Trabzonspor of Turkey striker, Paul Ebere Onuachu is being tipped to take over full sponsorship of a one-day memorial football competition to be staged in honour of his first grassroots coach, Osahon Emokpae.
Sports247 gathered that the competition, which is scheduled to hold this Thursday at FHA Stadium in FESTAC Town, Lagos, is the brainchild of Nigerian Grassroots Football Federation (NGFF), of whose junior team Coach Osahon was the pioneer handler.
NGFF president, Pastor Oscar Ezinwa Emmanuel disclosed that the single day competition will be staged like a memorial carnival involving 12 teams, all of which were influenced one way or the other by Coach Osahon, who was until recently the caretaker committee chairman of Badagry Division Football Association (BDFA).
Pastor Oscar, who is also fondly called ‘TM,’ further disclosed that the competition, which will be staged on a knock-out basis, with games lasting only 20 minutes each, without any half time, will be graced by many esteemed personalities of football across Lagos State, Nigeria and abroad.
The competing teams will be led by Young Stars FC of Satellite Town, which Onuachu played for as a teenager, and from where Osahon took him along to FC Ebedie of Sagamu, when he became head coach of the club owned by Barrister Churchill Oliseh.
Other teams to feature in Thursday’s Osahon Emokpae Memorial Football Carnival include Young Eleven FC, CATS Boys FC, NGFF All Stars Selected, Vido 99 FC, ECAS FC and Golden Intercontinental FC.
Also listed to feature in the competition, which will run from 8am to 4pm at the popular terrain owned by Federal Housing Authority are Flying Sports Academy, SC Heritage, Santana Boys FC, Festiko FC and Awori United.
The NGFF scribe told Sports247 that the organising committee decided to woo Onuachu as the competition’s sponsor based on the fact that he is the late coach’s biggest product and he contributed immensely in efforts to stabilise the grassroots football zealot when the illness that claimed his life started.
“We know that Paul Onuachu really spent a lot on Coach Osahon’s medical bills, and we thank him so much for his efforts. It’s a good example he gave for other players to always remember the coaches that brought them up.
“In the same vein, we are solemly appealing to him to kindly take up the bill for this carnival that we want to stage in honour of Coach Osahon, a man who gave all his life to promoting youth football.
“We have a budget of just one million naira to cover things like refreshments, snacks, water, organisational needs, logistics, fees for referees, awards and other necessities.
“I personally appeal to Onuachu to take up this responsibility and, by the special grace of God, he will be blessed more abundantly in return. Good health will continue to follow him and he will soar higher.
“I know him as a caring boy, who has even given donations to his community in Imo State, for which God will also reward him exceedingly. Injury will mot befall him and he will have a sound mind on the field all the time. Amen,” Pastor Oscar prayed.
