ABUJA – The Chairman, Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL), Dilichukwu Onyedinma, has predicted that Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt might play Pelican Stars of Calabar in the 2014 Champion of Champions Cup.
Onyedinma told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the uncertainty in Rivers Angels’ opponent was owing to the fact that the club came first in the league and in the Federation Cup.
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“At the end of the season, we will play one solid game we call Champion of the Champions. And that we will get the number one in the league and the number one in the Federation Cup.
“When we get to the congress, we are going to look at it, because we have second in the league.
“So for us to continue with our Champion of Champions, the first in the league can play the second in the league.
“Or the congress may say now that one team came first in two places, what do we do? My suggestion will be let the first play the second in the league.”
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NAN reports that the Champion of Champions Cup emerges after the first club in the league takes on the first club in the Federation Cup tournament .
But Rivers Angels, who was the winner of the league in the 2013/2014 season as well as the winner of the 2014 Federation Cup, will exchange tackles with the Pelican Stars, who were 1st runner up in the league.
Rivers Angels came tops in the league having garnered 39 points while Pelican Stars had 36 points.
Also, in the Federations Cup, the Rivers Angels defeated Sunshine Queens of Akure 2-0 in the final match.
On the introduction of two tier league in the NWFL in the outgone season, Onyedinma said it brought about healthy competitions among the clubs.
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“When we came in, we were playing abridged league and in the abridged league, we saw that there is no real competition in the women league, nobody is fighting to go from one step to the next.
“And we sat back and felt like if nothing else, let’s put competitiveness in what we are doing and that was why we created the upper league. So, that people at the lower league will be fighting to
get to the upper.
“And in the abridged league it is one league, nobody cares, at the end of the day.
“ We already know the weaker teams that are going to come at the bottom and some teams have already seen themselves as the main.
“But in a straight league like the two tier league, you see struggle to leave the lower stage to the upper stage, because nobody wants to be at the lower stage.
“And I think it paid off, it helped us to have a very good premier league where a very good national team was produced.
“We were able to produce Super Falcons team that went out there and brought glory to the country.
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She said that the competition among the clubs produced the senior national team that won the Africa Women Championship (AWC) in October 2014.
NAN reports that the women league used to be an abridged league of two groups consisting of six clubs each.
But in the 2013/2014 season, the league body introduced a straight two-tier league, Nigeria Women Premier League (NWPL) and the Nigeria Women Profesional Football League (NWPFL).
The last two teams in the NWPL will be relegated to the NWPFL while the first team each in Group A and B of the NWPFL get promoted to the NWPL.(NAN)
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