As the Betsy Obaseki Women Football Tournament goes into the semi finals, all the eight clubs that were eliminated from the tournament were Thursday evening at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, presented with their consolation prizes of N500,000 cash each by the Chairman, Local Organizing Committee of the tournament, Mrs. Sabina Chikere and other members of the LOC.
The teams that got their consolation prizes were; Heartland Queens of Owerri, Naija Ratels of Abuja, Rolly Angels of Benin City, Fortress Ladies of Benin City, Royal Queens of Warri, Sunshine Queens of Akure, Confluence Queens of Lokoja, and Kaduna Queens.
Chikere, noted that, the presentations were made to the eliminated clubs Thursday evening so as to enable them return to their various homes on Friday.
Chikere, who is also the Head of Sports in Edo State, disclosed that: “The Chief Host of the competition, Her Excellency the First Lady of Edo State, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki, has approved the increase in the overall prize monies for the winners by 80 percent, because according to her, she was impressed by the conduct of the tournament and the general feelings of the 12 clubs in the competition.
“Mrs. Obaseki went round the venues of competition and she saw the professionalism, fair play and football entertainment put up by the teams with none of them protesting over decisions of the referees amidst talents discovery and display of soccer artistry by established players. She saw it all by herself in company of the Sports-loving Deputy Governor of Edo State, Rt. Hon. Philip Shaibu.
“Her Excellency approved the increment in the winners’ prize monies from N3 million, N2 million and N1 million for the first, second and third place winners to N5 million, N3 million, N2million and N1million for the first, second, third and fourth place winners. The prize money for the fourth place winners is newly created. This is good for the development of women’s football in Nigeria.”
The four semi finalists have emerged after Thursday last group games; they are Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt, Edo Queens of Benin, Bayelsa Queens of Yenagoa and FC Robo Queens of Lagos, that pulled through as the best overall losers in the group games.
The semi finals will be played on Saturday, October 2, at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, with Bayelsa Queens slugging it out against FC Robo in the first semi finals at 3pm and Edo Queens battle against Rivers Angels in the second semi finals at 5pm.
The grand finale and closing ceremony hold on Sunday, October 3, at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium at 5pm.
