Nigeria Kicks Off Qualifiers For 2018 Football Fives World Championships 2 July

The Country Partner, I-Sports Coliseum has said that Nigeria’s qualifying tournament for this year’s Football Fives World Championships (F5WC) will kick off from 2 July.

The F5WC is the world’s largest five-a-side tournament founded in 2013. With this year’s Football Five World Championships finals holding in Shanghai, China, representatives of Nigeria are scheduled to emerge at the qualifying tournament that will climax by July ending.

Head of Competition, I-Sports Coliseum and LOC F5WC, Yusuf Samsudeen Tijani said at a media conference held at the Corporate Headquarters of NILAYO Sports Company, Magodo, Lagos that the qualifiers will be played in Kano, Kaduna, Abuja, Delta, Abeokuta and Lagos centres. He disclosed that a three-day national finals will be held in Lagos at the end of which a will emerge winners who will fly the country’s flag at the World finals in Shanghai.

Yusuf said that the game is designed basically for amateur players and not different from futsal game. “Not every footballer will play at the professional level and not every player will dorn the colours of the national team. That is why five-a-side football is here to give opportunity for more players the chance to play football at the big level,” he said.

He said that Nigeria has potential to make it big in football fives game, as the country had a great performance at the world cup hosted in Dubai. He called on the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, to give the eventual winners of Nigeria’s qualifiers for the world cup technical assistance to excel in Shanghai.

Boma Jack, Director of the Country Partner, I-Sports Coliseum noted that 80 percent of world top teams now invest in five-a-side football at the grassroots to seek new talents and promote youth development.

He added that the F5WC has now become a biggest world event with over one million players entering the tournament in the last four years from over 48 countries. He called on Nigeria to invest in the game and tap from numerous opportunities in it.

He noted that I-Sports Coliseum is partnering NILAYO Sports Company to take the game to the next level, adding NILAYO’s experience in sports management is what I-Sports Coliseum will benefit from.

Damilola Pedro of NILAYO Sports Company said football five-a-side game is a project that can sale itself with the emotional touch attached to it to develop Nigerian youth, a reason the company is working with I-Sports Coliseum to not only develop the game but make it commercially viable that will attract sponsorships.