By Chigozie Chukwuleta
Beach Soccer came to Anambra, saw and conquered. It was a four days of intense game, fun and entertainment. In this interview, the Coordinator, Nigeria Beach Soccer League, Alhaji Mahmoud Hadejia described the game as a family and gender friendly sport. The beach soccer supremo talked about the growth of the game in Nigeria and need for support.
Excerpts…..
Q. It has been four days of intensive beach soccer here in Nnewi, tell us your experience.
A. Well first of all let me start by thanking God for giving us this very wonderful opportunity to have the second round of the Nigeria Beach Soccer League here in Nnewi for the very first time, the game is coming to the South East. We are so happy the games have gone on well and we are ended well being the final phase before we get to the super four. Let me also appreciate and congratulate the Anambra Beach Soccer association led by my able brother who has really done well Prof Victor Madugwu with his team, I must say they really hosted well Anambra has hosted well. The great people of Anambra State has shown a lot of support to this game from when we arrived. I must also commend the media specially for covering the games from even before we came here until this very end. I think it’s been excited, we have all been having fun as you’ve seen. Let me not forget His Royal Highness the Igwe of Nnewi who received us when we arrived and we’ve seen also the crown prince who was here with us and a lot of dignitaries, Chief Innoson of Innoson motors. So I must say, it’s been wonderful we want to come back again next year to Nnewi to have these games. Right now the focus is the Super Four after this very successful event. So yeah we thank God for everything.
Q. The tentative date for the Super Four is July, how would you describe the quality of play of this round compared to other rounds?
A. I think we’ve seen wonderful play, great improvement in the technical ability of both the players and officials, the both have been great. We have seen a lot of improvement in the Nigeria Beach Soccer League. I keep telling people this is one of the fastest growing Beach Soccer League in the whole world, I know what I am saying and I know what is going on in other climes. Kudos to the players, officials and most importantly the technical officials of the Nigeria Beach Soccer League for continuously improving and advising the teams on how to improve their technical know how. We’re calling on the NFF to look into this league and resume the Nigerian Super Sand Eagles so that we can be competing in the African and international cups. The next FIFA beach soccer would Cup is arriving in Africa next year and we have an opportunity for Nigeria to participate in the next AFCON later this year. The registration is open, it’s left for the NFF and all of us to come together so that we can at least reward these players for what they have been doing for four years now. I do not think they will disappoint us.
Q. How would you describe the growth of beach soccer in Nigeria?
A. Well I’d say so far so good it’s been gradual and very interesting. It has been long we have been calling for the Beach Soccer League since the League arrived in Africa and in Nigeria way back in 2005 when FIFA and CAF introduced the game. Other countries have been doing the Beach Soccer League but Nigeria only gets to participate in continental, FIFA world cups and other international tournaments. Like I said the good thing now is we have the league that is on going for the fourth year and the fourth season consistently and improving both on the technical aspect and the organizational aspect and also the teams in terms of the structure of the teams and also the players in fact the general management of the game completely and I will gladly say that Africa and the world is taking note of what is going on here.
Q. Sponsorships and partnerships are what actually help in making competitions like this thrive. How have you been able to handle that for this past four years?
A. Well it has not been easy but if you have been following the beach soccer, even before we started the league we organized tournaments across the country in various centers like Lagos, Kebbi state where I introduced the game. We have been hosting annual Salah tournaments during the Salah festivities and also local competitions. Now Kebbi for the fourth season also has concluded the local league there. In Abuja, I remember some couple of years ago we have been trying to do that and also we engage sponsors and partners including the media. Like I said it’s not been easy but we already have sponsors that for a very long time now have confidence and trust in the Beach Soccer brand. If you go to Kebbi now you’ll find that this is about the third year that the Wacot Rice has been sponsoring the local team both for national and international tournaments. We also see in other teams like the Kwara team I think Bluewater is a sponsor and the likes. For the league, we also partner with state governments. For example the Kebbi state and Kaduna state governments particularly have been supporting the league and other sponsors that usually come on board. But we are also glad to say that when we arrived Nnewi we met the likes of Innoson Motors CEO, chief Innocent who gladly said “Look we have seen what you guys are doing, this is wonderful. Let us work together we are open for business as regards this beach soccer”, so we agreed on a partnership and we’ll be giving more details on the partnership in coming weeks.
