Ikpeba, others ignite excitement as Premier Cool 5-A-Side football kicks off

From left, Fisayo Olatunji, Activation and Merchandising Manager, PZ Cussons; Mr Olusegun Fetuga, Eagles ex-international; Mr. Mojeed Adegbindin, Lagos State Football Association (LSFA) board member; Ahusimere Ejiro, Brand Manager, PZ Cussons; Victor Ikpeba, Eagles ex-international; Adefila Day, Head of Digital Marketing, Africa, PZ Cussons, at the teams screening event for the Premier Cool Turf Wars 5-Aside football tournament in Lagos.

The 5-a-side football competition designed by Premier Cool, a brand of PZ Cussons, tagged ‘Turf Wars’, kicked off last week as 32 teams were screened into the voting stages of the competition. The screening exercise took place at the offices of PZ Cussons in Ilupeju, Lagos.

The screening judges comprising ex-footballers, football analysts and administrators, were led by Super Eagles legend and football analyst, Victor Ikpeba and the team included another ex-Eagles international, Olusegun Fetuga; Mojeed Adegbindin, a member of the board of the Lagos State Football Association (LSFA); and other notable football pundits. The team was welcomed by the senior staff at PZ Cussons, which included the Managing Director, PZ Cussons, Alex Goma; Head of Digital Marketing, Africa, PZ Cussons, Adefila Dayo; Group Brand Development and Activation Manager, PZ Cussons, Akindele Vivian, after which they were ushered into the screening venue.

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The screening exercise was organized to review the applicants who had registered for the competition, using the criteria which had been set for the applicants registering for the competition. Over 4000 teams had registered for the competition, with only 971 teams making it through the complete registration process.

The screening process was made quite simple and straightforward as the brand team had collated and profiled each team for easy review. Teams that did not meet the stated requirements were screened out while the others with satisfactory profiles as adjudged by the screening committee were eventually announced as the top 32 teams that will eventually proceed to the voting stages of the competition.

Speaking at the event, Group Brand Development and Activation Manager, PZ Cussons, Akindele Vivian, said there was need for credibility and transparency hence the involvement of the screening committee.

“We pride ourselves as a credible and transparent business; therefore we felt it was necessary to involve credible and notable individuals who know the game and are recognized as authorities and influencers within the Nigerian football community. We are grateful for their support and contributions to making this process a successful one. We look forward to a much successful competition,” she said.

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Only 16 teams out of these 32 teams will make it into the competition proper, as shortlisting will also include an online voting process. The competition will involve the knockout stages as well as the finals which will hold on August 22 and September 1, 2018 respectively.

The winning team will get a cash prize of N3million, while the second and third runners-up will walk away with N1.5million and N750, 000 respectively.

Premier Cool, who are the official partners of Premier League champions, Manchester City FC, are also working with SociaLiga, a local social group based in Lagos that promotes football culture in West Africa, for the Turf Wars football competition.