Surulere Local Government will host the 2023 Lagos Street Soccer Championship (LSSC) set for October. Chairman of the Lagos Street Soccer body, Bolaji Yusuf, made this known during a visit to the Chairman of the Surulere LGA in his office on Wednesday, 30 August 2023.
According to the Yusuf-led committee tasked with reviving the visions of the pioneers of the championship launched in 2008 by the Lagos State Football Association, Surulere was the preferred choice out of the several hosting bids submitted across the state.
He said, “We are glad to announce that Surulere will host the 2023 Lagos Street Soccer Championship opening ceremony. This decision was taken after several considerations by the committee in conjunction with the Lagos State Football Association that charged us with the mandate of leading this big project of reviving street soccer across the state.”
The former Senior Special Adviser to the Lagos State Government on Sports Facilities under His Excellency, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, noted that the championship grew in scope, purpose, and prospects and became a formidable platform through which football development improved through conscious grassroots development. He inferred that it was a testament to the success story of Public-Private Partnership in the socio-economic development of the society.
In his reaction, the Surulere LGA Chairman, Hon. Sulaiman Bamidele Yusuf, thanked the Lagos State FA and the Lagos State Street Soccer body for deeming the ‘Sport city’ worthy of hosting the opening ceremony.
“We are excited about this development. Using sports as an engaging tool for the teeming youth of Surulere is part of our core mandates. We are glad that the Lagos State Street Soccer Committee has given us a platform to actualise this vision.”
He commended the Lagos FA led by Fouad Oki for reviving grassroots football in the state as he promised that the LGA would work with other stakeholders to hold a befitting hosting ceremony. Hon. Bamidele declared his support for the initiative that has featured over 3,000 teams with more than 30,000 players and officials as direct beneficiaries over a period of 7 seasons between 2008 and 2014 across all the 377 wards in Lagos State.
