Angels football club and Royaltoms football club emerged champions of the 2024 edition of the Atlas football competition

The competition organised by Alzico LTD is part of its social responsibility in discovering talented footballers for both domestic clubs and the national teams 

The grassroots football tournament featured male and female final in different age categories

The competition which had over 50 football clubs from across Lagos State compete for honors availed the participants a platform to showcase their skills 

STORIES24 had an exclusive interview with the managing Director of ALZICO LTD Abraham santhosh on the Atlas football competition which has ran for 11 years 

WOULD YOU SAY THE ESSENCE OF PUTTING THE COMPETITION TOGETHER HAS  BEEN ACHIEVED  OR IT HAS NOT YOUR TARGET YET?

Great. We are talking about  history. Our company, as you know, is a 57 year old company in Nigeria and, this property where we stay is our own. We have more than 40 properties in the country and we moved in here only in 2010, you know. Almost 14 years back, we moved in here. Those time there was a time this Lagos Badagry expressway was getting built and, you know the road with 10 lane road and railway in between almost was a playground. You know, children were playing on the ground without proper clothing, proper shoes But the skills were there within them. So when we moved in here, as a corporate social responsibility, we thought let us give them a small support , you know to bring out the talent within them. That’s actually how this Atlas Cup started.

So, this year’s  edition was the 11th edition of the Atlas Cup. And, I believe, we are on course. Because this year, 2,000 children played in this tournament. 2,000 children played for almost 4 months. You know, 64 men’s team, 16 women’s team

All from the  locality, maybe in this Lagos state. The Badagry divisional Football Association chairman osondu martins says the biggest tournament of Lagos played for 4 months. It is more than the tournament. It’ is an opportunity for the children to express themselves we are having a scouting tournament in February.

We are going to bring scouts from Europe. They are going to come and see this football tournament for  3, 4 days and select players who will  travel  across the globe. Some will be traveling to Europe. Some will be going to India even in Nigeria into different clubs there.

So, if you ask me, did you really reach success? No. But we are really on the course. This tournament has been a real success . We are able to identify and able to give opportunity for the grassroots football players to come together .

YOU JUST MENTIONED THAT THERE IS GOING TO BE A SCOUTING PROGRAM IN FEBRUARY. WHAT IS IT WITH ATLAS AND FOOTBALL? ARE YOU LOOKING AT HAVING A FOOTBALL CLUB THAT WILL PLY THEIR TRADE IN THE NNL OR NPFL VERY SOON?

Basically, our chairman Mr Varnavas Varnava is from Europe. He loves sports . He has been to all editions of the Olympics since 2000 

You know, even though he is an European, he represents Nigeria. You know, I know I’m here for 25 years. So I know in all the past years, whenever Nigeria was playing in the World Cup, he’s part of that game. He also sponsored  some athletes of the Cyprus team in the Olympics

He is bringing  some scouts from Europe and they are going to select the best talents from the scouting programme and give them opportunity to ply their trade in top clubs across Europe and Africa 

I KNOW ALSO THAT YOU PROMISED EXCEPTIONAL TALENTS IN THIS TOURNAMENT EMPLOYMENT IN YOUR COMPANY. HAS THAT FALLEN THROUGH? OR IS IT STILL HAPPENING? 

Of course , We are a company, we as a group, we employ 5,000 employees. Some of the players in the past editions of the tournament  are now part of our company. This time, even out of the 64 teams, one team was our own team even though they failed in the 1st round . That means, the players who played in the past becomes part of the company’s employees, and we allow them to continue, what they are doing.

Basically, we make a open declaration. Any player who plays  in the Atlas cup  We give them opportunity to move to the next level.

NIGERIA HAS ISSUES GETTING IT RIGHT IN AGE GRADE  TOURNAMENTS, FOR SOME YEARS BACK WE WERE DOING WELL  BUT IN RECENT YEARS WE HAVE NOT GOTTEN FAR. THE CHAN CHAMPIONSHIP. HOW CAN THIS TOURNAMENT HELP TO THIS REGARD ? 

Actually, even though we say we are supporting the  Atlas Cup, the real Atlas Cup is organised by the Lagos State coaches association. The Coaches Association are the ones who spot these talents for the Nigeria football federation NFF

When this tournament of 5 months happened, even though we say, oh, we did this tournament, it is the coaches association. You know, we will also support them in organising seminars to bring the coaches up state date with the latest techniques of coaching 

Nigeria has the talent. When you even talk of coaches, they are really talented people. Recently, they have brought some people from abroad to train only coaches

We Not only sponsor football championships we also  support to coaches so that they themselves will be trained for that skill level of coaching goes to another level that they’ll will pass on to the children who are playing on the field 

LETS LOOK AT THE SUPER EAGLES, I KNOW YOU ARE VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT FOOTBALL AND YOU HAVE WIDE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT FOOTBALL. NIGERIA IS STRUGGLING TO GET THE TICKET TO THE WORLD CUP, WHAT CAN THE COUNTRY DO TO GET THE TICKET TO THE WORLD CUP HAVING BEEN KNOCKED OUT IN THE LAST WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS BY GHANA?

Football is like a religion in Nigeria. You know, you can take a Nigerian out of Nigeria, but you cannot take football out of a Nigerian.

God has gifted  Nigerian with the skill. You know, you cannot hide talents. The Only thing is the right forums to express themselves. Football is not just a game.

It’s a way of expressing what you are. When a gyms are getting right forum to express themselves, that means they get right forum to play, the skills will be noticed. 

The success of a team  happens when the 11 players come together under the guidance of the right coach who can coach  them the way to play , the team performs like a dance program. You know, it’s something like a group dance program. Everybody has to dance and Nigeria has that skill.

So I strongly believe in Nigeria. Why? The skill nobody poses. I sometimes make a statement, the Nigerian style of football is very difficult to find any where in the globe.

The European football or the Latin American football you see, they are trained for it. We play or we match with them or we exceed them with the talent inborn talent inside us. So, it’s only a matter of time.  The days to come ahead, Nigeria has a great future.

when we say the talents are there. There should be real people on the top who can  identify the right players , the Nigeria Football federation has to come out with the right strategies to bring the right talent across the nation because it’s not meant for, some part of the nation to play.

All the skills has to come together, and there should be somebody who can identify this and this will make a victory. That victory is the victory of Nigeria. It’s only a matter of time. 

ASIDE THE EVENTS IN FEBRUARY WHICH IS A SCOUTING PROGRAMME . YOU JUST HAD THE 11TH EDITION, WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT IN THE 12TH EDITION?

For the 12th edition. We are looking at using a bigger facility like the onikan stadium or campos square to give the players enough space to exhibit their talent 

The finals for this year’s edition was played at a small stadium close to the office in orile and it’s made it difficult for the players to really give their best 

We don’t collect gate fees from fans to come watch our tournaments . W e need fans to come and watch beautiful football 

Nigerians are good and we know how to express ourselves. Rather than expressing in wrong areas  football is a way that we can express ourselves great.