Manju
FC on Monday beat Kansala on penalties after their goalless draw in the
regulation time in the final game played at St. George’s Lower Basic Schools
football Field in Basse, Upper River Region, to clinch the UNFPA’s campaign to
scale up Family Planning uptake in The Gambia football tournament title.
The
two-day football tournament was competed by four villages in URR, namely Koba
Kunda FC, Kansala FC, Manju FC and Bassending FC.
Both
sides made an astonishing start to the final game and launched several
goal-scoring opportunities but to no avail thus the game ended in stalemate.
This
pushed the game into a post-match penalty shootout, which ended in favour of
Manjai FC.
As
champions, Manju FC went home with D7,500 whilst Kansala FC received D5,000 as
the runners-up.
Other
competing teams such as Koba Kunda FC and Bassending FC received D3,000 each as
a consolation prize.
Addressing
the football fans before the official commencement of the football tourney,
Lamin Camara, National Programme Associate at the UNFPA, said the football
tournament will be used as a crowd pulling strategy from the different villages
to disseminate messages on Family Planning to the young people.
“We
thank you all for participating in the tournament and we organized this tourney
in order for you as youth to have some kind of aspiration that would lead you
to be caring family heads in your life,” Camara informed footballers and
supporters.
Young
people present there also benefitted from the FP Commodities and services on
the ground.