The football team of Television Continental (TVC) in Bayelsa on Saturday in Yenagoa defeated their counterparts from New Waves newspaper 8-2 to win the 2017 Bayelsa SWAN five-a-side football competition.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the final match of the competition tagged “Clinton Thompson SWAN Cup” was played at the Kontiki Amusement Park at Igbogene.
Twelve teams from Bayelsa-based media houses participated in the one-week competition organised in honour of the late Clinton Thompson, the pioneer SWAN Vice-President, South-South who died earlier this year.
In the match, TVC led 4-0 by half time, before the state-owned newspaper side overcame their lethargy in the second half to fight back and score two goals.
Earlier in the third-place match, NTA had beaten Royal FM 5-1.
TVC who clinched the trophy also went home with a cash prize money of N30,000, with runners-up New Waves getting N20,000 and the third-placed winners getting N15,000.
Speaking after the games, Perekiye Buruboyefe, the State Commissioner for Sports, hailed Bayelsa SWAN for organising the competition.
Buruboyefe, who pledged support to sports development in the state, said the event has shown the spirit of sportsmanship among the journalists.
“I commend the organisers and all the participants in the tournament. Let us continue to work together and I believe the subsequent editions will be bigger,” he said.
Also, Alambo Datonye, the state Chairman of SWAN said the essence of the competition was to ensure that journalists engage themselves in recreation activities, especially in the area of sports.
He said the event was also part of Bayelsa SWAN’s efforts to revamp sports journalism in the state.
“I pray that the competition will not stop from here,” Datonye said
Ovieteme George, the TVC team captain, expressed joy over their winning, noting that it was a dream come true.
“I am happy that we won. We came for the trophy and we have gotten it. I thank God for that.
