Oyo Revives Governor’s Cup After 8 Years •Vows To Banish Mercenaries
The Oyo State government has announced that the Governor’s Cup Football Competition, which has been tested for eight years, will hold before the end of December, 2021 for public and private secondary schools in the state.
The state Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Engineer Seun Fakorede, announced this at the inauguration of the Inter-Ministerial Planning Committee of the 2021 Governor’s Cup Football Competition.
This is contained in a press statement by the state Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr Wasiu Olatubosun.
Representatives of ministries, directorates and government agencies in the state converged at the inauguration to deliberate on the competition.
Director, Sports Administration, Mrs Olubisi Adegoke, who represented the commissioner, said the competition is targeted at fishing out talents from the grassroots from the 33 local government areas and the 35 local council development areas (LCDAs).
She said this would be done through the state educational zones, noting that the government had spelt out regulations that would govern the game.
The regulations, Mrs Adegoke said, include two years banishment for any public or private school that feature mercenaries in their team.
She said free entry forms would be out as soon as possible, as the competition would be based on knockout from the local to zonal competitions, before the quarter, semifinals and final stages.
“This competition is coming back after eight years of its stoppage and it is meant to fish put talents from the grassroots in our public and private secondary schools.
“It is the wish of the government that, this time around, provisions will be made to ensure the competition is made enduring and will not stop again.
“As much as the state government wants to build talents, we have the mandate to instill discipline. We expect them to conform with the rules and regulations guiding the competition.
“No use of mercenaries and violation of the rules. Any school found guilty of these irregularities will be banished from the competition for two years.
Mrs Adegoke said the age limit of participating students has been pegged at 17 years, as the essence of the competition is to bring out the spirit of sportsmanship and showcase of talent and right values.
Representatives of the Shootings Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan and Crown Football Club of Ogbomoso are expected to be at the competitions in order to scout for talents among the competing schools.
