From Henry Ibya, Makurdi
About 23 football clubs have indicated interest to participate in this year’s Benue football league tournament organized by Benue State Football Association, sponsored by Ratels Sports Foundation Abuja.
Speaking with sportswriters after draws for the league were conducted at the board room of Aper Aku stadium Makurdi, secretary general of Benue State Football Association, Dr Iorngulum Malu said the innovations introduced in the league were not just in line with global best practices in football but to equally allow participating teams select their groups themselves to ensure transparency and fairness.
He further revealed that the 23 teams that have registered for the tournament in Makurdi center were divided into groups A and B with group A having 12 clubs while B will be playing with 11 teams with the process done by themselves to avoid complaints.
According to Dr Malu, draws for Otukpo, Adikpo and Logo centers would be conducted at a later date while the opening ceremony of the league would hold Monday next week with all participating teams, the sponsor of tournament Barr Paul Ede of Ratels Development Foundation Abuja and other stakeholders to grace the ceremony.
The Benue State Football Association secretary who said the essence of the draw is to ensure transparency to avoid unnecessary complaints from participating clubs, cautioned participating teams to demonstrate high level discipline within period of the championship, warning further that organizers would not tolerate indiscipline.
He added that players should avoid having direct confrontation with match officials , while each team should have two set of jerseys to avoid clash,for the tournament to grow and commended clubs that participated in the draws for their orderly conduct and called for cooperation for a smooth league.
In their separate remarks after the draws, chief executive officer of aeson FC David Kakaan and head coach of Dreams Football Academy Mark Inienger,all commended organizers of the tournament, particularly the sponsor Barr Paul Ede of Ratels Sports Development Foundation Abuja, for sustaining sponsorship and pledged to ensure the success of the league while a soccer enthusiast Dr Joseph Apera of the Physical and Health Education Department, College of Education Katsina-ala, commended the state Football Association for continuous improvement on organization of the league.