By Abiodun Adewale.
The shortlisted 41 clubs for the newly birthed off season football tournament, Naija Super 8, will know their fate on Friday (today) as the organisers unveil 12 teams for the zonal playoffs in Lagos, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
After over a month of voting by fans, two clubs with the highest vote tallies from each geo-political zone of the country will tackle each other at the zonal playoffs scheduled to hold in Eket, Akwa Ibom State.
The six best teams at the playoffs will be joined by two wildcard entries to be revealed after the play-offs. The eight teams will participate in the tournament proper at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Lagos from June 17 to 25.
There are 16 NPFL clubs among the nominated teams, while the rest are drawn from other tiers.
CEO, Flykite Productions, organisers of the tournament, Jenkins Alumona, explained during the launch that Naija Super 8 was a game-changing intervention to re-ignite and sustain excitement in club football in Nigeria.
“Naija Super 8 will bring many innovations into club football with world-class coverage and analyses. All the matches will be broadcast live on SuperSport. Each team earns N3m per game. The runners-up trophy comes with N9m, while the winner of the NAIJA Super 8 tournament gets N25m. The best player in every match gets N250,000,” Alumona said.
The organisers have also assured that 100 fans of each club in the Super 8 will be mobilised to Lagos for the tourney.