Girls Play Sports Football Tourney: Teams to compete for N10m prize money

Girls’ teams from across the length and breadth of Nigeria are expected to compete for N10 million prize money in the ‘Girls Play Sports Football Tournament’, the brainchild of Ayomidiran Foundation in conjunction with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) which kicks off on Friday, August 30, 2024 nationwide.

Speaking at the event, NFF’s general secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi lauded the Foundation for the initiative while promising the Federation’s full support for the tournament.

He said the tournament will provide a pool of players that can be drafted into different cadre of the national teams. The NFF scribe, who described the program as ‘Catch Them Young’, said it’s a right step in the right direction saying NFF is looking forward to see clubs in Nigeria having female teams as global best practices.

“To us at the Nigeria Football Federation, this is welcome idea. The board of NFF key into FIFA’s vision of Football Development which focuses on catch them young. And this is a right step in the right direction,” Dr Sanusi said.

The chairperson, Ayomidiran Foundation, Honourable Ayo Omidiran, while speaking during a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja, said the competition “is a movement aimed at giving young girls with potential the opportunity to elevate their game to higher level through the exposure and experience this tournament will provide.”

The former executive member of the NFF said by involving grassroots and amateur teams from all the geopolitical zones across the country, the tournament seeks to break down barriers as well as promoting a spirit of unity and inclusivity through the love of football. She added that bringing together girls from different backgrounds will not only foster understanding, camaraderie and mutual respect but will also pave way for a more inclusive and harmonious society.

“It’s an amateur-based competition. Remember we are trying to get girls who have potentials but do not have the opportunity to show it. So, we have decided that we’ll get teams from every nook and cranny of this country. They should go ahead and register. As many teams as possible. We’re going to have preliminaries before the finals. The centres of preliminaries are going to be based on the number of teams that will have in a particular zone.

“We are going to play the preliminaries everywhere and that is why the finals is going to be two finals; the Northern final and the Southern final. That is why we have the coordinator for the North and coordinator for the South. We do not want to leave anybody behind.

“The preliminary competition is going to be a knockout format. However because of our aim to identify those who have potentials, and as we’ve been assured by the Nigeria Football Federation especially the Technical Department, we’ll have technical team in each centre. Even, if a club loses and a player out of lot shows potential, the technical will put the name of such girl down and we’ll get the details. This program is about discovery and we do not want to leave anyone behind.

“The tournament will run from August 30 to September 30, 2024. Registration opens July 24 and will close on August 23, providing teams a full month to train and prepare. Registration is free and each team can register up to 30 players to ensure a competitive and fair environment,” the former member House of Representatives told Sporting Tribune.

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