Ministry of Sports roll out schedule For 2022 Principals Cup

The Sports Minister Sunday Dare made this disclosure when interacting with the sporting media recently in Abuja, while rolling out the commencement and closing dates of national age-grade football competition.

“You will recall that the 2021 Edition of the Championship (Principals Cup) was successfully organised by the Ministry with the finals in Abuja. This year’s edition shall build on the successes of the last edition and it is tagged “Operation Catch them, Young”, Dare told media.

The 2022 Edition of Championships shall feature only male Football team as part of efforts to rebalance the Championships on a sound footing before additional sports/events may be reconsidered for future editions.

As contained in the Competition Structure for the Championships each state is expected to organise competition amongst its Secondary Schools (Private and Public). At the end of the competition, the Winner

and runner-up School Teams shall emerge to represent the State and the FCT at the Zonal Finals. From the Zonal Finals, two (2) School Teams will emerge to represent a zone at the National Finals in Abuja.

The periods of the Championship Competition are as indicated below:

State Finals: 7-9 November 2022

 Zonal Final: 11-14 November 2022

National Finals: 16-20 November 2022 at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

“Accordingly, as a major stakeholder and partner in grassroots sports development in the country, I am pleased to inform you of this development and to seek your cooperation, collaboration and participation in the various activities lined up for the Championships,” Dare told media.

“You are kindly requested to provide your State Team with necessary logistics support to ensure their effective participation at the State and Zonal Finals. While looking forward to receiving you and your State teams at the Zonal and National Finals.”

The national Principals Cup football competition which commenced last year was won by FOSLA Academy, Abuja.