Umuayom village football team in Anambra has emerged champions of the maiden Ife Igbo Peace Cup, winning a cash prize of N1 million.

Umuayom beat Umuzocha 2-1 in the finals played at the Awka Township Stadium on Monday, coming from a goal down to win the match in the second half.

The competition tagged ‘No to Cultism’ was sponsored by Ossy Onuko, managing director of Awka Capital Territory Development Authority, in collaboration with Jezco Oil Ltd.

After handing the cup to the winners, Ben Ndi-Obi said the football competition should be sustained and replicated by other communities as it can potentially address social vices.

“I commend the sponsors for organising this competition. You can see the high involvement of youths and the great excitement. We encourage him and other individuals to emulate this example in all our communities,” he said.

Chinwe Okoli, special adviser to Governor Charles Soludo on Innovation and Business Incubation, congratulated the teams that participated, adding that subsequent ones should have a competition for women.

The organiser said at least 500 players from 22 teams participated in the competition, which began on November 17.

Mr Onuka said there was no incident of cult-related killing or violence in Awka during the competition. He assured the community it would be an annual event with better rewards in subsequent editions.

The teams representing Umuzocha and Umudioka villages went home with N500,000 and N300,000 as the second and third-best teams in the competition, respectively.

(NAN)