Organisers unveil plans for Spires 5-Aside 2025 edition
Organisers of the Spires 5-Aside Naija Street Soccer Tournament have announced key changes in the 2025 edition of the tournament.
This was made known at a Stakeholders Conference organised to kick start activities ahead of the second season of the grassroots football development initiative.
The conference held at the CIBN Building in Victoria Island Lagos, had in attendance football coaches, referees, representatives from the respective Divisional Football Association in Lagos, members of the Lagos State Football Association, as well members of the media led by the guild of sports editors.
Also present at the event was the president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria Prof Pius Olanrewaju, the Registrar Akin Morakinyo, and the Chairman of Kainosedge Consulting Limited, Laoye Jayeola.
The convener of the event and initiator of the Spires 5-Aside Naija Street Soccer Tourney Dr Bankole Allibay, gave an overview of the maiden edition of the tournament held in 2024 which he described as highly successful, as he further gave a projection for the 2025 edition.
Allibay, in his presentation, said, “40 teams from the five divisions in Lagos would compete in the divisional stages of the second season, with eight teams expected to register from each division. Three teams from the respective divisions will advance to the state tournament and knockout rounds leading up to group play and the grand finale. The five diversions are Epe, Lagos Island, Ikorodu, Badagry, and Ikeja.”
According to Bankole, players above the age of 21 are no longer eligible to register for the new season.
“Only players between the ages of 16-21 will now be allowed to participate in the tournament with a targeted approach of developing young talents,” he added.
“The world is now interested in younger footballers, hence we have decided that the focus should be on developing the younger talents, we have seen clubs even outside the country who have shown interest in some of the younger players from the last edition, so, we hope to leverage on this by creating a channel of development for the young stars.”
As part of the changes in the 2025 edition, the tournament will offer a higher prize money for the winning teams, recognising both individual and team achievements on the field.
The kick-off date for the new season as well as the prize money and other incentives will be announced in March.
