A fast-growing youth development outfit, FROLTISH Football Academy will have to find a new training ground, after Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) took possession of their current base at ‘Olympic Field,’ near The Lord’s Chosen Church’s headquarters at Ijesha Express Bus Stop, Lagos.
Sports247 gathered that FROLTISH Academy and several other youth clubs have lost the privilege of using for free the vastly popular space off Oshodi-Mile 2 Expressway, after the NOC formally reclaimed it this week.
Before now, the vast parcel of land, which produced two Super Eagles’ former players – John Ugochukwu Ogu and Ebenezer Oluwafemi Ajilore – had been used for training sessions, friendly matches and competitions by several clubs and grassroots players over the years.
Among the clubs that had in the past made use of the ground popularly known as ‘Olympic Field’ for free were Super Stars, Mighty Sparrow and Pison Divine Royals, while two Italy-based brothers recently launched FROLTISH Football Academy there as well.
However, the days of free usage of the open ground are bound to come to an end, as the NOC has moved in to formally take possession of the land and commence construction of a housing estate that had been on hold for several years.
This was disclosed by NOC president, Engineer Habu Gumel, who stated during a land breaking ceremony that the area is officially known as ‘Olympic Estate’ and will house the proposed Olympafrica Centre in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos.
He added that the project will be a residential development venture on 6.7-hectares allocated to the NOC by Lagos State Government in 1990, as the committee has taken over the ground that has been freely used for grassroots football informally.
The NOC president disclosed further that 40 percent of the land is dedicated to sports development and facilities through Olympafrica Centre, while the remaining 60 is set aside for the Olympic Estate, a build-and-sell residential sub-tropia.
Facilities commissioned at the site include a cultural centre, multi-purpose plateau, covered spectators’ pavilion, changing rooms, conveniences, security post, borehole with overhead tanks, full-sized football pitch and eight-lane athletics track.
Gumel appealed to teams, coaches, players and fans affected by the NOC’s formal take over, even as he explained that their delayed possession of the land was due to environmental and funding challenges that had long delayed its development.
“Over the last few decades, successive NOC administrations have not been able to engage reliable developers to develop the land. This centre had been available for the use of the teeming youthful population of Amuwo Odofin,” Gumel noted.
