Akwa United vs Vita Club to kickoff 7pm

Akwa United FC will host Congolese side Vita Club de Mokanda at the Akwa Ibom Sports Stadium from 7pm on Saturday in a CAF Confederation Cup return leg preliminary fixture.

The Nigerian club got a good away result after beating their host 1-0 in Pointe Noir, giving them an edge going into the return leg.

CAF has appointed officials from Cote d’Ivoire to handle the match, with Kouassi Frederic Francois Biro as referee.

There are Kouame Gabriel Kangah, Adou Herman Desire N’goh and Danon Roland Leonce as assistant referee 1, assistant referee 2 and reserve referee respectively.

Ghanaian Mukaila Adam Hassan is match commissioner.

Akwa United forced Sunshine Stars to a 1-1 draw in the first game of the 2016 Nigeria Premier League season played on Sunday.

NFF closes registration for 2016 Federation Cup

Registration for this year’s men and women Federation Cup competitions has closed at the NFF Secretariat in Abuja.

Head of Federation Cup, Emmanuel Adesanya said on Tuesday that teams can no longer register as submission started on Monday and would end on Friday this week.

“The submission of completed licenses for endorsement started on Monday, and will close on Friday. Teams can no longer register for either the women or the men’s competition,” stated Adesanya.

The State preliminaries of this year’s competitions will kick off on Saturday, March 5 and the finals will come up in the States on April 3.

According to the program of this year’s competition earlier released by the NFF, the grand finale of the men and women Federation Cup competitions will come up on August 28.

MFM FC coach aims victory in NPFL debut

Fidelis Ilechukwu, Chief Coach of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) FC of Lagos says he expects victory when Nasarawa United of Lafia host them in their 2015/2016 Nigeria Premier League opener.

MFM, debutants in the competition, gained promotion to the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) at the end of last season under the tutelage of Ilechukwu.

The team in preparation for the elite division had played friendly matches with top clubs in the premier league and did fairly well.

Nasarawa United, coached by Kabiru Dogo, had secured a slim 2-1 win against Senegalese side, Generation Foot, in the first leg of their preliminary round clash of the CAF Confederation Cup at the National Stadium, Abuja last Sunday.

On the readiness of MFM team for the first match in the elite division, Ilechukwu told NAN on telephone that the team had nothing to fear about Nasarawa United’s status.

“We are aware of the team we are going to play as a continental playing one; this has not put any fear in us, we are focused on what we want to do on the field of play.

“The team is in high spirit to win the match; because matches are not played on papers, it is a game between two teams.

“We have prepared well before this game and I am expecting nothing but victory in our outing against a tough Nasarawa side.

“It will be a tough match against this experienced team because they will not like to lose against us, but this will not deter us from doing our best,’’ he said.

Ilechukwu said that the management of MFM had done enough to motivate the players, including avoiding travelling by road to some away fixtures that are not close.

“The players will be going by flight to Abuja; the team is financially buoyant to accommodate that and maybe to most of our away matches that are far from us.

“MFM management does not owe any of the players, we are well motivated and we have no injury scare in camp, we are in high spirit for the game.

“We have strong, experienced and mature players in the attack; midfield and our defenders are vast in their department too.

“We will do our best not to disappoint our fans; Nasarawa may be a more experienced team, but that does not give them an edge over us,’’ he said.