The Edo State government on Wednesday said a cash prize of N5million will be awarded to the winning team in the Betsy Obaseki Women Football Tournament (BOWFT) scheduled to hold from September 7 to September 17, 2022.
Briefing journalists in Benin City, Philip Shaibu, deputy governor of the state, said among the 12 participating teams, the club the emerges second in this year’s edition of the tournament will be presented with a cash prize of N3million, the third and fourth place will be given N1.5million and N750,000, respectively, while all other teams will go home with a consolation prize of N500,000 each.
The deputy governor said the 2022 competition, which is a preseason tournament to sharpen and prepare teams for the Nigeria women’s league, is targeted at creating public awareness against illicit drugs, educating girls on the dangers of drug abuse as well as trafficking.
He further said that as part of efforts to sustain the football contest, which is a private sector-driven initiative, the state government has taken steps to institutionalise the event with a board of trustees chaired by Betsy Obaseki, wife of Edo State governor, Diasy Danjuma as a member among other persons.
“This year’s event is going to be interesting; it will be completely upgraded and different from previous one. Last year, the caption was to deal with the issue of girl-child education. We have said that this tournament will grow from strength to strength,” Shaibu said.
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Shaibu, who is the vice chairman of the board of trustees of the football league, said the competition is an invitation tournament for all professional teams in the women league inclusive of two home teams from Edo State, noting that the draws will take place on Wednesday, August 24.
He added that four venues, namely Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies, University of Benin sports complex, Western Boys high school and school of health technology football complex, have been scheduled to host the tournament.
He listed the participating teams to include Bayelsa queens, Confluence queens, Delta queens, Edo queens, Nassarawa amazons, Naija ratels, Osun babes, Rivers angels, Royals queens, Sunshine queens, while Fortress and Brave Heart FCs will join as local teams to make it a list of 12 teams.
“So, we will be having 12 teams and 10 of which are all in the professional league. The additional two is to catch them young. When you expose them to such tournaments, it will help in talent discovery and grow the local league. We have made it mandatory for two best teams in Edo and also given them the opportunity to participate in the Besty Obaseki preseason football tournament,” he noted.
End.
Photo: Philip Shaibu, deputy governor of Edo State and Vice chairman, board of trustees Betsy Obaseki Women Football Tournament, flanked by members of the Organizing Committee of the 2022 edition of the competition during a press briefing in Benin City, Wednesday.
