MTN Sponsors Freestyle UNLOCKED Africa 2020

July 8, 2020
Freestyle Unlocked Africa

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Organisers of the Freestyle UNLOCKED Africa 2020 have announced MTN as the headline sponsor for the event.

The contest, in its fourth series, is organised by Feet ‘N’ Tricks International chaired by the immediate past President and Group CEO of Transcorp Plc, Mr Valentine Ozigbo.

“We are excited to welcome our returning sponsor, MTN, in this year’s championship which we are hosting in unusual and difficult times for many around the world,” said Mr Ozigbo.

The freestyle football championship, which commenced on July 1, 2020, is expected to end on July 19, 2020.

The Freestyle UNLOCKED Africa 2020 is the virtual version of the African Freestyle Championships organised by the sports promoter.

The competition began in 2017 as the Nigerian Freestyle Football Championship. The following year, it became a continental sports event with over 18 countries participating in the finals in Lagos, Nigeria.

Commenting on the sponsorship, the Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mr Rahul De, stated that, “As a youth-focused company, freestyle football’s brand essence reflects what the MTN brand stands for – excellence and excitement wrapped into one solid platform.”

“Freestyle UNLOCKED Africa 2020 is a worthy platform for MTN to touch the lives of the future freestyle football stars on the continent of Africa.

“The sport embodies the beauty, diversity and fluidity of the African people and we are proud to partner with Feet ‘N’ Tricks International on this adventure,” Mr De added.

Feet ‘N’ Tricks International, which is hosting this competition in partnership with the World Freestyle Football Association (WFFA) also announced the judges for Freestyle Unlocked Africa 2020.

According to the co-founder of WFTA, Mr Daniel Wood, the judges are a panel of legendary freestyle footballers selected based on their expertise and vast experience in the sport spanning, cumulatively, several decades, stressing that the panel of judges demonstrates that “freestyle football is an important sport touching the future of Africa.”

“We are particularly delighted to welcome, for the first time, two legends of freestyle football in Africa. Chris Njokwana, 2008 South African Freestyle champion who has performed in front of 70,000 people and featured in countless TV adverts and Kamal ‘Kamilio’ Ranchod, who won South African’s Freestyle Streetstyle championship in 2010 and went on to place 2nd in the World Championship later that year.

“Ranchod has served as a judge of international championships such as Super Ball World Open and Sal Beach Games,” Mr Wood announced.

The other judges are the head judge Lukasz Chwieduk, 27, a Polish freestyle footballer and two-time European freestyle football champion; Caitlyn Schrepfer, an American freestyle footballer and two-time USA female champion, and Yo Katsuyama, 23, a Japanese freestyle football champion who finished 2nd at the 2019 Super Ball World Open Championship.

This is the second time that MTN has sponsored the sporting event. The first was in 2018. Other sponsors of the championship are Valentine Chineto Ozigbo Foundation and Eko Disco.

Modupe Gbadeyanka

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

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