State Finals of Abia Soccer Fest Tournament Kicks Off Across Abia

The State Finals of Abia Soccer Fest tournament has kicked off with games played across the three centres in Abia state.

In Umuahia the first match was between Isuikwuato and Arochukwu.

Speaking while performing the ceremonial kick off at Ubakala mini stadium on Friday, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Prince Uzor Nwachukwu charged the players to maintain discipline while playing to win.

Prince Nwachukwu reiterated that the Abia Soccer Fest was introduced to identify footballing talents domiciled in the grassroots with the aim to draw them out from the communities.

“The essence of this entire competition is, first and foremost, to draw out talent from the various communities,” Nwachukwu said.

“And I am happy to say that some of the players I am seeing here, some of them are 17, 18, so we are happy that they are coming out.”

Prince Nwachukwu disclosed that during the local government stage, the state identified 57 star players, many of whom he said would still be playing at the end of the day.

“We will pick up all these players and then have them compete amongst themselves so that they can have opportunities in bigger clubs and showcase their talents.”

“So apart from drawing out the talent, we also want to use it as a bonding strategy for communities to interact through the medium of sports,” Prince Nwachukwu stated.

Also speaking the Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development Sir Nwaobilor Ananaba while noting that the competition has so far produced over fifty star talents, revealed that the state government would be inviting international scouts for possible selection.

Sir Nwaobilor advised the teams to play to the rule and take every bit of it very seriously, and be hopeful that they could be selected to join other talents already discovered.

He appreciated the state Governor, Dr Alex Otti for his unwavering commitment to the development of sports.

The Vice Chairman of the Abia State Soccer Fest Local Organizing Committee, Captain Eric Asomugha explained that the kick off marked the commencement of the second phase of the tournament featuring the 17 LGAs who would compete among themselves in four different groups.

Team Isuikwuato in red and Arochukwu in lemon

Captain Asomugha noted that the Abia Soccer Fest has given the young people a platform to showcase themselves to the world and advised them to be disciplined throughout the tournament.

According to him, “the whole idea of Abia Soccer Fest is for community engagement, youth empowerment, and talent hunt.

“We want to give opportunity to our great footballers who are in the grassroots.

“So, we’ve gone deep into the villages. And mind you, this competition is being played by 184 wards in the state from the 17 Local Government Areas.

“So, we have two phases. Phase 1, we played 166 matches across the 17 Local Government Areas. And today, we are kicking off the second phase, which we call the State Finals; where the 17 Local Government champions will be competing against each other for the state champion,” Captain Asomugha explained.

On her part, the Secretary of the Local Organising Committee and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Lady Oge Maduka praised Governor Alex Otti for all he is doing in supporting the development of the young people and urged all participating LGAs to play according to the rules of the game.

At the end of the match, Isuikwuato defeated Arochukwu by a lone goal .