20th National Sports Festival: Everything You Need to Know About Edo2020

The National Sports Festival is enjoying something of a renaissance after a  hiatus of six years during which no Festival was staged until the 19th edition in the FCT in 2019, which was won by Delta State.

Edo State then emerged hosts of the 20th edition at the conclusion of the 19th edition after seeing off competition from Imo, Cross River and Delta States.

The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) promise that Edo 2020 NSF will be an uunforgettable festival and will meet international standards just like the Olympics or Commonwealth with aim to discover grassroots talents and restore the spirit of sportsmanship among Nigerians.

"Edo is not just hosting for the fun of it, we are hosting an event that will be historic. We are hosting to raise the standard and organisation of the games" according to Godwin Obaseki, Governor of the state.

Date and Duration
The 20th NSF is expected to run for 12days, commencing from Friday March 20 and close on Wednesday April 1.

Torch of Unity
The Torch of Unity for the 20th NSF torch was lit up on Thursday January 30 in Abuja and is on it's way... to go round the 35 states, and will land in Benin city on Friday, March 20 for the official opening ceremony. of the festival.

The Torch symbolizes unity, peace, friendship, tolerance and hope among Nigerians. When the Torch moves round the cities and people see it, they begin to realize the festival is here, and it always brings a good feeling to everyone

Mascot and Theme Song
The teddy bear mascot of Edo 2020 symbolises hosting with the right spirit, making the 20th National Sports festival a reference point other future hosts will look up to.

The theme song "The future of sports" was selected out of 77 entries

Venues
The festival, and the events will hold majorly at Samuel Ogbomudia stadium and in about 22 venues in the ancient city of Edo. Top schools with good sporting facilities will be used both for the events and accommodation of athletes: University of Benin, Ambrose Ali University Akpoma, Government Science and Technical College (GSTC) in Benin... among others.

The Festival Secretariat
The Secretariat complex for the 2020 National Sports Festival, is located within the Edo State Government House in Benin City and would serve as the coordinating venue for the competition, which holds in different venues across the state.

Obaseki described the edifice as a world-class office with a conducive environment for work.

Media and Publicity
Super Sports will beam the opening and closing ceremonies of the festival live, while NTA, AIT and other local television stations will hook up to it throughout the duration of the competition.

A social media committee have been set up to ensure NSF gets trending on Youtube, Twitter, Instragram, Facebook with hashtags: #Edo2020, #20thNSF and NSF2020.

As part of the publicity for the festival, billboards will be hosted in major airports in the six geo-political zones of the country.

Expected Population Increase in Benin City
50,000 spectators are expected in and out of Benin city from neighboring states, Delta: Asaba, Warri, Agbor and Ondo state as well as clusters from neighboring towns in Edo State: Uromi, Okada, Auchi...

Officials Expected
1500 officials as well as 2700 contracted and voluntary workers during the festival. 1000 cleaners is also recruited for program by Edo Waste Management company.

Athletes Expected:
8,500 athletes are expected to participate at the festival, competing for about 3,000 medals from 32 sport events

Sporting Events:
The National Council on Sports have revised the number of sporting events to be staged at future National Sports Festivals (NSF) to a maximum of 32 sports comprising 27 compulsory sports and 5 optional sports starting with the 2020 edition of the NSF to be hosted in Benin City, Edo State.

The development was reached at an extraordinary meeting of the Council held from Tuesday 12 -Thursday 14, 2019 in Benin, where it was decided to increase the number of compulsory sports to 27 from 22 with the permanent addition of five sports: Karate, Squash, Kick-Boxing, Kung-Fu and Scrabble.

The five optional sports to be staged at the games would be at the discretion of the host state with Edo settling for Para-Tennis, Rugby, Cricket, Deaf Athletics and Golf.

Rugby makes a return to the NSF for the first time since the 2009 Kada games held in Kaduna while the other sports had an outing at the 19th NSF in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) last year.

The National Sports Commission said its decision to increase the number of sporting events at the NSF to a maximum of 32 sports is in line with practices obtainable in the organization of major International Games i.e. Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Continental Games etc.

Other considerations for settling for no more than 32 sports according to the Council were to reduce the burden of hosting, organizing and participating in the festival.

In selecting the compulsory sports the Council considered the popularity of a particular sport across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nigeria’s performance in said sport in international competitions as well as the number of States that engaged in the sport at previous Festivals.

List Of Compulsory Sports 
Athletics
Badminton
Basketball
Beach Volleyball
Boxing
Chess
Cycling
Football
Gymnastics
Handball
Hockey
Judo
Karate
Kickboxing
Kung-Fu
Para- Athletics
Para- Powerlifting
Para- Table Tennis
Scrabble
Squash
Swimming
Table Tennis
Tennis
Taekwondo
Volleyball (Indoor)
Weightlifting
Wrestling

List Of Optional Sports
Amputee Football
Canoeing
Cricket
Darts
Deaf sports (Male and Female Sprint Event in Athletics)
Fives
Golf
Para Shooting
Para Soccer
Para Swimming
Para Taekwondo
Rowing
Rugby
Sailing
Shooting
Sitting Volleyball
Traditional Boxing (Dambe)
Traditional Sport (Abula)
Traditional Sport (Ayo)
Traditional Sport (Langa)
Traditional Wrestling (Kokawa)
Wheelchair Basketball
Wheelchair Tennis
Yachting.