By Adebayo Oluwajuwon
The Sigma Club, University of Ibadan, on Saturday, August 22, held a press conference ahead of the 2026 Sigma Sports Festival at Room 02A, New Faculty of Arts Complex.
The event, originally scheduled for 4:00 p.m., began at 5:00 p.m., with members of the club reciting the Sigma anthem.
Loyalist Sulaimon Olusegun Philipson, Publicity Chairman of the Sigma Club, opened the conference by introducing the festival. He was followed by the Chairman of the Event Committee, Loyalist Oladoja Ayomide, who provided an overview of the Sigma Club, the origin of the competition, its objectives, competition format and general rules guiding participation.
Loyalist Ayomide announced that registration for the indoor games would be conducted on a first-come, first-served basis, with a maximum of 100 participants, and registration will require certain documents like a Jaja card and a student ID card. He disclosed that the available slots for chess and ludo had already been filled.
Participants will be allowed to register for multiple games, as the competitions will be held on different days and will not run simultaneously.
The 10-kilometre marathon, scheduled for August 29, will be open to both male and female participants, with 150 slots available. A total prize pool of ₦100,000 will be awarded to the top three finishers, while additional incentives will be given to participants who finish between fourth and tenth positions.
The football tournament is scheduled to begin on August 31, with matches to be played on alternate days. The competition will adopt a Champions League-style format in which points will be recorded on a table.
The Old Football Pitch has been designated as the venue for the men’s competition, while the venue for the women’s competition is yet to be decided.
Men’s matches will consist of two 30-minute halves. The duration of the women’s matches, however, will be announced after a meeting involving Sigma executives, team owners and coaches.
The organisers also emphasised that participating teams must comply with Sigma’s uniform standards. Jerseys must carry numbers, and the numbers on the jerseys must correspond with those on the shorts.
The Deputy Chairman, Loyalist Salawu Toyeeb, disclosed that plans were in place to line the football pitch on both the opening and closing days of the competition. He also pledged to address concerns regarding the football net at the Old Football Pitch.
Students of the Distance Learning Centre (DLC) will be eligible to participate in the indoor games and marathon. For football, however, each team will be permitted to register a maximum of two DLC students.
The remaining indoor games will begin with ludo on September 6, followed by Scrabble on September 8, chess on September 10, and table tennis on September 11. Ludo, Scrabble, and chess will be held at the Students’ Union Building (SUB) car park at 2:00 p.m., while the venue and time for table tennis are yet to be announced.
The Event Committee Chairman further stated that participants would receive a rule book 48 hours before the commencement of the competition. He added that the general rules remain subject to change before the festival begins.
The press conference ended at approximately 6:00 p.m. with members of the Sigma Club reciting the Sigma anthem.
