{"id":32729,"date":"2026-09-07T02:57:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T05:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=32729"},"modified":"2026-09-07T06:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T09:52:11","slug":"cote-divoire-national-lottery-expands-sportcashs-grassroots-football-reach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/cote-divoire-national-lottery-expands-sportcashs-grassroots-football-reach","title":{"rendered":"C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire National Lottery expands Sportcash\u2019s grassroots football reach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LONACI is using its Sportcash brand to strengthen its presence in community football, with Football Club 22 San Pedro crowned winner of the 10th Petits Poteaux tournament in Dimbokro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire.- C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire\u2019s National Lottery (LONACI) is expanding the reach of its Sportcash sports-betting offering, using grassroots football<\/strong> to strengthen the brand\u2019s visibility beyond its betting platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Football Club 22 San Pedro was crowned winner of the 10th edition of the Sportcash Petits Poteaux tournament in Dimbokro, beating Dj\u00e9kanou FC 3-2 in the final at the Djoulakro Maracana ground. The tournament<\/strong> got underway on August 8 and wrapped up on September 5, with 24 teams competing in the Petits Poteaux format in Dimbokro. Teams travelled from several parts of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire to take part in the month-long competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Football Club 22 San Pedro collected FCFA1m (US$1,771), the Dramane Coulibaly Trophy and sets of kits, while Dj\u00e9kanou FC received FCFA500,000 (US$886).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LONACI director general Dramane Coulibaly<\/strong> attended the final, alongside N\u2019Zi region Prefect Jules Gouess\u00e9, traditional leaders, elected officials and former C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire internationals Z\u00e9z\u00e9to and Zoro Marc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2026 edition was held under the theme \u201cYes to football, no to drugs!\u201d, adding an anti-drug message to the competition. At its launch, LONACI representative Richard Tour\u00e9 called on participating teams to uphold sporting and exemplary conduct while promoting social cohesion.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Football Club 22 San Pedro celebrate winning the Sportcash Petits Poteaux tournament<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

LONACI said: \u201cBeyond the sporting result, the tournament was a true celebration of football, fair play, cohesion<\/strong> and conviviality.\u201d The operator added that the hard-fought final delivered a fitting close to the 10th edition, describing it as an ending \u201cworthy of the event.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tournament comes as LONACI continues to develop Sportcash, its sports-betting offering. The operator launched a new Sportcash technical platform<\/strong> and improved offering in January 2025, marking a new phase in the product\u2019s development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sportcash has also been tied directly to betting through LONACI\u2019s \u201cWin Your Car with Sportcash \u2013 World Cup 2026\u201d promotion, which ran from June 24 to August 11. The campaign offered a car valued at FCFA 20m (US$35,400) as its top prize. Under the official rules, participants had to place a Sportcash bet of at least FCFA 5,000 (US$9) and register their tickets, with five bettors <\/strong>selected through a combination of ranking and a draw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dimbokro tournament gives Sportcash a community-focused football presence, while the separate World Cup campaign directly linked the product to sports betting. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Ghana Football Association restricts betting odds on domestic matches<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LONACI is using its Sportcash brand to strengthen its presence in community football, with Football Club 22 San Pedro crowned winner of the 10th Petits Poteaux tournament in Dimbokro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2809,"featured_media":32736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"LONACI is strategically leveraging its Sportcash brand through grassroots football sponsorships in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, notably the Petits Poteaux tournament, to enhance brand visibility and foster community engagement. This initiative complements recent product enhancements, including a new technical platform and a high-value promotional campaign, underscoring a concerted effort towards market penetration and corporate social responsibility.","focusai_entities":"LONACI, Sportcash, Football Club 22 San Pedro, Dj\u00e9kanou FC, Dramane Coulibaly, Jules Gouess\u00e9, Z\u00e9z\u00e9to, Zoro Marc, Richard Tour\u00e9","focusai_location":"C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Dimbokro, San Pedro, Dj\u00e9kanou","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.8), compliance_legal (0.7), operator_casino (1.0), product_ux (0.7), tech_data (0.7), marketing_crm (1.0), investor_analyst (0.8), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"GGR Impact Analysis?","query":"What are LONACI's projected GGR and NGR uplifts attributable to these enhanced community engagement initiatives and high-value promotional campaigns for the Sportcash vertical?"},{"label":"Platform Technology Stack?","query":"Could LONACI elaborate on the specific technological architecture, vendor partnerships, and scalability improvements integrated into the new Sportcash technical platform launched in January 2025?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60017,60012],"tags":[61202,61201,78],"class_list":["post-32729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sportsbetting-news","category-west-africa","tag-anti-drug-message","tag-community-football","tag-sports-betting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2809"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32729"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32760,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32729\/revisions\/32760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}