Sigma Club Holds Press Conference to Announce 2025/2026 Sports Festival
By: Joshua Oyetoro
Sigma Club, University of Ibadan, on Saturday, September 6, 2025, officially announced the commencement of the fourth edition of its annual Sigma Chiefs League during a press conference held in Ibadan.
The event, scheduled to run from Monday, September 16 to Saturday, September 27, will feature a wider range of sporting activities than in previous years.
This year’s Sigma Sports Festival will not only host football, but also include table tennis, chess, and scrabble, an expansion aimed at broadening participation and promoting diversity in sports.
Speaking at the press briefing, Chairman of the Sigma Sports Committee, Salawu Toyeeb, explained that the decision was driven by a commitment to inclusion and to providing students with more avenues to showcase their talents.
To open the festival, a novelty match will be played between the male and female football teams of the University of Ibadan and Obafemi Awolowo University. The committee also briefed the press on the competition formats and rules guiding each event.
The football tournament will feature a 16-team knockout format, progressing through the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final. Matches will last two halves of 40 minutes each with a 10-minute halftime break, while female games will be played in 15-minute halves. All female football matches are scheduled to hold at the Zik Maracana.
The table tennis competition will be contested in male and female categories within a single day, involving 16 players in a best-of-three format. The chess event, also a one-day competition, will use the Swiss System Format with four rounds of 15 minutes each before moving to knockout rounds. Similarly, the scrabble tournament will feature 16 players competing across four 50-minute rounds, with winners determined by accumulated points.
Participation is restricted to bona fide undergraduate and postgraduate students of the University of Ibadan, excluding Distance Learning Centre students. Participants must provide proof of student status, while disciplinary measures have been outlined for violent conduct, abuse of officials, and other unsportsmanlike behavior. Teams are also required to submit a 20-man squad list before the competition, and protests must be lodged in writing within six hours of a match.
Cash prizes and medals will be awarded across all categories. In football, the male champions will receive N100,000, with second and third place earning N75,000 and N50,000 respectively. Female winners will claim N50,000, with the runners-up receiving N30,000 and N20,000. Winners in table tennis, chess, and scrabble will each receive N20,000, while second and third place finishers will earn N15,000 and N10,000.
Volunteers from the University of Ibadan student body will also support the event to ensure smooth operations throughout the festival.
