Gulder Five -A -Side Soccer Competition Kicks Off

June 25, 2011 (Press-News.org) The activities for the second edition of the Gulder Five-A-Side Soccer competition have started. Regional screening for participation in the most entertaining football talent show would effectively kick-off across the country on July 19 with zonal preliminaries at seven locations in the North, Central, South, East, Mid- West, and Lagos.

According to the Corporate Affairs Adviser of the Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr. Yusuf Ageni, who spoke yesterday at a press conference in Lagos to flag off this year's edition of the tournament, the competition is open to all Nigerians from the age of 18 years. Participation in the tournament, he said, would be by team representations and not by individuals.

He noted that a team would consist of eight players and two managers. Registration for the event which is free for all Nigerians will be available on the official website of the event. http://www.gulder5asidefootball.com and has been scheduled to close on July 12.

According to the organisers of the football competition, Zonal matches will be played at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna for teams in the North, while the FCT playing Ground, Area 3, Abuja would be for teams in the Central Zone. The Liberation Stadium Practice Pitch, Port Harcourt would serve as venue for team in the South- South, while Eastern teams will converge at the Rangers International Football Club Training Pitch, Enugu. The Warri Township/ City Stadium will be the battle ground for teams in the Mid- West, while Ijebu-Ode stadium will host teams in the Western Zone. The New Gymnasium of the National Institute for Sports NIS, located inside the National stadium, Lagos is the battle ground for teams in the Lagos Zone.

Two teams will represent each of the 7 regions for the final showdown in Lagos. All the 14 teams which qualify to play at the Knock out stage in Lagos will be fully kitted by the ultimate beer brand, Gulder. The eventual winner of this second edition of the Gulder Five-A-Side Soccer championships on September 10, 2011 will go home with a cash prize of N5 million, while the second placed team gets N2 million and the third placed team will contend with N1 million.

To ensure strict adherence to international rules of football, the organisers of the competition have stated that, FIFA's rules for Five-A-Side indoor competition will be adopted in order to provide talents in the game, the appropriate learning curves and awareness necessary for the big stages in global football.