TheCable

The 2017 edition of the NFF/CBN All-Financial Institutions football competition will kick off on Saturday and end on October 28.

This was disclosed on Wednesday at a press briefing by both organisations at the NFF’s Glass House.

The apex bank pledged its continued commitment to the sponsorship of the competition that is now in its 31st year.

“It is worthy of note that teams from Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Micro Finance Banks, Financial Regulatory Agencies and other financial institutions have indicated their interest to participate in this year’s competition,” said Martins Ogwuda, who stood in for CBN’s acting director of corporate communications.

“In recent editions, we have observed an increase in the number of microfinance banks participating in the competition.

“This is an indication that the impact of this competition is being felt at the grassroots level where budding talents are often discovered and nurtured to a level of national and international recognition.

“In fact, Balogun Fulani MFB from Ilorin is the defending champion, having won the championship for the first time last year.

“The team has created a record as the first Micro Finance Bank to win the competition since its inception 30 years ago.

NFF deputy general secretary Emmanuel Ikpeme, who represented the general secretary, Mohammed Sanusi, lauded the CBN for keeping faith with the competition for the past 30 years.

He promised that the NFF will always provide the best hands to ensure a flawless organisation of the event.

This year’s championship will begin with preliminary matches in Akure, Bauchi, Calabar and Owerri.

The quarter-final matches will hold at the same venues, while the semi-finals will take place in Lokoja and the final in Lafia.

The winner of this year’s competition will go home with the sum of N2million; runners-up will pocket N1.5million, the third-placed team will earn N1million and the fourth-placed team will get N500,000.