Organizers congratulate finalists, clarify semifinal walkover

The organizers of the prestigious preseason tournament, ValueJet Cup have congratulated this year’s finalists, Smart City, and Remo Stars.

Remo Stars defeated Kwara United in the second semifinal game to seal their spot in the final 4-2 via penalties after the dramatic game ended 1-1 at duration time.

The newly promoted NNL side, Smart City will battle the CAF Confederation Cup campaigner, Remo Stars in the grand finale on Friday at 3pm.

“I want to congratulate the two clubs that made it to the final, and we are looking forward to an explosive final. We appreciate all the clubs that participated in the tournament, they made the tournament competitive. I love the passion and emotion of the clubs and their sportsmanship behavior,” said Chairman of the ValueJet Cup organizing committee, Otunba Tade Azeez. 

Smart City walked over Vandrezzer FC in the first semifinal game due to a sponsorship agreement with ValueJet Airline.

“ValueJet Airline are the premium sponsor of the tournament, and we must protect our agreement. The first communication to all the clubs was an invitation letter, and we invited 18 clubs to participate in the tournament. 10 clubs responded to our invitation and we invited all the clubs to our unveiling ceremony of our sponsor and the draw which was the platform we used to communicate the framework and sponsorship terms to all the clubs.

“We informed the clubs about the clause in our agreement with ValueJet Airline that all participating clubs would play with a branded jersey at the ceremony. Vandrezzer FC just like the other 9 clubs had a representative at the ceremony, we informed the clubs that the ceremony was important to clarify the rules and benefits of the tournament. We presented the jersey to Vandrezzer FC officials at the ceremony and they accepted our sponsorship terms which include the appearance fee and prize monies. 

“They (Vandrezzer) communicated to us after playing with the jersey in the first game without any issue and we further explain to them about the agreement with our sponsor. They had the opportunity to pull out of the tournament after the sponsor ceremony, we had the clubs and Airline management present at the ceremony in case of any dispute but we had none.

“We apologize to the football fans that came to the stadium to enjoy the game and those watching via our YouTube channel. We regret the unfortunate incident, we must protect the framework and sponsorship terms of the tournament after official communication to all the clubs. We understand and respect Vandrezzer's decision to discontinue the game and we wish them success,” Tade added.