The largest promoter of Freestyle Football in Africa, Feet ‘N’ Tricks International, has unveiled the maiden edition of the Freestyle Unlocked Africa 2020 championship which is first of its kind on the continent.
Valentine Ozigbo, the Chairman of Feet ‘N’ Tricks International, in the company’s first virtual press conference held on Zoom on Tuesday, revealed that the championship is going to be online and packed with prizes and surprises to “develop and nurture an art, a lifestyle, and a passion for many”.
Freestyle unlocked Africa 2020 is the fourth installment of the annual football freestyle event.
A respected Nigerian business leader, Ozigbo, speaking from Lagos, expressed his passion and commitment to continue to grow freestyle football in Africa. “We will not stop till an African emerges the World Champion, and we host the World Freestyle Football Championships in Nigeria and, who knows, it might even be in my home state of Anambra.”
While noting that the world was going through a difficult time owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ozigbo explained that his passion for the development of the freestyle genre of football spurred him to find a way past the pandemic in order to continue a tradition which had become his passion.
He further stated that while most other sports had shut or scaled down, freestyle football can go on very easily in a non-contact manner to respect the physical distancing rules.
Amaju Pinnick, the President of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), who joined the conference from Warri, Nigeria, delivered a goodwill message in which he echoed the praises and encouragement of Mr. Wood.
Pinnick said he viewed the event as an opportunity for youths to be gainfully occupied in a period where sports activities had been paused by most countries. According to his, Mr. Ozigbo’s decision to hold a virtual competition gave him “priceless satisfaction”.
Giving a breakdown of the mechanics for the event, Mr. Ozigbo explained that just like previous editions, the competition is designed for inclusiveness and will have male and female competitors battling for daily $50, $30 and $20 cash prizes in the People’s Choice category. While the judges choice category, in the last week of the contest, will see freestyle footballers compete for the $1000 grand prize. There are other prizes of $750, $500, $250, and $150 for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place winners. A total of $6,300 will be given out in cash prizes.
Freestyle Unlocked Africa 2020 is set to begin on Wednesday, July 1, 2020 and with the grand finale set to hold on Saturday, June 20, 2020.