Abuja – The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Thursday in Abuja said the sponsorship of the grand finale of the annual Federation Cup competition was now open to interested host states.
Seyi Akinwunmi, NFF’s First Vice-President, said after the conduct of draws for the 2016 competition that this was as a result of the expiration of the Federation’s contract with Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Lagos had been hosting the competition’s grand finale for the past five years, with the agreement expiring this year.
“The problem we had is that prior to this time there was a contract with a participating sponsor and that is why I said at the beginning that after this one we should be able to open up and hopefully look for sponsors.
“We have been talking to some, even since last year. Maybe we may even still get for the final.
“But right now we don’t want to breach any contract before we get a deal,’’ the NFF Executive Committee member said.
Akinwunmi also said this year’s Federation Cup competition had been designed to surpass the 2015 edition won by Akwa United Football Club of Uyo.
He assured that no club would be given any preferential treatment against the other as venues for the various rounds of the competition would be fairly picked for participating clubs.
NAN reports that draws were conducted for the men and women categories of the competition.
The male competition draw saw defending champions Akwa United getting a bye, and will face winners of the Kwara United FC versus Galadima Best FC fixture in the second round.
Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) champions Enyimba International FC of Aba and 2015 Federation Cup runners-up Lobi Stars FC of Makurdi also got byes into the second round.
The men’s competition sees 18 NPFL clubs, 15 Nigeria National League (NNL) sides, 18 Nationwide League One clubs and 10 non-league clubs participating in the round of 64 matches.
Matches in the round of 64 are expected to be played on May 25 and May 26 at 32 venues which would be announced later.
Round of 32 matches are scheduled for June 15 and June 16, with the round of 16 matches on July 6 and July 7.
The quarter-finals are for July 27 and July 28, while the semi-finals and final are scheduled for Aug. 17 and Aug. 28 respectively.
On the other hand, the women’s competition will have 22 clubs, with 16 of them Premier League clubs, five amateur clubs and one Professional League club.
Matches in the women’s competition will be played on the same dates with those of the men’s competition.(NAN)
