…top players arrive for the Charity Champions cup
…organisers to reach out to 10,000 people with focus on eye care
The Nation’s capital, Abuja is set to witness an influx of top football stars from around the world for the Charity Champions Cup competition put together by the Attom Foundation in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Sports Development and the Nigeria Football Federation.
Ex-internationals from across the globe will join current stars in the charity football competition billed for the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
The likes of former super eagles midfield maestro and captain, Austin Jay Jay Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo, former England international, Sol Campbell, former French international, Robert Pires, former South African legend, Mark Fish, FC Napoli point man, Victor Osimhen, Leicester city midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi, and Chelsea fc legend, Didier Drogba alongside former Arsenal defender Emmanuel Ebuoe are all expected to grace the occasion.
Addressing the media on Friday morning at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, organizers says beyond gathering people to have fun, the event is designed to create awareness that the foundation needs the support of well meaning Nigerian’s that will help to ameliorate the needs of special people in the society.
“The event is not just to bring people to have fun, the event is to create awareness that we need support to be able to get across to people with special needs. Our aim at the beginning for this project is to take care of 10,000 people and with the responses we are getting, it seems our number is going to go up”
It was also stated that the rationale behind this initiative is to provide medical health support and to touch lives within the immediate Nigerian community, with this year’s outreach focusing on “Eye Care.”
Speaking at the press conference, Dr Ozi of Habib Medical Clinic says the North-Eastern part of Nigeria is believed to be the region with the highest cases of blindness, with women and the uneducated topping the list of the most affected—-stressing that 84% of blindness are avoidable and preventable.
In his words: “As at 2007, about 1.1million people were blind in Nigeria, the North-East is found to be the region with the highest number of blindness, with females and the uneducated topping the number, meanwhile 84% of blindness in Nigeria is preventable and avoidable”
“we need to reduce the negative statistics of people with different visual impairment so they can be treated or corrected as early as possible”
“I am glad that Attom foundation has come to intervene which gives a sense of relief since the government cannot do it alone”
According to the organisers, the Attom Foundation Champions Cup Competition will be an annual event, with next year’s edition scheduled to take place in Lagos, says the organizers.
“This is what we planned to do every year, this year is Abuja, next year is going to be in Lagos, this year is billed for Eye Care, it’s a long term project that intends to touch as many lives as possible and to improve the lives of the local community”
Present at the conference were former Arsenal star, Emmanuel Ebuoe, Ghanaian Legend, Boateng and Super Eagles defender, Kenneth Omeruo.
