A Lagos State-based businessman, Suraj Oyewale, has organised a football match among his X (formerly Twitter) followers after bants about his football club being a team of electricians and carpenters.
Oyewale, on Saturday, featured in a football match which was organised by a marketing agency, Dynasty Africa, between Instagram and X influencers that ended 5-4 in favour of the X side.
Oyewale, popularly known as Sir J (J9), a football enthusiast and player, who took to his verified handle on Monday, noted that his decision to organise the Saturday game was to prove to everybody that he is still a good footballer despite his age and that a team cannot be set up in a hurry without appropriate training to defeat his side.
He further stressed that the team that will play against him should not consist of professional footballers but carefully selected players and individuals who are his mutuals on X platform.
The football enthusiast wrote, “For those who mock my football videos and say my players are carpenters and electricians, I have a challenge. 1. Form a team from Twitter (all players must be my followers or have commented on my football video in the past – no go import mercenaries wey no dey Twitter before). 2. Pick a date and a field (preferably Campos or Union Bank).
“3. Play against my boys and me. 4. I will transfer N5m to a Twitter person of high standing a day before the match. 5. If you beat my “carpenters and electricians” team, take the N5m. Let’s decide who the real football farmers are once and for all.
“If you beat my team, take N5million as prize. If you can’t beat my team, money gets returned to me 5. If you see a draw, go with a N1m prize. N4m gets returned to me. Players must be my followers or those who have doubted my football abilities. You have to show evidence.
“Jarus Plumbers FC vs Jarus Twitter Mutuals FC Announcements: 1. The recognised coordinator of Twitter Team is Michael Oyiga. 2. Match holds 3 pm, Saturday, 27 April. 3. Campos Stadium, Lagos Island, has been booked for the match. We welcome spectators.
Meanwhile, confirming the N5m winner-take-all prize to our correspondent, Oyewale said, “Yes, I am serious about it. I have sent the money to the ‘boardman’ and I’m only awaiting the team they will come up with but it must be made up of professional footballers.”
However, sharing information about his team, he said they had been defeated twice on their home ground before and were very beatable.
“My team has been beaten two times even on our home ground. So we are very beatable. But I seriously doubt that a quickly arranged team without training can beat us. This is where my confidence is coming from,” he added.
Oyewale is a First-Class Economics graduate from Obafemi Awolowo University. He is the founder of Jarus Homes, Jarus FC, and has authored four books on careers, networking, policy, and politics.
He is also a recreational footballer who plays regularly and is always queried by his followers for goal count and scoring abilities.
[Punch]