Army, Navy withdraw from maiden Anambra Security Challenge Cup foottball tournament

Jude Obikwelu, the Vice Chairman of Anambra Football Association (FA), said on Tuesday that the Nigerian Army and Navy commands in the state would not participate in the maiden Anambra Security Challenge Cup football competition billed for April 16.
Obikwelu blamed the development on logistics challenges, while speaking at the tournament draws and fixtures held at the FA’s office in Awka on Tuesday.
Davis Fadale, the Sports Officer of the Naval Outpost, Onitsha and representative of the organisation in the organising committee, confirmed that the Navy could not present a team for the tournament due to some exigencies.
Fadale lauded the initiative and promised the full participation of his team in future editions,  when there would be less security challenge.
Meanwhile, six teams, including Police, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Department of State Security (DSS), Nigerian Prisons Service, Immigration and Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) were drawn to trade tackles against one another.
The teams were drawn into two groups of three each to play round rubbing out of which two would emerge for semi finals.
The opening games would see the DSS team square up against the FRSC, while the FRSC would also play Immigration in the second group A game.
Immigration will engage the DSS to determine winners from the group.
In the second group, Prisons will play NSCDC in the first game and NSCDC will lock horns with Police in the second game.
Police and Prisons would battle for superiority to determine the two semi finalists.
Tony Oli, the Chairman, Anambra Sports Development Commission, the organisers of the competition, said the tournament was one of the events lined up for the 2018/2019 Anambra football season.
Oli said the managements of the participating teams were expected to take care of all the logistics that would be necessary to enable their teams to participate fully.
He said there would be handsome reward for the winner of the competition.
He encouraged them to play the games in Awka, the state headquarters of most of the agencies, in order to reduce the cost of mobilising teams to the venues.
Some of the representatives of the agencies said they would need to report back and discuss with their managements to ascertain their status as participants.
The matches were tentatively slated to take place at the Government Technical College and Paul University football pitches both in Awka, the state capital.
The semi finals were scheduled for May 14, while the grand finale would take place on May 18. (NAN)