Barcelona To Establish Its First African Football Academy In Lagos

Spanish football club, Barcelona, has announced that it will be setting up its first football academy on the African continent in Lagos State. The Lagos state governor,

Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, on Monday welcomed the decision of football giant to establish its first football academy in Africa in Lagos and also pledged the maximum support of the government in ensuring the successful take off of the project.

Governor Ambode, who spoke at the Lagos House in Ikeja while receiving senior management staff of the football club, said he was delighted with the development, as it was in sync with his administration’s philosophy for sports development.

Describing the development as an historic moment for the state, Governor Ambode said it was indeed a thing of joy coming at a time when the state was still basking in the euphoria of the successful hosting of the International Marathon.

He said the Lagos Marathon was a major pointer to how Lagos could actualize its dream of improving the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the state using sports as a major instrument.

The Governor, who reiterated the importance of sports to integration and development, said that sport was the future of service to create a platform for youth employment and youth engagement in Lagos.

Besides, the Governor pledged the full support of the state government to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in hosting the first ever Beach Soccer African Nations Cup in Lagos, which will hold between December 10 and 23, 2016.

Earlier, Pau Vilanova i Vila-Abadal, Director of Business and Member of FC Barcelona Management Board, who led the team to the State House, thanked Governor Ambode for the support given to them so far in actualizing the project.

He said FC Barcelona decided to establish its Academy in Lagos due to the impressive population of the state, and the opportunity to share the philosophy of the team with the state.