Beckham, Maradona, Ronaldinho, other football greats set for novelty match in Nigeria

An international exhibition match against human trafficking, insurgency and terrorism scheduled to hold May 21 will see football legends like David Beckham, Diego Maradona and Ronaldinho play in Abuja, Nigeria.

The novelty match, organized by next2none, will be between Africa Stars and World Stars, and will feature popular names including Zinedine Zidane, Ruud Gullit, George Weah, Samuel Kuffour, Samuel Eto’o, Abedi Pele, Nwankwo Kanu, Austin Jay Jay Okocha, Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The non-governmental agency, who are conveners of the Africa My Africa project, are dedicated to promoting global security and fighting human trafficking across Africa and will use football and other entertainment celebrities to achieve their goals.

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At a media event to announce the project, Chairman of next2none, Ndukwe Sam Obu said a global initiative uniting all nations was required to combat terrorist activities which have been on the spike over the last decade.

Obu said that radicalisation of the youths into violent extremism was a great concern in Africa, given that approximately 70 per cent of African population are youths.

He said the organisers and other stakeholders including the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and National Agency for Prohibition and Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) sought to arrange the match by leveraging on football which has shown positive impact in bringing peace to different nations and as a tool for reconciliation.

A cluster of female footballers will also feature in the match. Players such as Sydney Leroux, Asisat Oshoala, Birgit Prinz, Sun Wen, Abby Wanbach, Homare Sawa, Kelly Smith, Marta, Alex Morgan, Hope Solo, Toni Duggan, Anouk Hoogendijk, Nayeli Rangel, Lauren Sesselmann, Julia Simic and Corine Petit.

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