Black football stars set to play in Nigeria
By Steve Wieberg, USA TODAY
USA Today
Nigeria, it appears, is ready for a little college football.

The Atlanta-based Eddie Robinson Foundation will sponsor a black college all-star game in Abuja in December and hopes to stage a black national championship game in the Nigerian capital in subsequent years.

"There are so many classics out there. We didn't want to do a me-too event," says foundation CEO Michael Watkins, who'll announce the plans Monday. The Nigerian government will help underwrite the $5 million cost of the game, and organizers are seeking a television home, he says.

The Eddie Robinson Motherland Classic, with players from the historically black I-AA Mid-Eastern Athletic and Southwestern Athletic conferences, as well as the Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, will be played Dec. 17 in 60,000-seat Abuja Stadium.

A championship game, meanwhile, faces hurdles. NCAA rules changes must be fast-tracked to allow a game in 2007. And MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas says he's working toward a black title game on U.S. soil.




Copyright 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. All Rights Reserved.
10/05/2006 06:12

link:
http://blackvoices.aol.com/black_news/canvas_directory_headlines_features/_a/black-football-stars-set-to-play-in/n20061005080409990051

I hope we're talking about Real Football (Soccer). Or there is no point contributing to this discussion. BTW, why in the world would the Nigerian government help underwrite a college game, when so many young smart Nigerians cannot attend a university because they can't afford tuition.