20th December, 2015
Taiwo Adelu
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode surprised tennis pundits during the grand finale of the 15th Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship on Saturday when he announced that his government would push for the upgrade of the annual tournament to one of the events on the tour of Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
A check revealed that staging an ATP tourney involved huge financial obligations from the organisers.
As large as African continent, only one ATP Tour event is being staged. This is Grand Prix Hassan II in Morocco with prize money of 463,520 euros and a total financial commitment of 520,070 euros.
In 2015, a check on ATP Tour website revealed that North America staged a total of 13 ATP events, 34 in Europe, 4 in South America, 8 in Asia, 4 in Australia and 1 in Africa.
Notwithstanding this huge fund, Ambode who said the Governor’s Cup Tennis has added value to the socio-economic life of Lagos, disclosed that the government would open discussion with relevant authorities to see how viable the vision would come to reality during his tenure in office.
The Governor who watched the final of the men’s singles between Antal Van Dar Duim of The Netherlands and Zimbabwe’s Takanyi Garanganga said that competition like the Governor’s Cup is more than sporting event, rather a tourist attraction that the state has been using and will continue to use to boost its tourism potentials.
“We are witnessing the end of two weeks of international tennis action here in the city of Lagos. I’m so glad with the success we have recorded with this tournament in the last 15 years and the commitment of the organisers. I’m happy with this continuity.
“What we are doing in Lagos is to ensure safety of life of the people and to attract people from across the world to our state, which the Governor’s Cup has been able to do. I’m giving my commitment to keep Lagos safe.
“That is why I will like the competition to become an ATP event. We will open discussions with the tennis federation to see how this can be done. If this will be done, that means we have to increase the prize money of the Governor’s Cup and more importantly provide world class facilities for organising the competition. These we will do, but we cannot do it alone, we need the support of everybody to achieve these dreams,” he said.
The governor also disclosed that a Lagos government sponsored tennis academy will begin in 2016, adding that effort will be geared towards developing sports from the grassroots.