By Christian Ogbonna
Yenagoa – Bayelsa Government on Wednesday said that no fewer than 135 teams registered to participate in the 2018 Gov. Seriake Dickson’s Football Tournament scheduled to kick-off on April 22.
Gov. Seriake Dickson, who spoke during the official draws and kits presentation to the teams in Yenagoa, reiterated government’s commitment to sports development.
Dickson said the state government was making plans to set up football clubs in all Bayelsa’s communities and urged the participating teams to take advantage of the tournament to improve their standing.
Mr Perekiye Buruboyefe, the Commissioner for Sports, said that about 106 communities would be taking part in the season two of the game tagged “Restoration Cup 2018.”
Buruboyefe noted that the competition, aimed at taking sports development to the grassroots, would go a long way in discovering football talents.
“The game is to discover some budding talents in the state and I am sure that talents discovered will be utilized for future purposes,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Ono Akpe, Director General of the Competition, said that the game was strictly on knock-out basis and only the final two teams would emerge from the eight local council areas of the state.
“The prize money remains the same (N11 million) as the maiden edition. The winners will get N5 million, N3 million for the second best team, and N2 million for the third best team.
“Consolation prizes include, N500,000 for the fourth best team, N200,000 for the best behaved team, N100,000 each for the best goalkeeper, highest goal scorer, and of course, the most valuable player,” he explained. (NAN)
