Chairman of the board of Edo State Football Association (FA) is on top of the world with joy on account of the deal the FA secured with Edo born Super Eagles of Nigeria star, Bright Osayi Samuel, to sponsor a youth football tournament in the state.
Speaking during a Press Parley to unveil the deal, Erhunmwunse disclosed that the journey to the creation of the tournament tagged Bright Osayi Samuel U-13 Football Tournament, commenced when he took the trip to Cote D’Ivoire(Ivory Coast) for the 2023 African Cup of Nations contest where Nigeria won a silver medal earlier this year.
According to him, his game plan in the Ivory Coast was to meet with Edo State born soccer stars in the national squad the opportunity which he used to talk them into supporting the state FA in its plan to move the standard of the game to a higher pedestal.
The FA board promised to go the extra mile in ensuring that cheating and other malfeasance are eliminated from the tourney so that a worthy champion could emerge and also the blossoming potentials of the participants would be discovered for a promising future.Â
Winners of the tournament, apart from the trophy at stake, will go home with N1million cash while the second, third and fourth placed teams would be given N750, 000; N500,000 and N250,000 respectively. Also outstanding players will be given cash rewards and trophies.
Speaking on the side of the formal unveiling of the tournament, Erhunmwunse, said: “Yes, today, is a day of reality. It’s a journey that we started since January looking forward to our brothers in diaspora to come to give back to the youths in Edo State. I want to say a special thank you to our boy who is from Oredo Local Government Area, Osayi Samuel Bright for deeming it fit to donate this trophy for under 13 youth for them to compete for.
“I am using this medium to call on other ex-footballers and others playing for any other club whether in Europe of other African countries to do same. Football is continuity. We have these kids everywhere. We have different categories. We have the under 10, under 13 and under 15. We want to engage them to keep to keep them away from the streets.”
Michael Osayi, the brother of Bright, who represented him at the Press Parley said: He has always been in love with Nigeria where he comes from. He has not been opportuned to stay so long here. He has been up and doing in Europe as we all know. He, at a time, called on his parents and asked ‘how can I just come to Nigeria and not meet anybody since nobody knows me.’ We assured him that we would be making a plan.Â
“Fortunately, for us we met Mr. Fred Newton Erhunmwunse, the Edo FA Chairman. That was how the journey kicked off. He was happy to be around in Edo State some few weeks ago where he met with the state governor(Godwin Obaseki) and the governor’s family. In that meeting he promised that he was going to make sure that he supports the grassroots football team and give them the best so as for them to soar high the way he has done. Of course, he also started from a youth team. He is trying to see how best he could do such for Edo State where he comes from. He’s really proud of the state.”
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