By Chinedum Ohanusi & Peace Agbo
Over three thousand non-league players have been cleared to participate in the forthcoming 2025 edition of the Abia State Football Festival (ASF), billed to kickstart later this month across all the 184 Wards, and the 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state.
These figures were reeled out on Friday, by the Vice-Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the Abia Football Festival (ASF), Captain Eric Asomugha, while speaking to newsmen in Umuahia on the level of progress made since the inauguration of the LOC, last month.
Captain Asomugha reiterated that the essence of the grassroots competition is to fish out hitherto hidden talents amongst male adolescents in the state, and help nurture them to greatness.
He explained that the competition will kick-off from the wards, and the best team at that level will make it to the Local Government levels, culminating in the State finals, to be contested by the winners of each of the 17 LGAs.
To ensure a hitch-free organization of the tournament, rules and regulations have been drawn, and the Committee will organise a seminar to educate the officials and the competitors on the FIFA/IFAB Rules of the Game, to keep them abreast of the new trends.
He aso described the initiative as first of its kind, and commended Governor Alex Otti’s passion for sports development, as source of empowering youths, curbing youth restiveness, and Social vices; while looking for future players that could star for the state owned teams like Enyimba Int’l FC, Abia Warriors FC, and Abia Comments.
Contributing, the member representing Umuahia Central State Constituency and Co-Chairman, House Committee on Sports, Mr Anthony Chinasa described the tournament as talent haunt driven and noted that the exercise would give exceptional Abia youths visibility, and the opportunity to be heard and noticed all over the world of football.
According to him, “Abia has been known with a lot of innovations in the last two years of Gov. Otti’s administration, and I make bold to say this is not just another football competition; it is in fact a sustainable venture of discovering and nurturing talents that would make Abia and Nigeria proud”, he asserted.
On their part, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Uzor Nwachukwu, and his counterpart in the Youth and Sports Ministry, Sir Nwaobilor Ananaba thanked Governor Otti for his tremendous support for sports development in the state, and pledged to be firm and fair to all teams, and transparency in all their dealings during the competition.
The calendar and schedule of the Abia Grassroots Soccer tournament, which is being organised by the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development will last for seven-long months.
