A Sweden-based footballer, Ebuka Martins Moses has emerged Nigerian representative of MSport Link Afrika, with a mission to unearth hidden targets that can be marketed abroad by the agency.
Ebuka told sports247.ng as much on Friday at lagos National Stadium, and added that the project is not just for football, but sports in general.
The goalkeeper-turned-midfielder, who still plays actively for a lower division club in Sweden, said the project plans to run as a centre of excellence in Lagos, Abuja and Aba.
Ebuka, who starred for FC Ebedei of Shagamu, Westerlo Academy of Lagos and 36 Lion FC of Lagos before travelling abroad, said he is bringing all the experience he gained playing in Nigeria to bear on the new duty assigned him.
The product of British Council-sponsored Community Action Through Sport (CATS) stated that the unique aspects of the new project is that it wll pool talented players from various clubs across the country to come under their umbrella, with links provided for them free of charge.
Ebuka said: “Football brings hope, and I’m bringing it back home, but I cannot do it alone.
“I am happy that I have support from people in Sweden who believe there are talents in Africa, and they are eager to help those talents.
“We are the first project in Nigeria with two brands of sponsors directly from Sweden, and we have them right there on our kit.
“We already have two supporting us, but we expect more to come. We expect more foreign partners, in Sweden, Germany, Spain, England, and even in Nigeria.
“We want Nigerians kids to live there dreams, we want to help them get their potentials abroad, but we will not charge them any money to help them do it.
“I am happy that I played the game in this country before I traveled abroad. I played under top men of football – Churchill Oliseh at Ebedie, Dosu Joseph at Westerlo Academy and Alhaji Gafaar at 36 Lion FC.
“These are renowned men of developing talents and making a success of it for their clubs, the country, and the families of those kids they are helping. I want to follow them and correct where they went wrong.
“We will do this by bringing talents from various clubs in Nigeria. We will link them with the right agents and expose them to standard competitions.
“It is project that is bigger than me. It’s a life style, it’s a legacy. We want to answer the question: How do we help young talents to achieve their potentials.
“It’s not just for them to play football and make money from it. Do they enjoy playing the game, and what ways do they want to positively affect their communities with it. It’s this and lots more we want to do.”
