The long awaited ABH League is finally back. The excitement among football aficionados is quite palpable now as the league gets underway today. The ABH Press had an interesting discourse with Mr Olaoluwa Olorunfemi, the Chairman of the Football Association in ABH. He filled us in with details of how this new ABH League season would unfold. Enjoy!
Can we meet you?
I am Olaoluwa Olorunfemi, the Chairman of the Football Association.
The ABH League commences today. How is it expected to course?
There are going to be 14 match days. I might not be exact as to when the league would come to an end. There are going to be Christmas and mid season breaks at some point; and that’s about 4 weeks added to the calendar already. We have 7 match days for the first half of the season and 7 match days for the second half. But by calculation, we’re expected to finish around February 18.
How many teams are going to be participating in this league?
7 teams.
Do these 7 teams have their players complete? Are they all ready to start playing today?
There have been issues as regards that. Some of the variables are beyond anybody’s control at this point. The number of football playing brownites in ABH has dropped. 2K19 Class has more girls than boys. 2K17 Class is not really an active class. So the pool of players available to every team is really low. Each team is supposed to have 6 brownites and 4 non brownites; but we had to increase non brownites to 5 because of shortage of players among brownites. But even now, we might have to allow each team to have at least 4 brownites; but there must be 2 brownites on the pitch at all times.
Are there prerequisites before a team can be registered?
There are just 2 prerequisites. Buy your form and get the appropriate number of players for each part, brownites and non brownites.
Is there going to be a mixture of participants from various departments or levels in each team?
Traditionally, MLS has always had a team- Avalanche- and that continues this season. 2K21 class has a team too. Every other team is a mixture of other departments.
This league should have started earlier. What were the factors that delayed it?
Permission. That has been the major issue, to be honest. We have been on it since August, which was when we first spoke to the Hall Warden about it. He was vehemently against it at first. Then, I raised it again in a meeting we had with the college. But the time he considered it was during 2K21’s White Coat Ceremony. That was when he said “let’s see the state of the hall after the first dose of COVID vaccination.” Even now, we have not got an official approval, but it’s no longer going to be a big issue if we do it, since people have been vaccinated and there has not been a recurrence of an outbreak.
Are there going to be things different in this league, you being FA Chairman?
You have seen some of them already. We have new nets and new balls. Asides those, we have also lined the pitch for clearcut demarcations. There would also be 2 officials behind each post. We’re also considering having odds for the fun of it and to spice things up a bit.
The Sports’ minister mentioned something about sponsorship for this league sometime ago. How about that?
He was referring to the Alumni. I mean, we have a very vibrant 2K16 set which is very much interested in the league. We have not got money yet, but one of them has told me to send him a message. Some others have assured me that before the end of the first circuit of the season, we would get something we can work with. All we have done is from the registration fees.
What about the fixtures for the league?
The fixtures will be out every Wednesday and the result table will be released every Sunday. The first set of matches will be:
Sheggzy Fc vs Avalanche
Time : 7:30 AM
Blackpool Fc vs Skippo Fc
Time: 8:30 AM
Blazers Fc vs Stampede Fc
Time: 9:30 AM
What about the timing for each match?
An issue we had last year was each round of matches extending till around 12 noon each day, which eventually wastes the bulk of people’s day. So, we are not having more than 3 matches a day. Our plan is to be done by 10am. We plan to start playing each day by 7am or latest, 7:30am.
How long is each match supposed to last?
50 minutes. 25 minutes for each half.
What about prizes for the winners?
There are cash prizes for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd. The plan is to give 50k, 30k and 20k respectively. There will also be prizes for the highest goal scorer and the person with the highest assists.
Thank you very much for your time.
You’re welcome.
