1XBET Tournament’ll be Bigger Next Year, Says Akanni  

After the very successful inaugural edition of the 1XBET Community Grassroots Football Tournament in Lagos this year, the Initiator of the Competition, Waidi Akanni, is already looking ahead towards a bigger edition next year.

The former Super Eagles player in his postmortem of the maiden edition of the grassroots football tournament that involved all parts of Lagos State,  stressed that the 2024 tournament will be bigger and expand to other parts of the South West region.

“Next year’s final may not be in Lagos because we are getting more states from the South West to participate. We are starting gradually to expand it to the South West and very soon, we will cover the entire country in the near future,” enthused the Match International Limited CEO.

While admitting that the 2023 edition was a huge success, he applauded all the teams that participated right from the zonal level till the final in which Bariga FC defeated Odion Ighalo FC 2-0 to lift the golden trophy.

“I must admit that the inaugural edition was a huge success. It went far beyond our imagination in terms of success recorded in planning and execution. My appreciation goes to all the participating clubs, members of the organising committee, stakeholders and the media, in particular, for putting up such a wonderful show,” gushed Akanni who succeeded in attracting some of his ex international to every stage of the grassroots football tournament.

Akanni said the high level of enthusiasm demonstrated by the clubs has forced the organisers and sponsors 1XBET to expand the scope of the competition. “From the next edition, teams will be involved in playoffs before they can qualify to take part in the conferences. We wanted just 40 clubs but after the press conference, there was a deluge of entries. As a matter of fact, some of the late entries complained to our sponsors that we eliminated them unjustly, which was not true,” the Chief Organiser revealed.

The month-long tournament kicked off on October with the final played at the magnificent pitch of the Mobolaji Johnson Arena at Onikan Waterfront on Lagos Island.

A full capacity crowd watched Bariga FC boys shock favorites Odion Ighalo FC to the maiden trophy. In the third place match, Young Strikers from Lagos Island back by their fans that took over all the stands, overcame  De Elite FC from the Epe Conference to win the bronze.

One good news that will gladden the hearts of teams that will participate in the 2024 edition is the increase in the prize money for the winners.

“Our sponsors, 1XBET have agreed to increase the prize money for next year. Without letting out the cat from the bag, I can tell you that it will be almost three times more than what we paid out for this 2023 edition,” concludes Akanni.