2022 season of the Nigeria Beach Soccer League set to kick-off

The second edition of the Nigeria Beach Soccer League is set to take off this Wednesday at Ilorin Kwara, featuring a total of ten clubs, two clubs more than the eight involved in the inaugural edition held in 2021.

The new season retains the format of four rounds across four different cities in Kwara, Lagos, Kebbi and a super final round to be staged in Kaduna City for the second time featuring the top four teams on the league table.

The first round in Kwara is scheduled to commence on the 23rd of February, with three match-days. The second round scheduled for Lagos shall be held in March, while Kebbi will host the third leg in May, the penultimate round before the finals in Kaduna at the newly built Beach Soccer Stadium in June 2022.

Mr. Taye Olajide the Secretary of the Nigeria Beach Soccer Association confirmed that the 2022 edition of the national league will retain last season’s format. “Last season which was the pilot edition was indeed a big success. Kicking off in Lagos, we took the game around the country over four centres with the existing capacity to host the game and then held the final round in Kaduna city which showcased the top four teams the league had to offer. This format affords us the opportunity to effectively promote and develop the game across the country. We hope to have more league centres as more clubs joins the league”, he said.

He added that this season particularly promises to be more exciting with former players of the National Beach Soccer team getting involved actively. “You will recall that last season featured Emeka Ogbonna, a Sand Eagles star striker who was recently named among FIFA’s top 100 best players, indeed added value to the league. But this is even getting more interesting with other veterans of the game like Victor Tale, Isiaka Olawale and others including Chirs Kadri leading their teams into the new season, we can only expect to see more quality games”.

The 10 registered clubs are defending champions Kebbi BSC, Kwara BSC, Kada BSC, Kogi Confluence BSC and Lagos trio of Badagry Warriors BSC, Igbogbo Kingdom BSC and Smart City BSC, together with the newcomers Nmanko Pategi BSC, Kelme Galaxy BSC and Niger BSC.

Recall that Kebbi Beach Soccer Club won the maiden edition of the Nigerian Beach Soccer League title after pipping Kada Beach Soccer Club in a 4-3 extra-time win at the Kaduna Beach Soccer Stadium in July 2021.

All matches will be streamed live via Beach Soccer Nigeria Facebook page and website www.beachsoccer.ng