Why we have not fixed date for Federation Cup final –NFF

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has hinged the failure to pick a tentative date for this year’s Federation Cup final between Lobi Stars and Akwa United FCs on the delay in resolving the hosting right issue with the Lagos State government.

The General Secretary of the football house, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, who made the disclosure in a chat with Daily Sunsports in Abuja yesterday said though the football federation has plan B should the discussion with Lagos State collapses, it is not in any hurry to activate it for now.
Responding to the request to give update concerning the Federation Cup, the chief scribe of the Glass House said: “I want to tell you that we are in advanced stage of discussion with Lagos State government and I think we may host the tournament there. Yes, we have not concluded but I can tell you that it will not be long before we conclude the lingering hosting arrangement.”
“We also discussing about the most viable time to fix the date for the finals but I can tell you that we have not actually settled for one. The date will come when we finalize the issue of venue for the finals. We have not agreed on the date but the good thing is that there are positive response from them,” he assured.


On whether the federation has plan B should Lagos pulls out, Dr Sanusi replied: “There is certainly plan B should Lagos pull out of the hosting arrangements. You know that anybody with plan A will definitely have a plan B, but we are certainly not in any hurry to activate the plan B. With the level of discussions we have had with Lagos State, I can tell you that there will be no need for plan B.”
He equally used the opportunity to speak on the Golden Eaglets’ participation in the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile, re-echoing the the stand of the federation not to set target that would put them under pressure, reassuring that the federation will pay the players and officials any amount owed them.

His words: “We don’t want to set target to the Golden Eaglets to avoid the possibility of putting them under pressure. It is not even the best for the team to start talking about setting target for them.
“It will rather be a distraction to them now. What we should rather concentrate on is there entitlement. We want to reassure them that we are not going to owe them a dime of their entitlements,” he quipped.

Reminded that the presidency requested the trophy from them, Dr Sanusi said: “The Presidency requesting the trophy from them was just to remind the boys and the officials that Nigerians are solidly behind them. I can tell you that they are aware of the expectations from Nigerians wishing to celebrate with them with the trophy.”