The Chairman of the FCT Football Association (FCT FA), Alhaji Adam Mouktar Mohammed, has reaffirmed the Association’s commitment to grassroots development describing the ongoing FCT FA Women’s Inter Area Council Football Tournament as a major platform for discovering, nurturing and promoting female football talents across the Federal Capital Territory.
Mouktar Mohammed, who made the declaration at the opening ceremony of the second edition of the competition, which brings together female teams representing all six Area Councils of the FCT, said the tournament was designed to strengthen the football ecosystem from the grassroots and provide young players with opportunities to develop their abilities rather than waiting for them to be discovered by clubs and scouts elsewhere.
The FA boss said female football is receiving the same level of grassroots attention as the male game noting that the FCT is blessed with a large pool of talented young girls who require the right platform to showcase their potential.
He said, “The competition will motivate players, coaches and the entire ecosystem as football is experiencing bottom up development. Female football needs talents, and the FCT is towing this direction because there are many of them in the Area Councils.
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“That is why the FA is taking the bull by the horns to make sure these talents are unearthed, nurtured and showcased to the world.
“We are not waiting for others to develop the players and then scout them. This competition will give them the opportunity to play, get developed and become part of the system. It is a developmental phase for young and potential laden players,” he said.
The FCT FA chairman also highlighted the wider social benefits of football saying the sport could help keep young people away from social vices while instilling discipline, courage, determination and sacrifice in them.
The Executive Chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Honourable Hulayat Motunrayo Omidiran, in her remarks, called for a wholesale rebuilding of women’s football in Nigeria, beginning with renewed investment in grassroots development following the Super Falcons’ failure to qualify for Brazil 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Omidiran, a former executive member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), said Nigeria’s failure to secure a place at the next Women’s World Cup should serve as a wake-up call for stakeholders to reassess the country’s women’s football development structure and return to the fundamentals of grassroots development.
She stated that the rebuilding requires more than short-term interventions, stressing the need for a coordinated developmental strategy that identifies talents early and provides them with quality coaching, facilities, competitions and clear pathways to professional football
“This is the time for us to rebuild women’s football in Nigeria. We need to go back to the grassroots and invest properly in the development of our girls.
“We need proper investment and a clear developmental strategy. We have to start from the grassroots, discover these girls early, nurture them and give them the right environment to grow.
“We need proper investment and a clear developmental strategy. We have to start from the grassroots, discover these girls early, nurture them and give them the right environment to grow.
“I want to appeal to Nigerians to remain calm. The authorities are discussing and looking at the necessary steps that need to be taken to rebuild our women’s football ecosystem,” Omidiran, the proprietor of the defunct Omidiran Babes, said.
Also speaking, a board member of FCT FA, Dr Pat Ajuma Ayegba, said the tournament was deliberately targeted at the grassroots because of the abundance of football talents in the Area Councils.
In the opening game played at the Area 3 Football Pitch, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) hammered their Gwagwalada counterparts by 7 goals to one to get the maximum three points.
