Aiteo Cup, NFF Awards May Not Hold This Year - Pinnick

Aiteo Cup, NFF Awards Doubtful This Year - Pinnick

By Niyi Busari

The President, Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Amaju Pinnick has said that the 2020 Aiteo Cup (Federation Cup) and the NFF Awards may not hold this years due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

In an interview conducted by Arise TV and monitored by BSN Sports, Pinnick said: "If you notice, we ought to have started the Federation Cup (Aiteo Cup) but we don't know if that can be possible again this year because we dont know when this will end. Even if it going to be an abridged version we ah e to sit with out sponsors and discussed.

Amaju added that even if the Aiteo cup will be held it will be in an abridged format and the NFF Awards will be on a low key due to paucity of funds. Though, he emphasised that the federation and the sponsor, Aiteo, will have to sit and restrategise on the way forward but that will not be done until after there is no case of coronavirus in Nigeria.

"They can come up with the condition and say, even if it is going to be an abridged version this is the amount we are going to pay. We have to sit down and renegotiate and that's if it is going to hold.

He said FIFA president was invited as special guest to attend the 2020 NFF Awards to celebrate the 1999 Super Falcons who qualified for the quarter finals of the FIFA Women's World Cup.

"The Aiteo Cup and NFF Awards are sponsored by the company and we wrote to the FIFA President to be our guest because we want to celebrate Super Falcons for the first time. The set that went and qualified to the quarterfinals of the 1999 World Cup. Just a whisker they would have qualified to the semifinals. So we want to celebrate them because female football is a big deal in Nigeria. So, this year, the NFF Awards is all female football. But we dont know if that is going to be held. Even if it will hold it will not be as we would have wanted it to be.

"So, coronavirus is taking a toll on global sports. So, after all these we should be able to sit down and take a cue from FIFA mad federal government plans.