Champions Cup Has Come To Stay – Emeka Godson Affirms

Chief Organizer of the just-concluded Champions Cup tournament, Emeka Godson has labeled the competition as being a ‘Success’, saying that the event lived up to its expectation.

G12Fc on Sunday at the Soccer Temple Stadium in Agege, Lagos State, defeated Soccer Cardinals Fc 2-0 to emerge champions of the competition.

In an extensive interview with Sports 247, Chief Organizer of the event, Emeka Godson immediately after the final on Sunday took some time out to express his delight on the just concluded tournament, stating that the event was like a dream, which has now manifested into a reality. The outspoken Organizer of the event spoke about the highest goalscorer of the competition (Umah), hailing the all-round performance of the prolific striker, as well as stating how next year’s event will shape up to look like and how many teams could participate in the tournament.

*The Champions Cup has come to stay?

Honestly, it has been a dream all through and today, it has been a reality. We are very happy because that’s part of the project that I have conceived as a Grassroot Football person. We want to take it one after the other. It started as a joke and now the final has been played and the winner has emerged. We never believed that it was going to be at this reach.

*It’s a Scouting Program, from the beginning to the end, would you say it lived up to expectation?

Yes, I would say, even though it’s a work in progress like I told you before, It’s a tournament that holds twice every year, so that we can scout for players to move out to abroad in every window and being the first edition, there are things that they have advised us that we need to improve on, which is the tactical part of the game, which our player doesn’t really have. So in collaboration with them, they will give us some training ideas and they will be coming with their coaches as well, so anytime we want to have this tournament next time, they will come two weeks before that time and all that will participate will have the benefits of knowing what the event entails, so this is some of the packages, but for this one, it was successful.

*Talking about a successful tournament, how do we provide the facilities for these players which the agents are looking for?

To be honest, Football has been part of my dream. I didn’t just become a football administrator by accident, I have seen the lapses during our playing days. I know that it’s just the survival of the fittest things are not in place, no equipment, no nothing, the boys are on their own working. Those that made it, the likes of Kanu Nwankwo and Co are just because they went to the World Cup and other things, then the world saw the little thing they have, they bring them in and enhance them. But what it takes to produce a world-class player, we don’t have it in Africa, moreover in Nigeria. So my company wants to do our bit because we know that Nigerian football is lacking, that’s why we want to come in, help, bring some equipment, train some coaches so that they can know what it takes to play football, so as to impact it to these young lads.

*Your Club happens to be the team that the top scorer of the tournament (Umah) emerged from, how do you feel about it?

Great, We just came back from a tournament in Abeokuta and he won the highest goalscorer there and now in the Champions Cup tournament, he has won the highest goal scorer again. That’s to show you the amount of quality this young man has. We will try to correct and help him to be that superstar because what I am seeing in him, is not just a player for Nigeria, or for Africa, am seeing him competing with the big boys in the world in the next 3 to 4 year, if we are able to give him the right thing and support to play football, he will also be one the best players in the world in years to come.

*Are we expecting more participating teams in the competition next year?

Yes, as I told you, I had enemies in this industry. A lot of club owners who came to watch the final said to me, ‘You are organizing this tournament, you didn’t invite us’, I tried to explain to them that we have put the fliers out there for people to come, not just people to come, also we are screening teams that we want to bring in. We are looking at teams that know what it takes to play and play good football because it is a live game. Each and every game that has been played in this tournament has been shown live by “SPORTS 247”, so you can’t bring mediocre to come and run around, but I know that by next edition, it may increase to 12 teams.