FUSTAR is an acronym for “Future Stars”. The Fustar Youth League is a youth football development project that aims to provide a platform for young, talented aspiring footballers to showcase their talent to the world by engaging them in a consistent and organised manner across Nigeria. The League was born out of the desire to produce Nigerian Football players who are technically, emotionally, and psychologically ready to compete on the world stage. The FUSTAR youth League will have participants drawn directly from within schools on and off the SportEdu+ programme. The league is for participating players aged 10 and 16 years old. The pilot was launched in FCT Abuja in October 2019 . The next phase of the programme will be launched in Lagos in January 2022. The long-term goal of the FUSTAR programme is to have Leagues running simultaneously across the 36 states of the country, building traction, followership and viewership while establishing its brand in the process. Schools participating in the SportEdu+ programme will automatically qualify to register to play in the league, subject to payment of a league subscription fee. The League Management Board will be responsible for managing the league fixtures, match officials and liaison with participating schools.

As a requirement, students taking part in the league must be enrolled as full-time students with their respective schools. The League Management Board will issue players with an ID card to be presented at the start of every league fixture.

The maiden league in each state will run with 12 schools in total with matches tentatively taking place on Wednesday Afternoons (12 noon – 1pm) and Saturday mornings (9am -10am) on School grounds where applicable. Each match will be for a duration of 60 – 80 minutes in line with FIFA regulations.

Each team will play a home and away fixture. Each school can register 22 players in the U16 & U14 categories (11-a-side) and 16 players in the U12 category (9-a-side).

At the end of the league, there will be different categories of prizes for the top-performing individuals and teams as well as scouting opportunities, with the most promising best talents playing against same age groups of the

Southampton FC Academy during the player development camps in the UK This league will follow a typical academic year cycle taking into consideration holidays (school and public) and examination periods.