BEVERLY HILLS, April 02, (THEWILL) – Nigeria has a strong Beach Soccer tradition that has led to the Super Sand Eagles, as the national team is nicknamed, making five appearances at the Beach Soccer World Cup after their first showing in 2006. Unlike in the traditional grass-pitch World Cup, the Sand Eagles have reached the quarter-finals twice in 2006, their debut, and again in 2011. Their strong international displays have led to a global ranking of 25.
On the continent, the Sand Eagles are reckoned as one of the champions, ranking fourth behind Senegal (global 10th), Morocco (19th) and Egypt (23rd). They have won the Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations twice, in 2007 and defended it with another 2009 triumph, out of eight appearances.
With all of these, the country could not boast of a league with a domestic competition in Beach Soccer. But, that is due to change as the maiden Beach Soccer League will kickoff this Easter weekend in the Elegushi and Landmark Beaches, in Lagos.
According to Suleiman Yahaya-Kwande, the Chairman of Nigeria Beach Soccer Association, this was made possible by the foresight and progressive leadership of the Amaju Pinnick-led Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Board. He categorised the development as part of Pinnick’s drive to develop football at the grassroots.
Kwande harped on the fact that the heavy backing from the NFF was solely responsible for the Easter kickoff of the beach league which will be coordinated by Mr Mahmud Hadejia, the President of the African Beach Soccer Union (ABSU), together with other Board Members of the Association.
Reliving how the success came about, the Chairman remarked: “This maiden edition of the Nigeria Beach Soccer League is a great achievement for the Amaju Pinnick-led Nigeria Football Federation. We are very excited that the beach soccer league will finally kicking off this weekend in Lagos during the Easter festivities.
“We have come a long way, to say the least, and the support given by the Amaju Pinnick-led Board has been tremendous in achieving this feat.”
Noting the catching up Nigeria was doing, he said: “We are equally very proud to have our own league as Nigeria now joins the likes of Senegal and Ghana who have their leagues and use them to properly prepare for international competitions. When we look at the prospects and rewards this league would bring, we cannot but continue to thank the NFF Board for making it possible.”
Kwande, who is a Board member of the NFF, finished on an enthusiastic note: “We have had made some beach soccer impacts internationally even without a league being in place. Now think of what we can achieve with our own league. We are indeed very excited about this. All is set and we are looking forward to a successful maiden edition in the great city of Lagos.”
The maiden edition of the League will feature eight teams from Kebbi, Kaduna, Kwara and Edo Beach Soccer Clubs, as well as others from Lagos and Anambra State.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
