The owner of Naija Ratels Football Club of Abuja, Paul Edeh, has commended the credibility of SportsVille Award saying he was pleasantly surprised and elated by his nomination as an awardee as he never saw it coming.
The Sportsville award is billed for this Saturday, February 11th at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja. The ceremony with feature Sports Minister Sunday Dare as chairman of the day, while Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, will be the special guest of honour.
“I feel really elated by the honour bestowed on me by the organisers of the SportsVille Awards. Frankly it is an unsolicited award that came to me as a huge surprise,” Edeh said. “As a matter of fact, I have rejected awards in the past where the organisers sought for pecuniary benefits.”
“All that we have been able to achieve in sports over the years has been done with the right intentions and not in expectations for a reward or award. So when I was contacted and informed that I was to receive the SportsVille Award along with 15 others, I was surprised.”
I believe that the organisers may have noticed the series of impacts that we may have made in sports generally and women football over the years. So I count it a rare privilege to be honoured along with other prominent Nigerians who have been in the sports scene far longer than me.”
Edeh described the SportsVille Award as a very credible award saying, “I did a bit of research on the award when I was informed and found that it was an award that genuinely seeks to celebrate and honour Nigerians who have contributed to sports and in Nigeria and across the globe.
He disclosed that Ratels Sports Development Foundation (RSDF) has a lot of activities planned for 2023 which will be unveiled very soon. He said among the programmes planned include the RSDF flagship programme the Sheroes Cup which will hold sometime this year along with the Sheroes Award 2023.
“We intend to raise the bar and we hope that the impact will be felt across the country. We will also be organising more youths oriented programmes towards developing sports in spheres other than football,” Edeh added.
“We will also be unveiling a very robust partnership with the FCT Administration that will encourage youth participation in sports. These and many more initiatives are planned for this year.”
