The Nigeria Football Federation said on Thursday that its 2015 Federation Cup competition might be under threat due to lack of funds.
Mohammed Sanusi, the NFF Secretary-General, told newsmen in Abuja during the competition draws that the football house was financially incapacitated to carry out most of the programmes for the competition.
Sanusi, who attributed the lack of funds to lack of sponsorship, urged corporate organisations to come to their aid to restore the glamour of the competition.
He said: “We intend to bring changes to the FA Cup but the problem we have is that we are still looking for sponsors.
“We have very laudable programmes for the competition but we are financially incapacitated to carry out those programmes.
“So, we are pleading that corporate individuals and organisations will come to our aid so we can have funds to run our programmes.”
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the NFF however fixed August 30 as date for the grand finale following the conduct of the draws for the men and women competition.
The Head of the Federation Cup Unit, Ruth David, who supervised the draw, said the men’s competition has 19 Premier League clubs, 14 National League teams, 16 Nationwide League clubs and 15 non-League teams.
David also said that two teams that reached the final of the preliminaries in each state and the Federal Capital Territory, were considered for the draw except Yobe State that failed to register clubs for the competition.
A total of 64 teams were paired in the Men’s Draw, while 18 teams were drawn to face each other in the Women’s Draw.
The draw for the men will see Nasarawa Feeders face an uphill task against defending champions Enyimba FC, Aba in the round of 64 ties.
Last year’s runners up, Dolphins of Port Harcourt, will slug it out with Inter FC of Enugu, while Rangers International FC, Enugu will face Kaduna United in a South and North cracker.
Elsewhere, Cardinal FC of Anambra will face Remo Stars of Ogun, Lobi Stars of Makurdi square up against Junior Spotlight of Katsina, while Zagbai FC, Bauchi slug it out with Niger Tornadoes of Minna.
Some of the other fixtures will see Heartland FC trade tackles with Bizi Cashless FC of Jigawa, while Sharks FC of Port Harcourt engage FRSC FC, Abuja.
The women draw will see defending champions Rivers Angels face COD Ladies, while Ibom Angels and Kogi Confluence will slug it out after the quartet were drawn bye to the next round.
Sunshine Queens who emerged runners up in the 2014 edition will face Algerto Queens, while Bayelsa Queens will square up against Beautiful Tours FC, Abuja.
NAN reports that the round of 64 matches will take place on May 13 and May 14.
The round of 32 matches is expected to hold on July 8 and July 9, while the round of 16 encounters is scheduled to hold on July 22 and July 23.
Also August 12 and 13 have been mapped out as dates for the quarterfinal matches, while the semi-final encounters will take place on August 19.
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