The second edition of the Betsy Obaseki Women Football Tournament (BOWFT), on Friday, came to a close amid pomp and pageantry with Robo FC of Lagos crowned as champions after defeating the host Edo Queens 1-0.
The 10-day event came to a thrilling conclusion amid cheers and fanfare, featuring scintillating cultural displays, singing, dancing and drumming as well as exciting exotic displays by various groups to announce the end of the tournament.
The tournament, which is Nigeria’s only pre-season women football championship, is the brainchild of the Wife of the Edo State Governor, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki.
The tournament themed, ‘Say No to Drugs’ is aimed at raising awareness on the adverse effects of drug abuse among youths.
A seminar/lecture was also organised as a part of the tournament, bringing over 10, 000 youths, eminent personalities, guests and representatives from Nigeria’s 36 states for a discourse to advance the campaign against drug abuse, its various manifestations, impact on the sports industry and the larger society and the imperative for collective action to tackle the menace for the betterment of society.
Present at the closing ceremony were Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki; his deputy, Rt. Hon. Philip Shaibu; Minister of Sports, Chief Sunday Dare; former Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, and governors’ wives from Sokoto, Enugu, Delta, Abia, Ogun, Oyo, Taraba and Bayelsa states led Chairperson of the Nigeria Governors’ Wives Forum and First Lady of Ekiti State, Erelu Olabisi Fayemi, among others.
Others are Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Marcus Onobun; Chairman Edo Sports Commission, Yusuf Ali and Wife of Edo State Deputy Governor, Maryann Shaibu, among others.
The tension soaked match between Robo FC and Edo Queens ended with a 1-0 scoreline in favour of the Lagos-based team. The only game of the match was scored in the 24th minute of the first half by Oladeti Rukayat.
In the third place match, Delta Queens defeated Nasarawa Amazons 4-2 in penalty shootouts after both teams failed to find the back of the net after 90 minutes of epic battle and 30 minutes extra-time.
