The title sponsor for the Lagos State Federation Cup (FA Cup), Winners Golden Bet (WGB), on Thursday restated that the oldest football competition had been a veritable platform for grassroots development of football in the state.
The Group Head, Peju Akinbiyi, made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the draws for the 208/2019 Lagos FA Cup on Thursday in Lagos.
NAN reports that the draws were held at the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Secretariat, National Stadium, Surulere Lagos.
Akinbiyi said that the since the betting company took over the sponsorship of the competition five years ago, it had seen a tremendous improvement which they would aim at improving on.
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“This is a competition where we showcase the very best of the grassroots football in Lagos State and we hope it will get better year in year out.
“For this year’s competition, we expect nothing but a great competition and improvement on what we have had in the previous years; this will be visible through improved packages.
“We have increased the prize for the Man-of-the Match, and will also increase the presence on the social media and also, all the teams’ semi-finals will be kitted by the company.
“We have also provided kits for the match officials during the tournament,’’ she said.
The Vice-Chairman Lagos FA, Tade Azeez, said that he expected a healthy competition among all the teams, adding that the FA had created a level playing ground for them.
“We can only expect a healthy rivalry among the teams, no team can claim the sole winner of this competition; all the teams have equal rights to win the competition.
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“All the matches will be played at Agege Stadium, but if we have overflow of matches we can as well use other stadiums in Lagos like Campos Stadium and National Stadium.
“We are going to have double awards during the 2019 Gala Night because we are unable to have them last year, so this year, they are going to have all their benefits,” he said.
NAN reports that 86 teams will jostle for honours at this year’s Lagos FA Cup in the male category, while eight teams will also trade tackles for the female FA Cup.
The 2019 competition will kick off at Agege Stadium on March 30 with Grace Sports Channel set to face TNT Super Warriors at 8 a.m. (NAN)