The organisers of the Bayelsa Governor's Football Tournament have announced Monday, February 17, as the kick-off date for the 2025 edition of the competition.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Director General of the tournament Mr. Ono Akpe.
The tournament, unarguably the biggest grassroots soccer fiesta in Nigeria, was originally scheduled to kick-off on Sunday, February 16 but was moved to Monday. No reason was given for the change in the kick-off date.
The opening formalities of Season Seven of the Bayelsa Governor's Football Tournament, will commence with the Premium Trust Bank/Prosperity Cup N500,000 raffle draw. The raffle draw, scheduled for 2.00p.m., is open to the first 200 spectators to arrive the Samson Siasia Stadium, venue of the soccer spectacle.
Also, as part of the opening formalities, there will be a novelty match between members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly and members of the State Executive Council. The day, which promises to be a very busy one, will see the defending champions of the competition, Ogboinbiri F.C. doing battle with Bayelsa United Feeders in a ceremonial match.
The statement, which urged fans to come to the stadium to witness the best of grassroots football, stated that Governor Douye Diri, who is the chief host of the event, is expected to take the ceremonial kick-off.
According to the statement, the Deputy Governor of the state, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo is the special guest of honour for the ceremony while the state Commissioner for Sports Development, Dr Daniel Igali is the host.
Ono Akpe, who commended Governor Douye Diri for his unwavering commitment to the development of sports in the state in the last five years, emphasized that season seven of the soccer showpiece will expose more Bayelsa youths to local and foreign clubs.
The Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abraham Ngobere is expected to lead other members of the House to the event just as the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau would also be in attendance.
Meanwhile, Niger Delta Connect gathered that a total of 230 teams have registered for the male category while the female category has 23 teams. We could not establish how many teams will be battling in the para soccer category.
The tournament promises to be an exciting one as the teams battle for the enhanced prize money which will see the best male team carting away N10 million, the best female team five million Naira while the best para soccer team will be going home with three million Naira.
Speaking about the seventh edition of the tournament, a football enthusiast, Kwasi Egabo said, "we cannot wait for the competition to begin".
