Sports

NNL: City FC beat FWC FC, Optimistic of NPFL Ticket

Published

4 years ago

August 14, 2022

Joel Ajayi

The City FC of Abuja took a giant step toward the NPFL promotion weekend as they defeated their counterpart Family Worship Champion FC 3- 0 to nothing.

The game played inside Area 10 pitch in Abuja saw City FC players dominate the game from beginning of the game to the end.

Excellent display of City players gave the city club lead in the 25 minutes as Godwin Fredrick score to take the lead 1-0

Sixteen minutes later, City winger Kenneth over run the Family Worship defender to send a pass to Osigwe who waste no time to give an easy shot to score the second 2-0

At resumption of the second half City piled more pressure and it yielded another result as Osigwe scored the brace in the 46 minutes to give City FC a 3-0 needed victory.

However, the final promotion battle will be an away match with Mighty Jet of Jos that will decide the fate of City to get promotion or not.

Meanwhile, the leader of the group A1 in Northern Atlantic City FC with 33 points will travel to Jos with hope of a win or draw to secure the last NPFL ticket as their closest rival El Kanem with 31 points will be at home with Zamafara United on the final day of the game.

Speaking after the game, an elated owner of City FC Chidi Emmanuel Okonkwo said the club target is nothing but promotion from NNL.

According to him, We will only go do your best and leave the rest for God, but what we said from the start of the season is that City FC will get promotion and I know God has listen to our request, we need to get promotion, I know God have started it and he will finish for us.

“This is the best football my club has played so far in the season, it’s not about the goal, it’s about their performance, the passion, the agility that is the best football they played this season.

He also heaped huge praise on the performance of his team, the CEO applauded the players for their scintillating performance saying this is the best football city FC have played this season.

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Sports

Plateau Vipers, Benue Queens Crowned Champions at HFN North Central Division One Tourney

Published

7 hours ago

October 3, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The President of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Jibril Seidu, has said the federation will continue to intensify its grassroots talent development drive through zonal competitions across the country.

Seidu stated this on Saturday in Abuja at the finals of the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship, where Plateau Vipers defeated Suleja Shooters 29-24 to emerge champions in the men’s category.

In the women’s final, Benue Queens of Makurdi defeated City Queens of Suleja to claim the title.

The eight-day tournament featured teams from across the North Central Zone, with Plateau Vipers of Jos, Confluence Stars of Lokoja, Unity Boys of Abuja, Suleja Shooters and Nasarawa Ambassadors of Lafia competing in the men’s category.

In the women’s category, Nuela Handball Academy of Ilorin, Inikpi Babes of Idah, Benue Queens of Makurdi and City Queens of Suleja competed for honours.

At the end of the competition, four teams — two male and two female — emerged as the North Central Zone’s representatives for the national Division One league.

According to Seidu, the tournament was organised as part of the federation’s deliberate strategy to take handball development back to the regions and discover talents that might otherwise remain unnoticed.

He said the HFN board, inaugurated on October 25, 2025, resolved that grassroots development was essential to creating a sustainable pipeline of players for national and international competitions.

“All the teams you have seen here are from the North Central Zone of the country, and every state is represented with an academy or state team,” he said.

Seidu explained that the new approach marked a departure from the previous system, where talent identification was largely centred on the federation’s major league competitions.

He said taking competitions to the regions would provide young players with greater opportunities to showcase their abilities while strengthening the foundation of handball across the country.

The HFN president also linked the grassroots initiative to Nigeria’s recent achievements in international handball, stressing the need to develop younger players who can eventually replace members of the current national teams.

He noted that Nigeria had qualified for the 2027 Men’s Junior Handball World Championship in North Macedonia, describing the achievement as evidence of the potential within the country’s handball system.

“How do we replace these players with upcoming players? This is the avenue for us to get players,” he said.

Seidu added that the federation was determined to make handball more visible and accessible, describing it as one of Nigeria’s major sporting disciplines with significant potential for growth.

The North Central tournament is part of a wider zonal programme designed to decentralise handball development across Nigeria.

According to the federation, similar competitions are being organised across other zones, including the South East, North East, North West and South South, with qualifiers from each zone expected to converge at a designated venue for the next stage of the competition.

The federation also appealed for greater support from sponsors, stakeholders and state associations to sustain its grassroots development programme.

It expressed appreciation to the participating states, academies, team sponsors and other stakeholders for their support and commitment to the growth of handball in Nigeria.

The federation said the initiative would provide a platform for discovering the next generation of Nigerian handball stars while expanding the sport’s reach beyond its traditional centres.
While Speaking the elated coach of Benue Queen Godwin Tondo has promised a stronger and more tactical performance after guiding the team to victory at the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship in Abuja.
He attributed the success to the team’s long-term youth development programme, noting that the squad was built through a deliberate process of identifying and nurturing young talents.
According to him, the programme began with the selection of 92 girls from secondary schools, who were subsequently trained and developed over a four-year period.

He said the team’s success was a product of sustained hard work and commitment despite the challenges encountered during preparations for the tournament.

“I feel very pleased being a champion today. The road to this stage was very, very hard, but I am very happy that we have got the result from all the toughness of the game,” he said.

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