Above 50 Football Championship - An Innovative tournament for the Veteran Footballer in Lagos Nigeria
The Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium Surulere Lagos came alive on Friday, July, 28, 2023 following the storming of the venue by many ex-internationals and former national team players who came to be part of the maiden ‘Above 50’ football championship Lagos
Above 50 championship is novel, a tournament for "All Stars." an innovative concept aimed at making the elderly ones in the society have a platform to entertain fans, burn out calories, network and discuss business ideas as well as keep fit.
As people get older, there's a kind of disconnect and "everyman to his own tent," which bring about loneliness and perhaps depression to some persons.There are less and less healthy platforms to ease stress, network and still feel relevant to society.
We also discovered that too many people are very busy and don’t have time for exercise and relaxation and that’s why the life span of an average African is between 40-45 years. This tournament is aimed at creating an avenue for the elderly people to relax, network, discuss business ideas and reduce stress
Speaking before performing the official kick off, sponsor/ organiser of the tournament. Ambassador Dr. Edward Olutoke reminded the players that the tournament is not about winning by all means but to network, share ideas and reconnect with old friends.
However, the overall champions of the competition will go home with N5 million while the first and second runners-up will be N3 million and N1 million richer while there will also be other attractive prizes for participating teams.
“I welcome all of you to this important tournament which will be used to show the youths that they are not the only ones that can play football”, began Olutoke who doubles as the President of Ikeja Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture.
” We also want to use this tournament to share business ideas, network and make our senior citizens come out of boredom and that’s why it’s necessary that we must avoid rough play or hard tackles”, he stressed.
"We are no longer young, we must not deceive ourselves, some us suffer from hypertension or other illment associated with old age. the aim of this championship is first and foremost, to create a platform for relaxation and re-connection of old friends, teammates and colleagues etc, so trade softly while you play" he admolishes.
In his own remarks, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the tournament Dr. Rafiu Ladipo was full of praises to the sponsor for coming up with the noble initiative which he described as the first of it’s kind in the World.
He was optimistic that in the nearest future, the Above 50 football competition will be a global tournament just as he announced that countries like Brazil and Mexico have already expressed their willingness to play Nigeria in the above 50 game.
