At the grand finale of the Freestyle UNLOCKED Africa competition, held on 2nd August 2020, saw top three winners emerge in the male and female category and crowned Africa’s best freestyle footballer.
The competition organized by Feets ‘N’ Tricks International and sponsored by MTN Nigeria had over 500 contestants across Africa compete for the crown, and be titled the Champion of Freestyle Football in Africa.
The male category had the top three contestants emerge from North Africa, with Mohannand Hosam Ali (Egypt) emerging as the champion and earning a cash sum of $1000. Yousef Aiman Riesco (Egypt) and Ayoub Haouas (Morocco) ended up in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
The tightly contested female category also had two of the top three contestants emerge from North Africa. Fatima Akif (Morocco) won the category, while Lubna Omar (Sudan), and Evelyn Okafor (Nigeria) took 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
The selections were done by a distinguished panel of judges, drawn from four continents, appointed by the World Freestyle Football Association (WFFA).
Commenting on the sponsorship, Rahul De, Chief Marketing Officer, MTN Nigeria said, “As a youth-focused company, Freestyle Football’s brand essence reflects what the MTN brand stands for – excellence and excitement wrapped into one solid platform.”
‘Feet ‘N’ Tricks International is Africa’s largest promoter of freestyle football’ Valentine Ozigbo, the Chairman of Feet ‘N’ Tricks International said While explaining that sustaining the championship will guarantee the growth and continuity of the freestyle football genre, Ozigbo went on to use the opportunity to express gratitude to the sponsors and partners of the event. Ozigbo reiterated his assertion that he doesn’t plan on dropping momentum with freestyle football until Nigeria hosts the World Football Freestyle Championship.