The stage is now set for the final football match between Lateef Fagbemi SAN & Co and Adebayo & Gbadamosi Legal Practitioners as two finalists battle for the coveted trophy and cash reward of N250,000 for the winner in the ongoing 2021 edition of the Aare Afe Babalola/Ibadan Premier Bar league on Thursday.
The venue of the competition is the Soccer Pitch of the Citee Oil, Challenge, Ibadan, where lawyers in the ancient city of Ibadan will converge to watch the much awaited final match.
Lateef Fagbemi SAN & Co qualified for the final of the 2020 Aare Afe Babalola /Ibadan Bar League after defeating their opponent, Afe Babalola & Co 4-0, in a crucial semi final match on 26 November 2021.
On the other hand, Adebayo & Gbadamosi law firm defeated Bandele Aiku 5 – 2 to qualify for the final ticket same day.
However, both Bandele Aiku law firm and Afe Babalola & Co are competing for the third place medal in addition to a cash prize of N100,000.
Twelve teams from different law firms in Ibadan, Oyo state participated in this year’s Aare Afe Babalola SAN / Ibadan Bar Football League which commenced on Wednesday 17 November 2021 at the Soccer Pitch, Citee Oil, Challenge, Ibadan.
Apart from the trophy and medals, the winner of the football league will be going home with a cash prize of N250,000 while the teams that emerged second and third place will smile home with N150,000 and N100,000 respectively.
However, the football league was solely sponsored by the Afe Babalola & Co, comprising the four branches (Ibadan, Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt ) to celebrate and honor the founder/Principal, Aare Afe Babalola for his untiring contributions to legal practice and to Nigeria at large.
Earlier, Mr. Oluwasina Ogungbade, a partner at Afe Babalola & Co, said the football competition was part of the NBA Week while the football league would be held annually in honor of Aare Afe Babalola .
He explained that the NBA Ibadan branch co-hosted the football competition amongst the legal practitioners within the Ibadan Bar famously known as the Premier Bar to celebrate the nation’s legal icon, Aare Afe Babalola.
He said, “we have chosen to use football as a mark of honour for our founder/ Principal because of his love and passion for football , our founder/Principal always finds time to watch good football despite his very busy working schedule”.
Besides, he said the competition has increased the bonding and deepen the friendship amongst lawyers in the premier bar.
