Eko International Cup:Organisers confirm Hearts of Oak, two other continental teams for pre-season tourney

The organisers of the forthcoming Eko nternational Cup have confirmed that three teams from outside Nigeria will take part in the highly anticipated pre-season football tournament.

SKI-Hi Entertainment in collaboration with the Lagos State Government is staging the competition expected to feature a total of eight teams.

On Monday, the organisers after consultations with the originally invited teams confirmed that five teams from the Nigeria Professional Football League will take part in the tournament.

They are; Remo Stars, Ikorodu City, Shooting Stars, Enyimba of Aba and one other team expected to be unveiled soon.

The three teams expected from other parts of the continent are FC Kallon of Sierra Leone, Heart of Oak of Ghana and FC Dadje of Republic of Benin.

The Executive Director, Publicity and Strategy for the Local Organizing Committee of the EIC, Onome Obruthe, said there have been so much work on the logistics of the participating teams.

Obruthe said: ”It is not as easy as we look at it ordinarily. Each of the teams have plans but the template we put before them is also a progressive one aimed at boosting their preparations for the new season.

“Many other factors will have to be considered but we are happy to have three teams coming from outside Nigeria while our original four teams in the NPFL have signified intention to take part. The new addition in Nigeria will be confirmed officially later this week.

“We are excited about the progress so far and we intend to create more awareness in the coming days with the help of our sponsors and partners respectively.”

The pre-season football tournament which runs between July 6 and 13 takes place at the Mobolaji Johnson Stadium, formerly Onikan Stadium with two matches to be played on a daily basis.

Apart from telecommunications giants, MTN, Bigi Drinks and Lagos State Government are also partners of the project.