The League Management Company (LMC) has disclosed they are set to unveil the Rasheed Yekini trophy award for the highest goal scorer in the Nigeria Professional Football League. The award is part of the NPFL Awards which the board approved at its meeting in June.
LMC Chairman, Shehu Dikko, revealed this and stated that the decision to name the trophy after one of Nigeria's most prolific striker’s was chosen by the board as a route to immortalise the player who scored 37 goals in 58 appearances for the country and demonstrated exemplary character and commitment throughout his career.
"There is a broad plan to institute awards and honour outstanding players, officials, key stakeholders and fans in the league at the end of every season and there are a number of factors that led us to reach the decision to name one of these awards, that of the highest goal scorer after the late Rasheed Yekini. The awards are part of strategic plans of the LMC to create commercial value and additional revenues out of the assets inherent in the league property.
"We considered the aspiration factor which seeks to let the players know that they too can become national heroes if they achieve excellence and make a success of their career. It says to them that they too can become legends of the game and the society will honour them as we have sought to honour the late Yekini," Dikko further explained.
He disclosed that a monetary incentive and other social benefits would be attached to the awards, adding that in the case of the highest goal scorer award, "we have received a request from the Rasheed Yekini Foundation to provide additional cash support to the winner and we are studying their proposal. There are already plans to officially unveil the special trophy for this award at one of the league game venues."
Dikko further stated that the NPFL Awards was a long term project of the LMC open to corporate sponsors in both headline and other supporting categories for which some corporate firms were already holding talks with the LMC on their potential participation in the NPFL Awards.
Yekini who was also recently remembered in Portugal started his football career with United Textile Mills Limited (UNTL) Kaduna before joining the then IICC Shooting Stars, now Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan and finally, the defunct Abiola Babes before he joined Africa Sports of Cote d' Ivoire..He was named African Footballer of the Year in 1993 and scored 37 goals for the Super Eagles of Nigeria in 58 appearances before he died on May 4, 2012 at the age of 48.
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