Foreign scouts from top European countries like Turkey, Spain, Portugal, and England have stormed Lagos for the 2018 Diamond Sports management scouting tournament which kicked off at the Legacy pitch of the National Stadium, Lagos on Tuesday.
The scouting tournament which is being organized by Diamond Sports Management, is a four-day competition which will see four different teams in two groups slug it out.
Diamond Sports Management is one of the leading player scouting and agency in Nigeria, and is reputed to have produced players like Wilfred Ndidi, who currently plies his trade with Leicester City and Victor Oshimen who is on loan with Belgian side Royal Charleroi from Wolfsburg.
In the 2018 edition of the tournament which kicked off on Tuesday, four matches were played across the two groups. 36Lions FC played a goalless draw with Box 2 Box FC in the first game of the tournament, while Oasis FC and Usyak Academy also failed to hit the target in the second game. The third game saw Bethel FC beat NAT Boys 2-0, while Obaz FC also defeated Dosaz FC 2-0 in the last game for the opening day. Matches will continue at the Legacy pitch on Wednesday and come to an end on Friday.
Speaking after the games on the opening day, Chief Consultant of Diamond Sports Management UK, Mr Chukwuma Nwankwo highlighted the objectives of the tournament and plans for the players.
“We have created this tournament to discover talent and give them a platform to move to Europe. There are six scouts and four agents across top countries in Europe to select the best players in this tournament. The first set of players selected will be given a direct contract to an European Club, while the second set of players will be handed trials with top clubs in Europe”.