As the preparations for the 2021 edition of the prestigious Access Bank UNICEF charity shield polo tournament gets underway, the organizers have confirmed that only 18 teams in four broad categories would jostle for top honours in a fortnight.
It was reliably gathered that the biggest charity polo tournament in Africa is billed to gallop off with fanfare from May 26 and thrills to a colourful climax on June 5 at the foremost Fifth Chukker & Country Club in Kaduna.
The invitation letters sent to patrons stated in part that participating teams for this year’s Access Bank UNICEF Charity Shield Polo Tournament are expected to contribute between N200, 000 to N500, 000 as part of their support for the humanitarian effort even as the organizers insisted that payment is required for entry confirmation which is strictly on a first come, first serve basis.
The international polo fiesta which has been the biggest charity sporting attraction in Nigeria for almost two decades now, offers four major prizes with the winner-take-all Charity Shield being the biggest and the most wanted.
Others are the glittering Access Bank Cup, the UNICEF Cup and the exciting Usman Dantata Cup, among other subsidiaries and individual awards.
Further checks revealed that as teams scramble for the restricted slots, the planning committee maintains that only six low-goal teams would battle for the glittering UNICEF Cup to be decided on the 0-3 handicap category that traditionally attracts over twelve ambitious teams.
We also confirmed that while all COVID-19 protocols will be strictly followed throughout the tournament only four teams each would compete for the Access Bank Cup, Usman Dantata Cup and Charity Shield respectively.
With pre-tournament speculations and tensions reaching the sky, the duo of Jos Malcomines and Lagos STL loaded with foreign ‘hired assassin’ from Argentina and Europe are bracing for war as they dare five times champions, Fifth Chukker-Access Bank team in a winner-takes all charity shield clash that would be too close to call.