Organizers of the prestigious Nigeria Pitch Awards have announced that elaborate and innovative plans have been put in place to stage a glamorous and historic 6th edition of the awards in May 2019.
Shina Philips, the President of the Nigeria Pitch Awards stated this in an exclusive interview with The Point in Lagos.
“The 6th edition is going to be historic because we are adding two key pre-award events which will further help define the character of the awards. For the second time, there will be a Nomination Dinner in March 2019 which will attract football stars, music stars and Nollywood celebrities,” Philips said.
“There will also be an award lecture on ‘The Role of the Media and Security in Football Development.’ The lecture will be attended by stakeholders and sponsors of Nigerian football, top sports journalists, security personnel and members of the football community.” Philips further stated.
Philips also revealed that the organizers will continue to complement the efforts of the Nigeria Football Federation to “make our football more competitive in order to get the best out of players and officials”.
“This is why we introduced the Football Journalist of the Year (Online Media) and the Sportsmanship Awards which was introduced to identify and honour any Nigerian public official or personality who has exhibited the spirit of sportsmanship in the conduct of his/her business or duties,” Philips added.
The maiden edition of the Nigeria Pitch Awards was held in Calabar, Cross Rivers State capital in November 2013. Since the inaugural edition, the organizers have continued to reinforce the quality of the award process which many have described as credible and transparent.
Each year, winners are picked by a team of over 100 sports journalists spread across the 36 states of the country. These set of highly experienced and professional journalist vote online. The voting process is coordinated by SIAO Partners, one of Nigeria’s top indigenous accounting and auditing firm.
