Nigeria’s vice-president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has pledged that the Federal Government is 100 per cent in support of the country’s bid to host next year’s FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in four venues across the nation, Lagos, Benin City, Asaba and Uyo, megasportsarena.com reports.
Osinbajo disclosed this during a visit by the FIFA inspection team to the Presidential Villa, Abuja; with an assurance from Nigerian’s number two citizen that the country will put in every effort possible to ensure that the 10th edition of the Female Youth Mundial will be a huge success.
He spoke after Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, Amaju Melvin Pinnick gave a round down of what he called the array of good facilities present in the four proposed host cities, citing stadia, training sites, hotels, hospitals, road network, security and seamless air travel.
Pinnick traced the history of the competition, in which Nigeria’s team, The Falconets, have been ever-present, during which the like of Asisat Oshoala, Desire Oparanozie and Rasheedat Ajibade were discovered, and all are now leading lights of African women football.
He stressed that those products are known globally, and are also giving back to the next generation of young girls through social foundations and direct investment in the Nigeria economy.
While highlighting the gains Nigeria has got over the years from the team’s participation in the U20 WWC, Pinnick also thanked FIFA for considering the country as a strong contender to host next year’s edition, and went on to applaud all the governors for receiving trhe inspection team well.
Pinnick revealed: “We had warm welcome from their Excellencies the Governors and people of the four States.
“(They) had worked tirelessly to put in place the appropriate structure to host a successful and memorable tournament.
“Hosting the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in 2020 will leave a lot of legacies beyond the physical; it will impact on humanity.”
In his response, Osinbajo promised that Nigeria’s federal government will mobilize every apparatus to ensure a successful hosting of the 2020 event, while affirming that extra work will be carried out in the areas of infrastructure, security and other logistics.
He also stated that President Muhammadu Buhari is an ardent football lover, who is equally excited about Nigeria hosting the tournament and is in full support of the bid.
While thanking Pinnick, the NFF leadership and the bid committee for putting forward a strong bid for Nigeria and their efforts in ensuring the FIFA delegation got a cordial stay in the country, Osinbajo submitted that the federal government sees beyond the face value of just hosting.
Osinbajo stated: “We are actually excited with the prospect of hosting the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in 2020.
“Government interest in hosting is beyond commercial; football is a measure of unity and well –being of our people as diverse as we are.
“For us, football is a unifying force. The Government of Nigeria guarantees to back the bid 100 per cent.”
