Talent Hunt: Gombe to host Northern football scouting tournament for European clubs –Ex-Lawmaker
Hon Khamisu Mailantarki, a former lawmaker from Gombe state has concluded arrangements for the first ever comprehensive football scouting tournament in Northern Nigeria to be held in Gombe state.
The event which is a branch of Mailantarki Care Foundation is expected to have about 10 foreign scouts/agents and directors of football in participation for possible recruitments of talented players to various football clubs and academies in Europe.
Mailantarki disclosed this when he hosted an interactive session with the leaders and coaches of Nationwide and state leagues football clubs respectively at the Hajiya Amina conference hall in Gombe.
The sports enthusiast said the event was aimed at exposing talented players to foreign scouts/agents for career development, adding that his foundation was a dedicated charity initiative for youth empowerment launched years back to impact positively on the lives of its beneficiaries in various communities across the state.
In the course of the event, selected players from Northern Nigeria would converge in Gombe for the tourney as all logistics and requirement would be provided by the lawmaker under his football academy company.
Recall that the philanthropist had in a debut tournament in July showcased talents from Gombe State to Russian Football Development side FDC Vista and domestic scouts UDE Sports Management talents hunting programme in Abuja respectively.
The successful players from that exercise would now participate in the next phase of the programme scheduled to hold in Port Harcourt in September.
In a related development, Mailantarki in response to the demands of the two football forums (Nationwide and state leagues), paid all their registration expenses for the 2021/2022 season worth N2.7m (two million and seven hundred thousand naira) in other for the clubs to focus and start an early preparation for the upcoming third tire and state leagues competitions respectively.
The football development advocate who also unveiled a mega football development programme in Gombe said his passion for the game was borne out of the fact that football provides the needed platform for youth empowerment and poverty eradication while fostering peace and unity in various communities.
Among those present at the historic and colour event were Chairman of Gombe State Sports Commission ably represented by the state Director of Sports Suleiman Jarmai, Gombe State FA Chairman Philibus Yakubu Sarma, GSFA Vice Chairman Adamu Yakubu Kupe, Chairman Nationwide League Forum Hashimu Ibrahim, Chairman State Leagues Forum Sani Yahaya, Dahiru Hassan Kera, Bala Abubakar Ajuji among others.
