Come August 28, the Sam Okwaraji Memorial Tournament designed for the support of footballers with injuries would kick off in Lagos. The tournament which would be for Under-20 amateur Footballers, would also take place in five other zones across the country and end late in October.

This was disclosed yesterday in Abuja by Patrick Okwaraji, – elder brother of the late Sam Okwaraji and Chairman of Sam Okwaraji Foundation- as part of activities to mark the 22nd anniversary of the death of the late football legend.

Late Okwaraji

The late Sam Okwaraji was a Super Eagles player who died on the field of play at the National Stadium in Lagos on August 12, 1989 while the national team was playing Angola in a World Cup qualification match for the 1990 world Cup.

He further stated that the Lagos Zonal championships would be concluded on September 3, after which the tournament would shift to other zones in the country.

The tournament would later culminate in a four-nation championship which would involve Under-20 footballers from England, Belgium, Spain and one other African country apart from Nigeria.

The elder Okwaraji further stated that the four-nation tournament is designed to expose Nigerian youngsters to garner international football experience.

He further stated that teams that would participate in the tournament would be rewarded adequately with cash and trophies.

Okwaraji stated that the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF has already endorsed the tournament and has approved the use of federal stadia in different parts of the country for the championships.

Throwing more light on how the tournament would be organized, Okwaraji stated that the preliminaries would hold among states across the six zones before the finals which would involve champions from the zones.

He explained that that proceeds from the tournament would be used to support injured both serving and retired Nigerian footballers .