THE Nigeria Television Authority will broadcast live Wednesday’s draw ceremony of the Aisha Buhari Invitational Women’s Football Tournament (Aisha Buhari Cup), the Local Organising Committee announced on Tuesday evening.
Marketing Consultant for the tournament, Mr Taye Ige, who is also President of HotSports Media Group, was in Abuja on Tuesday to meet with the Director-General of the national station, Alhaji Yakubu Ibn Mohammed, to seal the deal.
Chairman of the LOC, Seyi Akinwunmi, said: “This is an interesting development. We are excited by this and it will surely complement the efforts we have put up to ensure a first-grade ceremony on Wednesday.”
The ceremony, billed to commence at 12 noon at the Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos will see the six teams in the tournament drawn into two groups of three teams each, with nine-time African champions Nigeria heading Group A, and Africa’s number two ranked team, Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon, heading Group B.
The other teams in the draw are Mali, Morocco, South Africa and Ghana.
A press conference on the eight-day tournament, to be hosted in Lagos, will be held at 10am also on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Super Falcons forward Gift Monday has joined her team-mates to commend the First Lady Aisha Buhari for the idea behind the invitational tournament.
Monday, a two-time highest goal scorer of the Nigeria Women’s Premier League, said:
“The choice of the theme of the Invitational Tournament, Playing for Good, tells a lot about the love the First Lady has for the girl-child and the women folk.
“It also sends a strong message to the competition itself, which in all intents and purposes will be out to achieve the theme of the competition. Young and budding players will be provided with the opportunity to watch senior players display their talent, which would invariably encourage them to plan positively for the good of the game.
“And by implication, their future will be assured starting from the African continent to the world over where they will rise to be top players for their countries’ national teams and also become professional footballers in Europe and other parts of the world.”
