FIVE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS WILL START ON NOVEMBER
National qualifiers for the 2017 Football Fives World Championship will begin across the country in November through December this year. Organisers of the event in Nigeria disclosed in Lagos yesterday that next year’s edition will be the biggest, in terms of team participation and nationwide reach as the Local Organising Committee is ready to take the qualifiers to almost all the states in the country.
Nigeria supporters celebrate their team’s 2-0 win over Ethiopia on January 29, 2013 after a 2013 African Cup of Nations Group C football match at the Royal Bafokeng stadium in Rustenburg. AFP PHOTO Speaking at the pre-event conference in Lagos, Technical Director, Shamshudeen Yusuf said the event was aimed at developing sports in Nigeria and to give budding players a platform to express their themselves.
He further said that their goal is to reach out and help those players who are not fortunate enough to play overseas. According to the programme released by the LOC, there will be zonal qualifiers in the six geopolitical zones. After the zonal qualifiers, a three-day national final comprising 32 teams will be held in a yet-to be named city. The teams would be placed in 8 groups of four teams each. The overall winning team will automatically qualify for the World Championship in Beijing, China in May next year.
