Share
Flykite Productions, organisers of Naija Super 8 football competition, has commended the Nigeria Football Federation and other major football stakeholders for their support.
Jenkins Alumona, Managing Director, Flykite Productions, stated that the NFF, which licensed the tournament, other football governing bodies and administrators have offered enormous support for the event.
“We are grateful for the support of the Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau-led NFF, which licensed the tournament and has been of immense support. We are also thankful for the support of other football governing bodies, club owners and administrators. They have been terrific, offering guidance and shoulders to lean on when we’ve needed them and are still not tired of doing the same. There is nothing we’ve asked of them that they haven’t given,” Alumona said.
He noted that the support received is an indication of various stakeholders’ desire to see Naija Super 8 along with similar initiatives accelerate domestic football’s revival.
The two-level competition, open to clubs across the country, was conceived to help revive domestic club football by bringing excitement through fan-focused initiatives.
Qualification is through public fan voting, which commenced April 10 and runs till May 12. The voting process is managed by globally-reputed audit firm, Deloitte, to ensure its credibility.
The first level of the tournament will see 12 teams, two from each geo-political zone of the country, play single-match elimination games at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, from June 1 to 3. Winners will be the zonal representatives in the second stage.
“The 12 clubs are on the 41-club shortlist drawn from across the country by the NAIJA Super 8 Advisory Committee. Two clubs with the highest number of votes from each zone will qualify for the play-offs. Six teams will emerge at the end of the play-offs and will be joined by two others, which are wildcard entries to be decided by the organisers,” added Alumona.
The second stage will be held at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Lagos, from June 16 to 25, sequel to the unveiling of the two wild cards in addition to the teams that qualified to make eight clubs.
Qualified teams will be divided into two groups of four and play in a tournament format, with two teams with the highest point tallies from each group proceeding to the semi-final and two winners moving into the final.