The just concluded 8th Maritime Cup Competition organised by Ships & Ports attracted and unprecedented crowd, which thronged the venues to cheer their teams. ToyinAmao, who witnessed the tension-soaked final match at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, sought the views of some players, coaches and spectators on the competition which was held from June 7 to June 21, 2016.
It is a really nice competition; everyone enjoyed all the games played right from the beginning to the end of it all. I must commend the organisers for putting in a great work and for encouraging companies to come together in unity through the competition and it is also encouraging other aspiring footballers like me.
Chris Osita
Looking at the football event, I think is the best organised in Nigeria for now. It has been a consistent programme that has been ongoing and you see a lot of talents that are coming up. For me, is kudos to the organisers. They are really trying, I wish other people will come up and try as much as possible to invest in football, in order for the restless youths to be engaged. Sincerely, I really do appreciate the effort of the organisers.
Bayo Thomas
The organisers of the competition have a policy right from the beginning of this Maritime Cup Competition but along the line, the policy dropped because most of the players in this competition are hired mercenaries and with this, other players who are staffs of other companies in the competition could not perform as expected due to the mercenaries. And the rules in the competition is that each team must have 5 to 8 players but one of the teams did not adhere to that rule and that is why some players were disqualified, but some teams kept to the rules like Navy, Customs, NPA and Tin-Can Island Terminal.
More work need to be put in by the organisers to see that next year match will be strictly of staffs as players.
Ibrahim
My opinion about this competition is that it brought everyone in the maritime sector together by having fun because football itself is all about fun. This is the only way we can all get to know ourselves. Sometimes we don’t get to see each other but through this competition, we can get to know ourselves and move the sector forward.
Steven James
My opinion is that as one of the number of the companies that are meant to register for the football competition were not up to the expectations compared to last year, we didn’t play quarter final, we just went straight to semi-final. The organisers should try to reach out to other companies in the maritime sector excluding the players the organisers do register, for the next year match to be better than this concluded one.
Ibrahim Lucas
This is a forum for acceptable interactions by maritime workers. This competition is a period of recreation, networking, building bridges and a moment where people can come and exercise and exhibit their social qualities and potentials. Also, this competition is one of the greatest football fiesta that everybody would have witnessed because the goalkeepers did their jobs well which kept everyone on the edge of their seats because we were all waiting for when the penalty shootout from the two teams will come to an end because it generated a lot of frenzy and anxiety that a tough football competition is expected to generate.
Charles Okaga
This maritime soccer challenge has been improving every year, like past years there were so many teams competing but this year there is reduction but the standard and level of players has increased and the referees performed tremendously well. The competition standard is high; I must commend the organisers for putting so much efforts right from the opening to the closing match.
EnoEfe
The competition has been running for 8 years now. It has been going on well and there is always improvement each year. It is bringing friendship and networking into the maritime sector, the organisers should keep it up.
Godwin Wisdom
The organisers of the competition are doing a good job by bringing up an avenue for the workers in the maritime sector to be unified. I feel the competition need to be improved on by making sure all the players in the 8 teams of subsequent competition are staffs of various companies in the maritime sector and not hired mercenaries.
Seyi Olufemi
The competition is not a bad idea at all but the organisers need to step up in judgement. We are all Nigerians and organizing for a perfect event takes a lot of planning and time. In my own opinion, the organisers should notify the companies participating some months before the competition not just a month to the event and they start running helter-skelter. I believe due to this that was why the competition was postponed twice before the final date was agreed on.
Adebayo
The organisers did a great job by putting this together and giving workers of the maritime sector a chance every year to meet with one another in the sector. For me, it is a great excitement because this is the fourth time my team is winning and is a great privilege to us.
Aliru Abdul