By Daily Sports on July 25, 2019

One of the happening places in Benin City is not just content with dishing out refreshing cold drinks and hot tasty sauces to provide physical relief to customers wanting to cool off after a busy day’s schedule, they are going further into the world of partnerships with football stakeholders in Edo State and beyond to better the footballing space of Nigeria.

Irex Sports bar located in the Ugbowo area of Benin City have revealed plans to contribute their quota massively in the areas of sponsorship for Edo FA and NFF organised competitions, organising grassroots tournaments and collaborating with football Intermediaries in the area of players sponsorship for trials. 

One of the managerial brains behind Irex Bar is Roland Inonoje, a young man with a fast-rising image of a football icon in Edo state owing to his huge contributions in recent times to football development in the state. 

Mr Inonoje floats Rollys FC, a youth team that braved the odds to finish in the last 8 of the Edo State FA cup in their debut year of participation earlier this year. The ambitious entrepreneur who is also a Bet9ja Super Agent has been the main conveyor belt behind the organisation of the annual Bet9ja Super Agents cup for grassroots clubs in Edo State, a competition that has become firmly etched in the football calendar of the state and one which attracts huge followership nationwide.

I caught up with him recently and he tells me Irex Bar is ready to raise the bar as regards football sponsorship in Nigeria.

“One of our main goals at Irex Bar is to key in to the various NFF and Edo FA programmes and form a collaboration with these bodies because the people behind the Irex business are thorough football people who have invested a lot of time and resources in the sphere of grassroots football and who wish to see their association with football development continue on Edo State and Nigeria at large.”

A visit to Irex Bar which is strategically located in the street opposite the University of Benin main campus would reveal the big interest the owners have in football and in providing the best and most comfortable football watching experience for lovers of the game. Glitzy casinos, exotic cuisine, booming latest local and foreign music et al are the major parts of the offerings that welcome the visitor.

Mr Inonoje tells me: “At Irex sports bar and grill we are passionate about sport and food, our bar immerses you in the action, whether you’re cheering your favorite team on our screens at every viewpoint or taking on your friends in our games rooms. Our area of specialisation is in creating the best sports viewing environment and the perfect place to get together and grab some food and drink.”

Beyond providing a place of comfort for physical relief, Irex management are well aware of their cooperate social responsibility of being a tool for social cohesion. It’s towards this end that the management are channelling a lot of effort to engage youths positively by encouraging their participation in Sporting activities.

In 2017 a young and lanky Ebube Duru filed out to participate in the Bet9ja Super Agents cup powered by Mr Inonoje. He was a bright prospect looking for an avenue to project his talent and the likes of Inonoje were Godsend that helped him blossom by organising a worthwhile and worthy football competition for him to flourish. Today the young lad is an established football professional who plays for Lobi Stars and he is also a national team player with several caps for the Super Eagles. 

“Irex bar wants to help the present generation of young and talented players to fulfill their dreams. It’s our belief that a big way of tackling the scourge of crime in society is to actively get our youths to be involved deeply in some capacity in sports and in football in particular which is the sport most Nigerians are crazy about. I’ve seen a couple of players unexpectedly rise to become great players today as a result of football programmes I’ve supported and at Irex Sports bar, Ine of our central goals is to help the country to produce a generation of football stars. Towards this end, we want to organise top class football competitions as well as sponsor those being organised by the FA to make sure that the enabling environment is there for football and young footballers to grow. We want to help produce the next Samuel Chukwueze,” Mr Inonoje says.

Meanwhile, his Rollys team are deep in preparation for the Betking football tournament scheduled to take place in Ughelli, Delta state and Inonoje is happy with how the club has progressed over the last few months. 

“We finished third in the last Bet9ja football competition and we have been playing some good football. Our team is dull of young and ambitious players and I’m happy with how quick they are improving everyday. The Betking competition in Delta is another avenue to see how far we have come but I’m confident we will come good there.”

Source Daily Sports

Posted July 25, 2019

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