Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has reaffirmed his commitment to sports development, most especially football, in the state.
Aregbesola, speaking at the Government House when the former Super Eagles gaffer, Clemence Westerhof; FIFA Agent, Harald Wilhelm; and the organizers of the Osun U-20 Talent Hunt (Walcat/Sam D’Or Entertainment, Ministry of Youths, Sports and Special Needs, and Osun State Football Association) paid him a courtesy visit
He said: “I will urge you to work actively to ensure raw talents are discovered from this tournament, so that the abundant talents can be future world class stars.
“I want to tell you (Westerhof) that you have done the state proud, you are a principal developer of modern football, it is my joy and gratitude that the age you are hunting for is useful, and I will give you the necessary support to make this tournament more glamorous. I recognize Westerhof as the major contributor to Nigeria football development and that is why I tag you as the father of Nigeria football.”
Aregbesola cautioned the organizers to seek for parental consent of players that are under aged and also urged them to advise the players to take education serious while playing football.
Speaking earlier before Aregbesola, the Chairman of the Osun State Football Association, Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi, stated that the tournament is staged due to the exploit of Prime FC in the 2012 Federation Cup and the qualification of Team Osun male and female football team qualification for the forthcoming National Sports Festival, which he said is a clear evidence that there are abundant talents in Osun State.
Westerhof and Harald said they are impressed with the players they have identified so far.
They said 24 exceptional players will be selected and trained by Westerhof for playing tour in Holland, Italy and Belgium next year April/May and they stated that they want Osun to be the cradle of talents.
“I will select the best players and make a team out of it, and the team will be invited to go for 14-day European tour, we have saw some better players around I have already watched 8 matches and picked 14 players,” Westerhof said.
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