16 Teams Battle For Lagos Pre-Season Tournament

The Lagos Pre-Season Tournament will see 16 teams competing when hostilities begin on Monday, September 18th at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan.

The draws for the tournament were held on Thursday inside the board room of the Lagos State Football Association secretariat at Ogunlana Drive, Surulere, as BugaBet announced support for the tournament.

The pre-season tournament was put together by the LSFA to support the state teams ahead of the forthcoming season with three Nigeria National League and 13 Nationwide League One clubs participating in the five-day football fiesta.

The draws which were concluded by the technical committee headed by the Vice Chairman of the LSFA, Liameed Gafar, saw the teams pulled into four groups of four teams each for the preliminary round.

First Bank FC, Real Sapphire, Lekki United and Broad City were drawn group A while Tradesafe Sport FC, A.S Racine, Emmydinho FC and BYT FC are in group B.

Smart City FC, Okaka FC, TCCG FC and Dannaz FC are in group C while 2023 Lagos FA Cup Champions, Ikorodu City are pitched in group C alongside Spartans FC, Magic Stars and Buruj FC.

First Bank FC and Real Sapphire will play in the opening match of the tournament with eight matches scheduled for each day during the group phase.

The Lagos pre-season tournament will climax with the third-place playoff and final on Friday, September 22nd.

Three NNL and 13 NLO teams were drawn to compete at the tournament with the clubs pulled into four groups of four teams each for the preliminary round.

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman, Lagos State Football Association, Liameed Gafar said the tournament will help the teams to test their players ahead of the forthcoming season.

Liameed stated further that the quality of quality of officiating will be top notch throughout the tournament and urged the teams to use the championship to expose and showcase their players.

Ex-Nigerian international goalkeeper, Peter Rufai commended the LSFA under the leadership of Fouad Oki for putting the tournament together in order to get the teams ready for the 2023/2024 campaign.

He said it will keep them on their toes into the various leagues. “It will be an opportunity for the coaching department to assess themselves and the players in examining their strengths and weaknesses”, said Rufai.