The competition will hold between Dec 3 toDec 8 at the Agege Township Stadium. Akinwunmi said the competition would serve
as a platform for the clubs playing in the
league to assess their teams.
” The regional tournament could serve as an appraisal for the team on their preparedness for the new season.
”The Pre-Season tournament is aimed at
giving the clubs campaigning in the league a
veritable platform to assess their team before
the commencement of the league,” he said
Akinwunmi who is also First Vice President of
the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) said that
the regional championships to provide a
synergy for football developmental
programmes among the south west clubs.
”It is also an avenue for the discovery of
young players in the South West Zone,” he
said.
Akinwunmi said that the organisers were
satisfied with the level of preparedness of the
teams that had registered for the tournament.
“We are satisfied with the level of preparation
for the championships . The teams are getting
prepared”.
“We are expecting teams from the Nigeria
Professional Football League and Nigeria
National League 10 of them,” he said.
Akinwunmi said the the organiser of the
tournament had learnt from the previous
edition of the tournament.
”This showed that the teams that performed
well also translate it to their campaign in the
league.
“We are quite satisfied with the timing of the
tournament because it will serve as a prelude
to the new league season.
“The last edition affords various teams the
opportunity to assess their team in terms of
performance and technicalities.
“Those that performed well in the
championships last year can see their effect in
their campaign during the league season
because they can assess the players.
“The tournament helps them to know their
strength and weakness and also affords them
the opportunity to plan ahead for the league,’’
he said.
Akinwunmi assured that the tournament would
keep improving in terms of organisation and
coordination.
“What we are assuring is that the competition
will continue to get better as the time comes
by. The mistakes noticed in the previous
edition will be corrected in the next.
“By next year, we hope to see more clubs
interested in the tournament,” he said.
The Secretary of the forum, Akin Akinbobola,
said that not only the teams and players
would enjoy the benefit of assessing
themselves, but also the referees.
“The opportunity of assessment is not only for
the teams, but also the referees and match
officials getting them ready for the new league
season.
“The teams that will be participating are drawn
from the Premier League, National League and
a state representative from Ekiti.
“The teams are MFM FC, Sunshine Stars of
Akure, Remo Stars, Crown FC, of Ogbomosho,
Spartan FC of Lagos, Akure City, and a club
assembled by Ekiti,’’ he said.
Akinbobola said that part of the gains of the
tournament would be a technical assessment
reports to be given by some experts in the
league system to strengthen the clubs
participating in the tournament.
“Parts of the gain include a technical report
that will be given by the technical committee
headed by Taiwo Ogunjobi who will give a
holistic approach to the teams.
“They will be assessed in their areas of
strength and weakness and advice on where
they needed to consolidate and improve top
have a successful outing in their campaign.
“We are also giving the team opportunity to
know what to expect from other teams and if
there are more lapses, there would be another
tournament to assess them.
“The tournament would probably hold a month
to the commencement of the new league
season,’’ he said.
The tournament which was first held in 2016
at Onikan Stadium was won by Gateway FC of
Abeokuta
