The second edition of the female football tournament, a pet project of the wife of Governor Godwin Obaseki, the Betsy Obaseki Women Football Tournament has been scheduled to hold between September 7 and 17 in Benin City, Edo State capital.
The Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees, BOT, for the tournament, Comrade Philip Shaibu, who is the deputy governor of the state, announced this in Benin on Wednesday during a press conference.
Shaibu said the invitational event would feature 10 clubs in the Nigerian Women Football League (NWFL) Premiership and two other local clubs in the state.
The 10 premier league clubs include Bayelsa Queens, Edo Queens, Nasarawa Amazons, Delta Queens, Confluence Queens and Osun Babes.
Others are Rivers Angels, Sunshine Queens, Naija Ratels and Royals Queens, while Fortress Ladies FC and Brave Heart FC will join as local best to make a list of 12 teams.
He announced a cash prize of N5 million for the winners, with the first runners-up taking N3 million, while the second and the third runners-up would go home with N1.5 million and N750,000 respectively.
Shaibu added, however, that other participating teams would get N500,000 each as a consolation prize.
Matches, he added, would hold across four centres, such as Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, University of Benin Sports Complex and two state-built mini stadia at the School of Health Technology and Western Boys Secondary School in Benin.
The deputy governor explained that the draw for the competition had been scheduled for August 24, with the 36 states’ First Ladies billed to grace the closing ceremony.
According to him, the tournament had come to stay as a pre-season event for women’s professional football clubs in the country, with the organisers of the league assenting to it.
“This year’s event is going to be interesting. The theme for the 2021 event was used to promote girl child education; this year’s theme will be to campaign against illicit drugs and human trafficking.
“The implication is that the event has come to stay in Nigeria. Thank the First Lady, Mrs Obaseki, for keeping in touch to make it an annual event and pre-season event for women’s football premiership.
“We also thank the state Sports Commission for accommodating it in its calendar despite being driven by the private sector.
“To institutionalise it, we now have a Board of Trustees for the tournament, in which the First Lady is the chairman and I am the Vice Chairman. This is to ensure that the event outlives this government”, he said.
The deputy governor, who was assisted at the briefing by other members of the Board, said the outstanding performances of Nigerian women at the Commonwealth Games had justified the renewed investment in women sporting events.
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