By Moses Okorie
Lugbe Zone has emerged winners of the 2025 edition of Assemblies of God Abuja East District Men Football Competition.
In the final match held on Saturday between them and their counterparts from Kuje Zone, Lugbe defeated Kuje by 4-3 in a penalty shootout after the game ended 1-1 in the regulation time.
With this win, Lugbe have maintained their superiority as champions of the district having won the 2024 edition of the competition.
In their previous match, Lugbe also triumphed over Garki Zone through a penalty shootout after the game also ended 1-1 in the regulation time.
Meanwhile, in the third-place match earlier played on the same day, Garki defeated Gwagwalada by 3-2 in a keenly contested game.
On his part, the District Superintendent of Assemblies of God Abuja East, Reverend Emmanuel Ottah said the district intends to make the event a permanent feature of the men’s programme.
He called on other zones to get involved in subsequent editions, because those zones that featured are the ones ready for now, as far as soccer is concerned. He said he believed that with continuity, other zones would pick up and become part of the competition.
On his assessment of the 2025 tournament of the football competition, he said, “I feel very happy because at the inception of this competition, we had an objective to use this game as a way of synergizing; bringing our people together into real fellowship.
“Because of the vastness of the district, somebody around Abaji Zone might not know his brother at Garki, but with this, we have discovered that the objective has been achieved”.
On his part, the Chairman, Football Sub-committee Mr Ben Okonkwo fca thanked all the participating teams for their cooperation and peaceful conduct.
He also thanked God for the injury-free contest and promised that the Organizing Committee will continue to learn from their mistakes and improve with time.
He equally thanked the Central Planning Committee chairman, Chief Dr Goodfriday Ntuno for giving him the opportunity to serve in that position
Excellent publication and strasight to the point