The calendar of event and the provisional opening fixture of the 2016 Intra-Governmental League have been finally released at the end of the draw for the groups which brought together about 20 stakeholders from the public sector.
The draw was held in the offices of the Sports Bureau in the Ministry of Youth & Sports on 19th Street Sinkor on Friday, March 18.
Technical Sports Director Kelvin Sebwe, who is the chairman of the League said the tournament would formally start on Wednesday, March 23, at 12pm on BYC Field.
He said prior to kickoff there will be a parade in the principal streets of Monrovia, beginning at 8:00am and ends at the Blue Field for an indoor program.
“Each participating institution is expected to send at least seven persons – four males and three females – to form part of the parade and the indoor program,” Mr. Sebwe said.
Former Youth and Sports Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe, who is currently the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism; new Youth & Sports Minister Saah Charles N’tow and Youth and Deputy Minister for Administration Dr. Nancy Freeman are expected to make special remarks.
It has not been confirmed up to press time yesterday, whether a special statement would be read from President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
According to the opening fixture, the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) would host the Ministry of Education (MOE), and the General Auditing Commission (GAC) will meet the Liberia Telecommunication Corporation (LIBTELCO), in both kickball and football.
The remaining matches will be played in two other venues - the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in Central Monrovia and the Willis Knuckles Sports Stadium in Zubah Town, Duport road, Paynesville.
Meanwhile, according to the draw, LACC, MOE, Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Youth and Sports are members of Group A; LIBTELCO, GAC, the Ministry of Health and the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) are grouped in B.
Group C members include Ministry of Postal Affairs (MOPT), Monrovia City Corporation (MCC), Liberia Broadcasting System/ the Ministry of Information Cultural and Tourism ( since the 1980s, this is the first
recurrence of a joined team between LBS/MICAT ) and the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP); while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Judiciary (JUD), National Transport Authority (NTA) and LISGIS are members of Group D.
The members of Group E are the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment (LACE), Ministry of Public Works (MPW) and the National Elections Commission (NEC).
Group F members include the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), the Ministry of State (MOS) and the National Port Authority (NPA).
Coach Sebwe indicated that Group F is still open for any interested public institution to make it four members, and the deadline for registration is Tuesday, March 22.
Some of the notable public institutions which have not registered up to Friday include the Legislature (LEG), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), the Ministry of Defense (MOD), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the Ministry of Labor (MOL), the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), the Ministry of Gender, Social and Children Protection (Gender) and the Liberia Maritime Authority (LMA).
Despite the absence of budgetary allocation in the 2015/2016 National Budget, owing to shortfall, the Intra-Governmental League will still be staged as plan.
Usually, US$15,000 is allotted for the Intra-Government tournament, formerly Inter-Ministerial League - a tournament that brings together all line ministries, agencies, public corporations and other branches
of government together through various sporting disciplines.
The organizer – the MYS has confirmed that ministries, agencies and public corporations that want to compete in the tournament have agreed to register with US$500 in other to help the Ministry successfully organize the tournament.
The Ministry says the tournament plays a major role in recreation, arguing that it helps to keep public servants healthy and allow junior staff to interact with senior staff.