The annual Delta State Principals’ Cup football competition organized for all secondary schools in the state is set to commence on Monday, October 7, 2024,with the sponsor, zenith Bank Plc and organisers revealing a huge rise in entries for the competition.
The competition witnessed a remarkable surge of participating schools from 167 in the maiden edition to 615 schools in the current years.
The Asaba branch head, Zenith Bank PLC, Dr. Ifeanyi Attama, stated this in Asaba during a press briefing for the commencement of the 2024 edition of competition.
He charged the State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to keep records of the outstanding players from the edition, stressing that hopefully, they would not only play in the national team but have the opportunity to join prestigious clubs in Europe and other parts of the world.
Dr. Attama said Zenith Bank was proud that talents were discovered in the previous editions.
The State’s Commissioner for Secondary Education, Mrs. Rose Ezewu, said that the competition was organized to foster the love of sports in youths and to also provide an avenue to discover young talents in the game.
Ezewu stated that there would be an improvement on the past editions as the bank and the Ministry had introduced the use of the National Identification Number (NIN) to check and avoid cheating in the competition
The CEO of Hideaplus and consultant of the event, Mr. Tony Pemu, explained that the competition was open to students from JS1 to SS2 with the exception of the certificate class which is SS3.
Pemu added that the winner of the competition would represent Delta State at the National Principals’ Cup Football tournament.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Augustine Oghoro, who appreciated Zenith Bank for their partnership and sustenance of the competition, urged the media for a better and wider coverage of the competition.
The competition starts at various preliminaries centers on Monday October 7 with the official Kick-Off slated for Asaba on October 9.
