The President African Beach Soccer Union (ABSU) who doubles as the National Coordinator of the Nigeria Beach Soccer League (NBSL), Mahmud Hadejia, has commended and appreciated the Kebbi State Government for allocating a portion of the Haliru Abdu Stadium in Birnin Kebbi, for a state-of-the-art modern beach soccer facility.
The ABSU President with a team of experts alongside State Government and Kebbi Beach Soccer Association officials had a facility site inspection in preparation for the construction of a world-class beach soccer arena in Kebbi State on Thursday 03-04-2025.
This is coming at a time when the State is marking it’s 10th year anniversary of the arrival of beach soccer in the State.
“We are here to inspect the space that has been allocated to the Kebbi Beach Soccer Association purposely for beach soccer activities here at the Haliru Abdu Stadium by the Kebbi State Government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development,” He said.
“This is quite unique and interesting as Kebbi State celeberates it’s 10th year in beach soccer. I can remember clearly back in 2015 when we introduced the game here at Zauro Town with a local tournament. For some time now, we have been playing at the horse race course (Filin Sukuwa) within the state capital. The Government, in its magnanimity, decided that beach soccer should have a permanent site with standard facilities just like every other sport so that we can be hosting national and international competitions.
Beach soccer hosting is not new to Kebbi State. I can recall two times we hosted the Nigeria Beach Soccer team (Super Sand Eagles) for camping and played friendly matches here in Kebbi State, and we hosted international clubs from Africa, and players from Europe have been to Kebbi. We only just recently hosting the first round of the Nigeria Beach Soccer League (NBSL). I think it is about time that we have a standard beach soccer facility in Kebbi just like in other places. If you go to Kaduna, where we held the Super Four Finals of the league last season in 2024, it is a standard facility at the Murtala Muhammed Square, which even hosted the Nigeria versus Mauritania CAF Beach Soccer African Cup Qualifiers.
“If we can have these facilities across the country, then it goes to show that we are really progressing not just on the pitch of play but in terms of building facilities. Thank God, the Government of His Excellency Dr Nasir Idris (Kauran Gwandu) has a lot of foresight for them to say it is about time to have a beach soccer facility, and we are very grateful and express lots of gratitude to the Governor for his support and foresight. The Governor is a unique sports lover and an active badminton player so he clearly understands the importance of having such sporting facilities.”
Kebbi State has become the center piece of beach soccer in the country with regular hosting of activities, especially the Nigeria Beach Soccer League, since inception in 2021 and other competitions from 2015 to date.
With two teams from the State in the national league, Hadejia expects more clubs to spring up into the game from the State including local clubs.
“The encouragement is now having a facility that everyone across Kebbi State can come and utilize,” He added.
“I must give kudos to the youths in Kebbi because they have keyed into the beach soccer project since we started in 2015, and they have seen the benefits and value because back then, when we were starting, they were not sure if they were playing football or other sports. The game was very new, but when they saw their colleagues and teammates flying on Emirates airline to travel to Turkey and Italy to represent Kebbi State at the World Cup, they told themselves that they needed to key in. Right now, we have two teams from Kebbi. Kebbi Fishers Beach Soccer Club, the number one team in Africa for six years now since 2019 and also our new team, Kebbi United Beach Soccer. I think they are doing well and expecting more teams going forward in Kebbi. What is important now is to celebrate this 10th year anniversary with a standard and brand new facility for the youths to utilize and enjoy.”
The proposed beach soccer facility in Kebbi State is expected to have a standard pitch, training pitch, spectators stand, dressing rooms, parking lot, and players hostel.
