The 2011 and third edition of the Rivers State Civil Service football competition, christened  Head of Service, HOS Cup football competition is scheduled to kick off on Monday at the Sharks FC Stadium, Port Harcourt.

According to a release and fixtures signed by the Secretary, Sports Sub-Committee of the 2011 Civil Service Week celebrations, there will be six rounds of 29 matches played on knock out basis amongst the ministries and parastatals of the state’s civil service.

Two matches are scheduled to hold daily at 4pm and 5pm respectively, and the Ministries of Transport and their Agriculture counterparts are billed to open the competition with the first match on Monday, while the Ministries of Culture and Women Affairs take to the pitch afterwards.

The next day, Tuesday, will be the turn of Ministry of Power versus Ministry of Budget and Ministries of Housing  and Justice.

Defending champions, Ministry of Information and Communications will not be in action until Friday, May 13, 2011 when they open their defence with a game against the Civil Service Commission.

First round matches will be played between May 9th and 17th, second round from 18th May to 23rd while round three , which is the quarter-final stage will hold on 24th and 25 of this month.

The fourth, fifth and sixth round matches are scheduled for 30th May, second and third June respectively.

According to the rules governing the competition, duration of every match is limited to 20 minutes each half and a draw match at the end of full time will be decided via penalty shootouts without the benefit of extra time.

All matches will be played at the Sharks Stadium and teams are to arrive the venue by 3.00pm.

Also, players must be civil servants with the Ministry ID cards while each team is entitled to three substitutions in a match.