Onitsha Unity Cup:The commercial nerve center of the South-East agog for final

By

Jennifer Okoye

It’s going to be a football Sunday as all and sundry in the commercial nerve centre of South-East, Nigeria will throng the Chuba Ikpeazu Stadium, Awka Road, Onitsha, the venue of the final of the 2022 Onitsha Unity Cup between Mourinho Football Club and Galaxy Football Club at 2.00 pm.

An initiative of Onitsha Ex-Footballers in Diaspora, an organization of footballers who though may not be from Onitsha but they started their football career in the commercial city.

The tournament is the group's way of giving back to the city that gave their career fertile ground to blossom. It is also intended to empower and engage the youth, keep them from anti-social behaviour, provide them an opportunity to excel in football, boost the local economy and add other positives to Onitsha city and environs.

Since it started about two months, the Onitsha Unity Cup has attracted a huge crowd from the community and unearthed many talents.

The Secretary of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of the 2022 Onitsha Unity Cup Raluchukwu Chukwuneke said.

“Onitsha Unity Cup Competition in the last two months added colour and entertainment to football in the Onitsha metropolis, even as we are rounding up this edition, football fans are eager to know when the next edition of the competition will start in 2023.  Football supporters and fans are very pleased with the high level of organization and the level of football displayed by the teams that came for this first edition of the Onitsha Unity Cup, powered by Onitsha Ex-Footballers in the Diaspora.”

Chukwuneke said that being the first edition, the LOC encountered some challenges which they eventually surmounted but he promised the next edition will be bigger and better,

“You know as it is the first edition, we encountered a lot of challenges, ranging from registration, resolving with the two stadium managers and so many logistics but the 2023 edition will be bigger and better”.

For Chukwuneke, his greatest joy is that talents discovered during the preliminaries will have the opportunity to further their careers at a higher level in the local and even the highly competitive and lucrative European leagues,

“The talents discovered during the cause of this competition will be given a chance and trial opportunities at home and abroad. Since the beginning of the competition many local and many foreign scouts attended our matches and they have spotted some talents, I am expecting many more scouts at the final on Sunday.”