The fourth edition of the Betsy Obaseki Women's Football Tournament in Nigeria is expected to kick off on Wednesday, October 2nd, 2024 at the ancient city of Benin the Edo State capital as gathered by Nigeriasoccernet.com.
The competition which is regarded as one of the biggest and most glamorous annual women's pre-season tournaments will feature 14 Women's teams including two international International clubs for the 2024 showpiece.
The theme of this year's edition is 'SAY NO TO TEEN PREGNANCY AND CHILD MARRIAGE'.
The tournament which is tailored towards liberating our young girls from the shackles of gender abuse, also reflects on critical social issues while celebrating women’s football as a way of job creation.
Since the inception of the BOWFT, four years ago, a lot of Nigerian Women's Football Clubs across the country have benefited from the laudable program.
The first edition of the tournament was won by FC Robo of Lagos, while Bayelsa Queens won the second edition. The 2023/24 NWFL reigning champions, Sheroes Cup Champions, BOWFT Champions, and WAFU-B Champions Edo Queens Football Club of Benin won the third edition.
For the 2024 edition, the following 12 teams in Nigeria including two foreign club sides have confirmed their participation for this edition. The teams are Edo Queens, Fortress Ladies, Bayelsa Queens, Delta Queens, Rivers Angels, Heartland Queens, Abia Angels, FC Robo Queens, Ekiti Queens, Naija Ratels, Nasarawa Amazons, and Confluence Queens. The foreign teams from Benin Republic are Espoir FC de Cotonou and Aigle Royal d’Adjara.
The organizer of the tournament Her Excellency Dr. Mrs. Betsy Obaseki, First Lady of Edo State, reassured Nigerians that the tournament has come to stay despite her leaving office in two months.
"We thank God that the fourth edition of the BOWFT is here again, the LOC has put all logistics in place to ensure a hitch-free exercise. I want to reassure our young women footballers across the land that this competition will continue as a private tournament with the board of trustees already in place".
"As you all know, I have adopted Edo Queens, there is a need for me to have another women's football team, we will work with the incoming governor to ensure that Edo Queens keep flying. They have made us proud all these years. So I want them to go out there and win the trophy again because other women's teams are warming up seriously to give a challenge."
It is important to know that the stakes for this year's edition are high and impressive for winners.
The champions will walk away with #10,000,000, the first runner-up will smile home with ?#7,000,000, the third-place team will receive 5,000,000, and the fourth-place finisher will be #3,000,000. richer, while each team participating in the tournament will also receive an appearance fee of #750,000.
Meanwhile, defending champions of last year's edition of BOWFT Edo Queens FC are expected to resume training this week ahead of the new season. The continental team has been on a short break. They are also fully ready for the scrappy BOWFT tournament.
Credit: Edo Queens media