Sponsors from various walks of life have begun donating to Lagos State-based businessman, Suraj Oyewale, who organised a football match after bants about his football club being a team of electricians and carpenters.
Oyewale said his team will battle a selected set of his mutual on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.
PUNCH Online had earlier reported that Oyewale, popularly known as Sir J (J9), a football enthusiast and player, had called that his mutual should select players among themselves who are not professionals to play his side and win N5m if they defeat them in the match scheduled for Saturday.
“For those who mock my football videos and say my players are carpenters and electricians, I have a challenge. If you beat my team, take N5million as a prize. If you can’t beat my team, money gets returned to me. If you see a draw, go with a N1m prize. N4m gets returned to me. Players must be my followers or those who have doubted my football abilities. You have to show evidence,” he wrote.
He also noted that the idea behind the match was to prove to everyone that no team selected in a hurry without appropriate training would give optimal pitch performance.
Meanwhile, checks by our correspondent on Wednesday revealed that the First-Class graduate of Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University, known for regularly posting his scoring abilities during matches, has received sponsorships across boards with over 1000 people showing their interest in being part of the Twitter (anti-Jarus) team.
Among the individual sponsors are Micheal Taiwo, who donated N1 million; Dalu Igwe (N1m), CEO of Printivo, who donated pepper soup at the event; Malik Asiwaju, who donated 20 bags of sachet water; and Seye Dele, who donated the jerseys for the Twitter team. The corporate bodies include Scamore Nigeria, which donated N200,000 to Jarus for every goal scored, and Black Stallion Energy Drinks, which donated energy drinks for people at the event.
Speaking on the motivation behind the donation, both Micheal and the Scamore NG said it was due to Jarus’ leadership and outstanding personality.
“We are pleased to see how grassroots football generates enthusiasm and togetherness, and I want to support that.
“We want the ‘plumbers’ in Jarus FC to be motivated to win because they may not be on Twitter, but they should know many of us are rooting for them to win on Saturday. All in all, this is a good, fun event that has been a uniting force in the country.”
However, some people who were not on the list have begun to fault it, alleging that there was bias in the selection, which encompasses Twitter influencers and celebrities who are not Jarus’ mutual.
In his defence, Jarus said the short time needed to coordinate the match was behind the Twitter team coordinator’s selection of the people he had worked with.
He maintained that Osi Suave, JJ Omojuwa, and Dalu Egwi were the biggest banterers of his football abilities, but only one was available for the match.
The football enthusiast further begged everyone to sheath their swords as more people will play while acknowledging that some of the Twitter influencers on the list were good footballers who could withstand the pressure for his team.