CMD Cup erupts in Benin as Enabulele fires up Edo’s grassroots sports revolution

By Maxwell Kumoye 
 
 
The UBTH Sports Complex shook to its very foundations on Friday as the 9th UBTH Interprofessional and Veterans Football Championship, popularly called the CMD Cup, stormed back into the spotlight with all the colour, energy, and rivalry that have made it a Benin City classic.

From the very first whistle, it was clear: the CMD Cup is not just a tournament, it’s a tradition, a movement, a celebration of Benin’s sporting heartbeat.

Honourable Amadin Desmond Enabulele, Executive Chairman of the Edo State Sports Commission, lit the fuse for what promises to be a spectacular edition. 

Though represented by Honourable Frank Ilaboya, his message boomed across the arena like a rallying call for the future.

Edo, he declared, is entering a new era of community sports and the CMD Cup is leading the charge.

Enabulele hailed UBTH CMD, Professor Idia Ize-Iyamu, for her powerful stewardship of a championship that now commands respect across the sporting landscape.

He applauded her for keeping the event “alive, vibrant, and impactful,” describing the CMD Cup as “a model tournament that blends competition, unity, and interprofessional bonding.”
And on opening day, that spirit was everywhere, radiant, loud, and impossible to ignore.

This year’s edition returns with its trademark flavour: corporate teams, government institutions, schools, veteran squads, and sports clubs all hungry for glory. The stakes? Massive. MVP honours, Golden Boot, Best Goalkeeper, Best Coach and the prestigious Fair Play Award, are all up for grabs.

The air is thick with ambition. Rivalries renewed. Legends returning. Underdogs dreaming.
Grassroots football, in all its raw magic, is alive again in Benin.

And with Enabulele promising bigger support, stronger structures, and an unshakeable commitment to community sports, the CMD Cup is poised to explode into its most dramatic chapter yet.

The CMD Cup is back.
The players are ready.
Benin is buzzing.
Let the magic and fun on the turf begin.

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