The Managing Director of Super Sports, Felix Awogu has backed the Super Eagles to do well at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, just as he promised Nigerian football fans live viewership of all the matches.
“We will deploy every resource because I know Nigeria will do well. We have a generation of new players, with the right philosophy and the right state of mind. They are youthful and a few experienced ones. It is going to be a great tournament for us and the timing is going to be perfect for Nigerians to sit back and enjoy the best of football. Supersport delivers the best content which anybody can be proud of. We will be well prepared and I hope we do very well in Russia.
Awogu, also throws more light on the idea behind The Let’s Play Initiative. “The initiative is not only about the talent. If you look at the current situation in Nigeria, a lot of children are becoming obese and suffering illnesses that are typically for adults. The major objective of the initiative is to get children out and for them to play. In the last two years, we have reached over two to three million children in Nigeria because one of our driving philosophies is football. If you give out one soccer ball, it doesn’t stay with that person because you will have to engage other kids.
“That has been our strategy. In the last six months, we have given out over 10,000 soccer balls to children in Nigeria. We have partnered with a couple of states like Ondo, Edo, Kwara, Lagos and Anambra States. The governor of Anambra State participated actively and he engaged with a lot of children and helped distribute soccer balls. It is something we are very proud of and happy. If we can deliver and children are leaving their houses to come out and play, we will be helping to prevent a lot of health crisis,†he said.
Asked if there are plans by SuperSports to ensure that the dreams of some of the talents discovered with The Lets Play Initiative does not end at the grassroots.
He added, “We are not a football club. We are a broadcast outfit and we bring in a couple of ex-internationals to support us and help us activate the initiative. So if they find a talent, why not, but we will have to liaise with the parents of the child to see if they are willing to take the child to the next level or not but major focus is to get children playing again.
“For us there is nothing like giving back to the children and we are very grateful to millions of Nigerians who have been part of the MultiChoice family, both DStv and GOtv. So if this is some of the little things we give back, why not? Help them for health care, give them a few kits and it will be in their memories for years and years to come.”
