By Solomon Nwoke
BUOYED by the need to reposition the game of football in the state, the Lagos state government has initiated a Junior league for all its local government areas for the Under -20s..

The event which kicks off at Teslim Balogun Stadium Surulere on September 18 will be competed for by 58 teams in the preliminary round.

The competition which runs for nine months is an initiative of all the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas in Lagos State

According to the Executive Secretary of the Lagos Junior League organising body, Taofik Bello, all the teams would be grouped into four geographical zones in the qualifiers, with matches taking place at the Agege Stadium, Onikan Stadium, Legacy pitch and Campos Square.

He said the top five teams from each of the Four zones would make up the 20 teams qualified to play in the Premier league proper kicking off in July 2011 while the second five top teams in each of the zones will play in League One, League Two and League Three respectively.

Bello explained that each of the local council and the state government donated the money to the tune of N1 billion to run the league assuring that management of the league and security have adequately been arranged for

He emphasized that objective of the competition is to produce teams modeled after Arsenal and Manchester United in the English Premiership and also to enable their matches to be played on their home ground for the next season

The organisers however said that a major criterion for the players is that they must have an educational background and must not exceed the age of 20.

He said, “we are assuring our spectators and players of maximum security as adequate budget has been approved. Also the competition would be one of the best. This would be the first of its kind in Nigeria”.

In his remarks, the competition’s consultant, Roger Appleby, emphasized on the age. He said that cheats would be sanctioned. A total of 1,740 players are expected to play 392 games