MTN Lagos Street Soccer Produces Youngest Referee

The ongoing MTN Lagos Street Soccer Champions, Season 3, has recorded another feat in the area of identifying potentials and discovering talents in their chosen profession as the tournament has produced the youngest referee ever in the history of Nigerian football.

The youngest referee named, Jimoh Abubakar, is 17-year old and is a product of Lagos State Referee Council.

Speaking on this unique discovery, the General Manager, Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria Communications, Kola Oyeyemi, said MTN and Lagos State are very enthusiastic about empowering the youth in the area of their passion in a bid to become assets to the nation and able to make meaningful contributions to national development.

According to Oyeyemi, the discovery of Jimoh Abubakar, from Surulere, Lagos , as the youngest referee to officiate in Street Soccer Championship, is a practical demonstration of the positive results geared at getting youths off the streets are yielding.


Oyeyemi stated that the humble beginning would create learning opportunity for Jimoh and other youths that share similar passion to be exposed to the rudiments of the game and be able to officiate at both national and international competitions in the near future.

On his part, the Chairman of the MTN Lagos Street Soccer Championship Organizing Committee, Tajudeen Oladeji noted that the positive impact of this initiative on the youths in Lagos State cannot be over-emphasized.

He remarked that since the inception of the competition three years ago, a growing list of success stories showcasing how MTN is empowering the youths through football has continued to unfold.

Oladeji explained that aside from Jimoh, there are other young talents like Ruth Okafor, a female referee, who have been given an intensive training on the basic knowledge of match officiating and other aspects of football to enhance and equip them for smooth management of football matches.

The MTN Lagos Street Soccer Champions under the auspices of the Lagos State Ministry of Sports, Youth and Social Development is now in its third season.

The tournament is providing employment opportunities to about 700 young people over the next three months in addition to the 5,550 players who would be participating in the competition on behalf of the 555 teams spread across the state.