{"id":152802,"date":"2025-02-25T21:56:59","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T20:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/2025-national-sports-festival-688-athletes-arrive-in-edo-for-south-south-zonal-eliminations"},"modified":"2025-02-27T22:49:57","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T21:49:57","slug":"2025-national-sports-festival-688-athletes-arrive-in-edo-for-south-south-zonal-eliminations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/2025-national-sports-festival-688-athletes-arrive-in-edo-for-south-south-zonal-eliminations","title":{"rendered":"2025 National Sports Festival: 688 athletes arrive in Edo for South-South zonal eliminations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>A total of 688 athletes are participating in the South-South zonal eliminations ahead of the 2025 National Sports Festival, scheduled to take place in Ogun State.<\/p>\n<p>The athletes, comprising 378 males and 310 females, are currently at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium for the ball game eliminations.<\/p>\n<p>Peter Njoku, the South-South Zonal Coordinator of the National Sports Commission, disclosed this during a press conference at the opening ceremony of the competition.<\/p>\n<p>Njoku stated that the athletes are competing in eight ball games, including basketball, volleyball, cricket, hockey, football, beach volleyball, handball, and Abula.<\/p>\n<p>He explained that the eliminations were for the South-South states of Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, and Cross River.<\/p>\n<p>However, he noted that Cross River was the only state yet to arrive for the competition.<\/p>\n<p>Njoku expressed confidence that athletes from the South-South would emerge victorious in the event.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, in his speech, Desmond Enabulele, the Executive Chairman of the Edo State Sports Commission, emphasised the need to harness the power of sports to unite young people and create opportunities for them.<\/p>\n<p>Enabulele highlighted that sports have always been a powerful tool for unity, discipline, and youth empowerment.<\/p>\n<p>He described the zonal elimination games as a crucial stage in the journey to the National Sports Festival.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs we gather here today, let us remember that beyond competition, this event is an opportunity to foster friendship, teamwork, and mutual respect among our young athletes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must continue to harness the power of sports to unite our youths and build a future filled with opportunities for them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo our athletes from Edo, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Delta, I urge you to compete with passion, determination, and sportsmanship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are not just representing your states but also showcasing the strength and talent of the South-South region. Give it your best, and let your performance speak for itself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing the officials and referees, the Edo Sports Commission chairman stressed the importance of fair play and impartiality in officiating.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe credibility of this tournament depends on your integrity, and we expect nothing but unbiased and professional judgement to ensure that the best teams emerge victorious,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. A total of 688 athletes are participating in the South-South zonal eliminations ahead of the 2025 National Sports Festival, scheduled to take place in Ogun State. The athletes, comprising 378 males and 310 females, are currently at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium for the ball game eliminations. Peter Njoku, the South-South Zonal Coordinator [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":152801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[16033,443,16032,254],"class_list":["post-152802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-2025-national-sports-festival","tag-edo","tag-edo-for-south-south","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>2025 National Sports Festival: 688 athletes arrive in Edo for South-South zonal eliminations - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A total of 688 athletes are participating in the South-South zonal eliminations ahead of the 2025 National Sports Festiv ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/2025-national-sports-festival-688-athletes-arrive-in-edo-for-south-south-zonal-eliminations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2025 National Sports Festival: 688 athletes arrive in Edo for South-South zonal eliminations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A total of 688 athletes are participating in the South-South zonal eliminations ahead of the 2025 National Sports Festiv ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/2025-national-sports-festival-688-athletes-arrive-in-edo-for-south-south-zonal-eliminations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-25T20:56:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-27T21:49:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/sm_1740509455.353203.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"493\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/2025-national-sports-festival-688-athletes-arrive-in-edo-for-south-south-zonal-eliminations#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/2025-national-sports-festival-688-athletes-arrive-in-edo-for-south-south-zonal-eliminations\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"2025 National Sports Festival: 688 athletes arrive in Edo for South-South zonal eliminations\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-25T20:56:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-27T21:49:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/2025-national-sports-festival-688-athletes-arrive-in-edo-for-south-south-zonal-eliminations\"},\"wordCount\":379,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/2025-national-sports-festival-688-athletes-arrive-in-edo-for-south-south-zonal-eliminations#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/sm_1740509455.353203.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2025 National Sports Festival\",\"Edo\",\"Edo for South-South\",\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/2025-national-sports-festival-688-athletes-arrive-in-edo-for-south-south-zonal-eliminations#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/2025-national-sports-festival-688-athletes-arrive-in-edo-for-south-south-zonal-eliminations\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/2025-national-sports-festival-688-athletes-arrive-in-edo-for-south-south-zonal-eliminations\",\"name\":\"2025 National Sports Festival: 688 athletes arrive in Edo for South-South zonal eliminations - 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