Naija Super Eight unveiling ceremony holds Friday

The official unveiling ceremony of Naija Super Eight football competition will hold on Friday at the SuperSport Studios in Lagos, the organisers, Flykite Productions, said in a statement yesterday.

According to the statement, the ceremony will, among other things, unveil the 12 football clubs, two from each of the country’s six geo-political zones, billed to participate in the zonal play-offs, which is the first stage of the tournament.

The six winners of the single-match zonal duels billed to hold from June 23 to 25 at Eket Township Stadium in Akwa Ibom State, will qualify for the Naija Super Eight finals to be held from July 7 to 16 at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos, where they will be joined by two wildcard entries.

To be unveiled per zone, two teams must have polled the highest number of fan votes during the voting exercise managed by internationally-reputed audit firm, Deloitte.

Additionally, the ceremony will also explain the tournament rules, team mentors, who are distinguished ex-Nigeria internationals, as well as sponsors and partners to Naija Super Eight.

According to Flykite Productions Managing Director, Jenkins Alumona, the ceremony will officially kick off Naija Super Eight, as it will give a clearer picture of other elements of the competition.

“This is the first-ever football competition in the country that has given the fans, the actual owners of the game, a major say in determining participating clubs through their votes. Voting began on April 10 and closed on May 12, with the process managed by Deloitte, the world-class audit firm, to ensure its fidelity.

“Two clubs with the highest vote tallies from each geo-political zone, as declared by the auditors, will go into the play-offs to determine the representatives of each zone. They will be announced at the ceremony,” he explained.

Alumona added that team mentors, who are ex-internationals, who will also function as unofficial team leaders of participating clubs, would also be unveiled alongside tournament rules, sponsors and partners of Naija Super Eight.

He disclosed that the ceremony would be broadcast live on SuperSport Variety 4 (channel 209) on DStv and SuperSport Select 2 (channel 64) on GOtv.