By Taiwo Sportivation Ibrahim
Senior Special Adviser on Sports to Edo state Governor, Sixtus Omakhagbor has hailed his Excellency, Godwin Obaseki for his unflinching support for Edo Queens in the just concluded Nigeria Women’s Football League season, Sportivationng.com reports.
Edo Queens emerged the champions of the Nigeria Women’s Football League last month for the first time in the their history.
Sixtus Omakhagbor has now credited the state Governor and his wife for their support to the team.
He said: “We got it right this time and it has been a very trying period for us, on the day we were playing Bayelsa, Rivers were winning before then Her Excellency, Mrs.Becky Obaseki called me and spoke with the players and prayed with them, telling them they were coming home with the cup.
“My heart was literally jumping out of my mind but she kept encouraging me on the phone as the match was going on until it eventually favoured us.”
Sixtus also commended Obaseki for increasing the team’s match bonus and other allowances to motivate the players ahead of the Super Six.
He said: “If you have a father and a mother praying for you, saying go we are behind you, before we went into camp, the Governor magnanimously approved an increase of the match bonus of Edo Queens by 150%. So for every away game, the players will receive 70,000 naira each and they will get paid before they get to the hotel that’s massive it is not done anywhere in Nigeria. So we expect that every match they must win,
“The team was lodged in one of the best hotels in Edo State, which was shut down for us because the Governor said no distraction for the players,
“The feeding allowance was also increased by another 25%, the players get 10,000 naira for their feeding allowance on a daily basis for 19 days that we have been on this journey,
“Kudos to the players, we won seven out of 10 awards, our captain won two awards, Edo Queens was named the best team of the tournament. We went to Bayelsa prepared and we came back with the trophy.”
Sixtus is confident that the team will make the Edo State and Nigeria proud in the CAF Women’s Champions League.
The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki splashed N42.5m to the players, coaches and backroom staff of Edo Queens following the team’s victory.
The 30 players got N1m each, technical crew N5m, backroom staff N5m, while the team’s supporters club got N2.5m.
