PARA SOCCER CHIEF URGES STATES TO EMBRACE SPORT

State sports councils which have not introduced para-soccer have been urged to do so as it was an avenue for physically-challenged persons to participate in sports.

Speaking at the end of the 3rd Promasidor Para-Soccer Championship in Lagos, Hajiya Halimat Nyako.

The President of the Nigeria Para-Soccer Federation said the sport could only become an international event if more states in the country embraced it.

She said more physically-challenged persons would be taken off the streets if many of them took part in para-soccer and other games for the disabled.

She noted that the federation's plans to introduce a para-soccer league would only be realised if more states had para-soccer associations.

'We want more states to participate actively in this sport, which will be an avenue to take to the Olympics,' Nyako said.

She commended Promasidor for sponsoring the three-day tournament and appealed to the company for continued support.

Nyako urged the players to take the game seriously, saying it would help them to shun social vices.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Lead United, NAS Warriors, Premium, Total Consult, Kaduna, Amaechi Babes, Team Rivers and Baba Mai took part in the tournament, which ended on Monday night at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Centre, Yaba, Lagos.