Timeless FC, were on Friday crowned champions of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) football tournament after beating Young Powerful 3-1 in a post-match penalty shootout following a goalless stalemate in regulation time.
The four-team tournament was played at the Farafenni playing ground in the North Bank Region (NBR). The two finalists were joined in the competition by Rock Land and Fire House FC.
As winners of the tournament, Timeless FC pocketed home a cash price of D7, 500, while the runners up Young Powerful were given D5, 000. Rock Land FC and Fire Stone were also given a cash price of D 3, 500 and 2, 500 respectively for coming out third and fourth place.
Speaking to the press in a post-game interview, Lamin Camara UNFPA Programme Associate and Focal Person for Communication and Public Information stated that the tournament was a means of attracting the attention of youths to take part in the Family Planning 220 campaign, noting that sports is the best way of targeting youth as they are passionate about it.
He however, expressed delight with the massive turnout of the Farafenni people while hoping for a similar thing in the rest of the regions, noting that this is just a pilot project.
Ebrima Ceesay head coach of Timeless commended UNFPA for coming up with such a powerful initiative, adding that his boys are ever ready to take part in national development projects of such nature. He noted that the team did justice to the game despite not scoring due to some little errors in the pitch.
Ceesay vowed to take up the challenge together with his team to send the message across and make sure family planning and cervical cancer screening is undergoned by their women.
His opponent on the other bench, Yaya Jallow of Young Powerful FC stated similar sentiments, stressing that the campaign is timely and necessary for the people of Farafenni.
by Saffiatou Colley