The FCT Unity Football Championship will kick-off on July 8 across the six area councils of the territory, with the grand finale scheduled to hold on July 29 in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).
MOO Mohammed, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), of the Adedoyin Benjamins-Laniyi (ABL) Unity Championship 2023, said this on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said the championship would be used to discover young talents who would be nurtured and sent to clubs abroad to ply their trade.
Mohammed said that 12 teams, two each would be drawn from the six Area Councils of the FCT to compete at the second stage of the championship to be hosted in AMAC.
He said that there would be a scouting team that would be on ground at the quarter, semi-final and final to scout for the best legs in the tournament.
In a remark, Benjamins-Laniyi, the initiator of the Championship, said that it was a privilege to convene a football tournament in Abuja.
“It is my privilege to be the initiator in the Centre of Unity, the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to convene and engage in a football tournament in the spirit of unity.
“ The most critical ingredient of any game is the power to drive with your team the courage of that goal.
“Once you can do that, you don’t see colour, you don’t see age, you don’t see religion, you don’t see your church’s denomination. All you see is the goal. Can I score the winning goal?
“The winning goal for Nigeria is the unity, that we may be one; unity through sportsmanship.
“You know, the power of sportsmanship is what you find played out in political advocacy. You go against all the odds to emerge a winner“, she said.
She urged the Super Falcons to make the country proud by winning the trophy at the 2023 FIFA Women world cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Benjamins-Laniyi advised them to go all out to compete without fear of their opponents when the hostility begins on July 20 to Aug. 20.
In attendance were the representatives of the Chairman of the FCT Football Association, FCT Social Development Secretariat among others.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that former Super Eagles players, Kanu Nwankwo and Femi Ajilore are the ambassadors for the ABL -Unity Championship 2023.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria