This year's edition of the Bayelsa Governor's Football Tournament, tagged "Prosperity Cup", will commence from February, 2025.
This is contained in statement signed by Ono Akpe, the Director General of the tournament and Perela Aboro, the Tournament Director.
According to the statement, the tournament whih is a talent hunt programme, will have three categories in the competition, namely male, female and the para category.
The statement further revealed that the prize money has been increased from N20 million in previous editions, to N50 million this year.
The best male team will smile to the bank with a hefty N10 million, the first runners up will receive N5 million, second runner up will go home with N2.5 while the 4th placed team gets N1.5 million. The sum of one million Naira has been set aside for consolation prizes, bringing the total prize money in this category to N20,000.
In the female category, the sum of N10 million is up for grabs as the winners are expected to receive the sum of N5 million, the second placed team will run home with N2.5 million while the third placed team will be N1.r5 million richer. The fourth placed team will receive the sum of N500,000. The same amount of N500,000 will be available as consolation prize money in this category.
The sum of N3 million has been set aside as prize money for the para category.
According to the statement, the tournament will take the following format. All the registered teams will battle each other at their various local government areas and at the end of the zonal qualifiers, the best two teams from each local government area will assemble in Yenagoa, the state capital, for the round of 16 fixtures.
The champions at the local government level will receive the sum of one million Naira while the runners up will go home with the sum of N500,000.
Prize money set aside for the tournament at the local government level is N12 million. There is no prize money for the female and para categories at the local government level.
Sale of registration forms of the competition, arguably the biggest grassroots football competition in Africa, will commence from Monday, January 6, 2025 and will close on February 6.
The registration forms will sell for N25,000 for the male category and N15,000 for the female category. The statement was however silent on the amount for the registration form for the para category.
The tournament, which is in its 7th season, promises to be exciting as the champions, Ogboinbiri FC will do everything to defend their trophy while the other teams will want to topple Ogboinbiri FC so they can lay their hands on the juicy prize money.
A Yenagoa-based football enthusiast, Edward Egabo said "soccer lovers are in for a good time. With the prodigious prize money at stake, it is expected that the teams will give their all to ensure they grab the prize money. We can't wait for the competition to begin".
