimate Strikers), Lookman (Sporting Football Academy), Arokodare (Box-2-Box), Victor Boniface (Real Sapphire), and Kayode (36 Lions).
“The goal is to see players graduate from the LSFA League to junior national teams, and ultimately to the Super Eagles and Falcons,” he added.
Wale Joseph, the Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State League, stressed the importance of discipline for teams both on and off the pitch and noted that any team that fails to honour a game would face automatic relegation as sanctions.