2025 Obasa Games: Future Stars win dramatic football final as organisers hail new talents

Organisers of the 2025 Obasa Games on Saturday hailed the growing impact of the grassroots sports initiative after Future Stars Football Academy clinched the football title in a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Goal Getters in Agege, Lagos.

Speaking after the final, the Chairman of the Main Organising Committee (MOC), Vinod Obasa, described the tournament as another major step in using sports to engage young people, curb social vices and create pathways to opportunity for thousands of youths across Lagos State.

“The Obasa Games 2025 was as exciting and enjoyable as previous editions,” Mr Obasa said at the closing ceremony. “We witnessed many student-athletes giving their all to become champions. In the football final, it was a tense 90 minutes, and in the end, Future Stars emerged victorious.”

Future Stars were crowned champions after edging Goal Getters 6-5 on penalties in a gripping final played at the Anwar-Islam Model College, Oniwaya, Agege.

The keenly contested match ended 1–1 after regulation time before it was eventually decided via penalty kicks.

The victory marked Future Stars’ best outing at the Obasa Games, a year after they exited at the quarterfinal stage on their debut appearance.

The champions were rewarded with a N3 million cash prize, part of a N12 million prize pool distributed across the tournament.

Saturday’s final brought the curtain down on the expanded edition of the Obasa Games, which, for the first time, featured teams from across Lagos State.

The event was attended by the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, after whom the Games are named, as well as sports administrators, former athletes and talent scouts, including three European football scouts.

Beyond football, the multi-sport festival featured competitions in Chess, Scrabble, Table Tennis, Ayo Olopon, Boxing and Athletics.

In total, 54 young athletes emerged winners across the six additional sports, while the top three finishers in each event shared N6 million in prize money.

Athletes from Educational District 1 were particularly dominant across several disciplines.

According to the organisers, approximately 12,000 student-athletes drawn from secondary schools and football academies across Lagos State participated in the 2025 edition, making it the largest in the history of the Games.

Mr Obasa said the steady growth of the competition reflects lessons learned over the past three years and a deliberate effort to broaden access.

“This marks our third year hosting this multi-sport event, and we’ve learned a lot from our experiences, refined our approach, and improved the competition for our young athletes in Lagos State,” he said. “This year, we expanded our reach across Lagos, particularly within the Educational Districts, featuring six sporting events. Congratulations to all the stars we’ve discovered.”

He added that talent identification remains central to the Games, particularly in football, where scouts are invited annually to spot promising players.

“For the football event, we engage scouts every year to identify emerging talents and increase the total prize money to N12 million to reward our young athletes’ efforts,” he said.

Looking ahead, the MOC chairman disclosed plans to further expand the competition in 2026 by adding more sports and reaching deeper into communities that are yet to be fully integrated into the programme.

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“For next year, we plan to add more sports and reach more areas within Lagos to ensure that talents who have not yet been discovered can participate. Sports is a big business, and we believe every young athlete has the potential to earn a good living from it,” he said.

Mr Obasa also revealed plans to strengthen year-round engagement through community leagues and improved infrastructure, particularly in Agege, which he described as a fertile ground for talent development.

“With nearly one million residents in Agege, 60 per cent of whom are under 30, there is ample opportunity for sports development. Not every young person will pursue academics, trade or creative endeavours; some will find their path in sports,” he said.

He pointed to countries such as Morocco as examples of how deliberate investment in facilities can transform football development, noting that similar efforts are underway at the local level.

“We are enhancing local sports facilities, including building 5-a-side and 7-a-side pitches in Agege, and planning initiatives like the Agege Football League to ensure our youths are engaged week in, week out,” he said.

For many of the young athletes who competed at the 2025 Obasa Games, the experience offered more than medals and prize money. It provided exposure, competition and hope.