Oyo State government has announced the return of Governor’s Cup Football Competition after eight years.
The football competition will hold before the end of December, 2021 for public and private secondary schools across the length and breadth of the state.
The announcement was made by the State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Seun Fakorede at the inauguration of the Inter-Ministerial Planning Committee of the 2021 Governor’s Cup Football Competition on Tuesday.
According to the Director, Sports Administration in the state’s Ministry of Youths and Sports, Mrs Olubisi Adegoke, who represented the Commissioner, said that the competition, which was targeted at fishing out talents from the grassroots from the 33 local government areas and the 35 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) across the state’s educational zones.
The government spelled out regulations that would govern the game, which include two year ban for any public or private school that feature mercenaries in their team.
Adegoke added that free entry forms will be out as soon as possible, as the competition would be based on knockout from the local to zonal competitions, before the quarter, semi 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 held that the age limit of participating students will be seventeen as the essence is to bring about the spirit of sportsmanship and showcase of talent and right values.
She disclosed that representatives of the Shootings Stars Football Club of Ibadan (3SCs) and Crown Football Club of Ogbomoso are expected to be at the competitions in order to scout for talents among the competing schools.
