The zonal play-offs of the forthcoming Naija Super 8 football competition have been moved from Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, to Eket Township Stadium and will be held from 1-3 June. This was announced on Monday by Flykite Productions, the organisers.
According to the statement Jenkins Alumona, the company’s Managing Director, explained that the venue change was compelled by the decision of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to use Godswill Akpabio International Stadium as the venue for its Super League and its demand that the facility be refurbished ahead of the competition.
“The managers of Godswill Akpabio International Stadium informed us that the facility has been chosen as the venue for the CAF Super League and it will need to be refurbished ahead of the competition.
“This has left us with no option than to move the play-offs to Eket which, thankfully, has a great facility and is close to Uyo.
“The Eket Township Stadium, which was completed less than a year ago, is in good shape.
“Eket is also a football location and we assure fans that they will have a great time watching the play-offs,” Alumona was quoted as saying.
The 12-club zonal play-offs are the first of the two stages of Naija Super 8 and are designed to determine representatives of the six geo-political zones at the finals to be held in Lagos from 16-25 June. To qualify for the play-offs, clubs must be among the two with the highest vote tallies from their zones after the completion of the ongoing fan voting, which opened 10 April and closes 12 May.
The top two teams from each zone will take on each other in a single-game elimination match, with winners proceeding to the finals where they will be joined by two wildcard teams to be decided by the organisers.
Alumona called on fans who have not voted to visit www.naijasuper8.ng to vote for their favourite clubs to be part of the competition.