Q. You have mentioned Kebbi a number of times, how do you intend to reach other states of the federation for possible replication of what exists in Kebbi
A. We are here now in Anambra. This is just one good example. We have gone to other states across the country, we have gone to Abia, Akwa Ibom, just to introduce this game. But I must be honest Anambra is different, Nnewi in particular has been wonderful. This is the first time Nnewi is hosting this kind of national competition of this magnitude. We have some of the best teams in Nigeria here and it just looks like Nnewi has been hosting every now and then. Everyone is saying look Coordinator please we need to come back again to Anambra State, that is what we want to see. This game is open to the whole of the country, whoever is interested my number is there 24/7 and you can also reach us through the other officials we will come and support you but kudos to Anambra State.
Q. Is there a difference in technicalities between Beach Soccer and regular Soccer?
A. Well there is a lot of difference but also again a lot of similarities. This is football, the only thing is the 11 aside football is played on grass and it has a bigger pitch with 11 players while the beach soccer is played on sand and is played barefoot with five players each on each team which makes it 10 players on the pitch of play. I think these are the differences, the goal posts, the balls, the corner flags and the people officiating the game they are the same people doing the regular football. The same with the players, they play football and they play beach soccer but for now I think they are more interested in doing beach soccer because it is their passion and they have made it a profession now and that is what we want to see. It’s not just football football, we all love football and it has a long history but there are other sports we can engage our youths in and thank God we are doing it now for the fourth year and we will keep going, we are not going to stop.
Q. In the next 5-10 years, what are your expectations for beach soccer?
A. For beach soccer to be played in all the states, all the local governments, in villages. I keep telling people, beach soccer has been part of us. Every footballer that you know around male or female started playing barefoot in their own local communities and most of these pitches are sandy, that is beach soccer. So it is part of us, it’s just that now we have modernized it, we have good structure and introduced some technicalities but beach soccer has been part of us since the beginning. We all played beach soccer one way or the other.
Q. Any word to government and corporate bodies towards developing the game?
A. Continue the support. We tell the corporations that we are not just seeking for support, we will also give you good value. If you have been here for the past couple of days you will know what I am talking about. The adverts are there, these games are streamed live on Facebook and other media channels, the whole world knows what is going on in Anambra State. So if you’re a partner and a sponsor of this event it gives you a lot of mileage that going somewhere else might not give you. We know there are other sports but for the beach soccer it is unique. We have a partnership with the global body called beach soccer worldwide, everything we do they put it out there. So for us, if you want you come we’ll give you good value and you also support. It is also part of youth engagement. For the beach soccer I keep telling people whether it’s the male playing or the female everyone is involved. Beach Soccer is a family and gender friendly sport as you have witnessed for yourself.
Q. Do you have plans for female league or female tournament?
A. Again I must commend Anambra for this, last year when we came to inaugurate the Anambra Beach Soccer association there was an exhibition game for the female and I think it is one of it’s kind. I know Lagos has been doing something but it is something that is on the drawing board we are working on it. Not just in Nigeria here, myself being the president of the African Beach Soccer it is part of what we are pushing for. We have a department for women development for Beach Soccer and we are going to push it all out. You will come back to me to say that I said this and women beach soccer is something that will come to life very soon in Nigeria.
Q. At the beginning of the tournament the Anambra Sports Commission Chairman promised to replicate this in the local governments, would that be the level of interest you think that state governments should have in this game.
A. Personally, I think it is a big opportunity for the ANSG to leverage on. Already the Anambra Beach Soccer Association has done well by introducing this game to the locals here so it’s a big opportunity for the government to take the initiative. We already have Kebbi state and Kaduna who have really embraced this game. We have a sitting beach soccer stadium in Kaduna and we have the Kebbi team who are number 1 in Nigeria and Africa for 3 years. So it’s left for the state to do the needful and have a local league and introduce it to school games as well.
