The Director-General of the Lagos State Sports Commission, Mr Adewunmi Ogunsanya, has disclosed the secret behind Lagos State’s successful hosting of the just-ended 2016 CAF Beach Soccer Cup of Nations (AFCON). According to Ogunsanya, the success stems from the passion of the state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, to bring regional and international championships to the state, his passion to integrate sports with tourism, hospitality and entertainment. And his passion to develop sports in the state and determination to make Lagos the hub of sports in the African continent, those are the combination of various activities that endeared him to accept to host the Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations, that is the driving force behind the successful hosting of the event.
Adewunmi noted that, he was delighted by the assessment of the officials of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) which gave the Lagos State government a pass mark on the hosting of the five-day tournament.
“True to the rating of CAF, our team in the Local Organising Committee (LOC) which was carefully selected has done excellently well. The facilities and the general organisation were fantastic. Throughout the duration of the competition, there was no casualty, everything done flowed seamlessly into each other with no friction. All activities were channelled together. There was no complaint and the players were very happy.
“The other aspects of the competition also went well, the boat cruise and the bus tour all went well. It was an excellent competition and we are indeed very proud to host the championship.”
He assured that if the opportunity comes again for Lagos to host such a championship in the nearest future, the state would go for it, as the structure put in place by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to host regional and international championship would readily accommodate such international competitions.
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