Enugu Rangers to face Niger Tornados, NFF Holds 2019 AITEO Cup Draws

By Harry Awurumibe, Abuja.

Defending champions of the AITEO Cup, Enugu Rangers International has been handed an easy task in the early stage of the competition as they have been pitched against a lowly Niger Tornados Feeders in the Round of 64 of the 2019 AITEO Cup.

Rangers who reached the Group Stage of this season’s CAF Confederation Cup and Tornados Feeders will square up at a neutral ground and date which will be announced later by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Expectedly, all the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) teams got easy fixtures in this round with Kano Pillars FC which finished second to Rangers in the last edition drawing  none league team, Aspire FC of Awka, Anambra state .

Speaking today at the draw held at the NFF Glass House Boardroom, Director of Competitions Ayobola Oyeyode said that the 2019 AITEO Cup will be played on Knock-Out basis from start to finish in order for NFF to meet up with the directive of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to all federations to align their football calendar to the continental body.

Also, speaking at the draws, NFF Head of AITEO Cup Unit, Emmanuel Adesanya   revealed that the NFF has to adopt the Knock-Out format this time around to be able to conclude the competition ahead of CAF deadline for federations to submit their clubs representatives for its competitions.

Earlier, NFF Deputy General Secretary, Dr. Emmanuel Ikpeme who representated the General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi at the occasion  applauded the sponsors-AITEO and promised that the NFF will continue to strive to get the best out of the corporation for the good of Nigeria football.

Below are the fixtures:

2019 MEN AITEO CUP ROUND 64

S/NO	Match
1	RANGERS INT’L FC	Vs	NIGER TORNADOES FEEDER
2	KEBBI UTD	Vs	LOBI STARS FC
3	GATEWAY UTD FC	Vs	ALMAR FC
4	ABIA WARRIORS FC	Vs	HEARTLAND COMETS FC
5	AMBASSADOR FC KADUNA	Vs	YOBE DESERT STARS
6	WARRI WOLVES FC	Vs	DOMA UTD FC
7	RIVERS UTD FC	Vs	FC TIMBER LOADER JALINGO
8	SOKOTO UTD FC	Vs	AKWA UTD FC
9	WALLI FLAMINGOES FC ZAMFARA	Vs	DELTA FORCE FC
10	CYNOSURE FC	Vs	MIGHTY JETS FC
11	GOMBE UTD FC	Vs	IFEANYI UBAH FEEDERS FC
12	NIGER TORNADOES FC	Vs	FASBIR FC SOKOTO
13	ENYIMBA INT’L FC	Vs	KANO PILLARS FEEDERS FC
14	YOBE D. FEEDERS	Vs	SMART CITY FC
15	GWANDU UTD KEBBI	Vs	KATSINA UTD FC
16	OSUN UTD FC	Vs	SHOOTING STARS FC
17	EKITI UTD FC	Vs	EBONYI UTD FC
18	JIGAWA GOLDEN STARS	Vs	INSURANCE FC
19	SPARTANS FC LAGOS	Vs	PORT HARCORT CITY FC
20	POLICE FC OSOGBO	Vs	EL KANEMI WARRIORS
21	KOGI UTD FC	Vs	AKURE CITY FC
22	SETRACO UTD FC	Vs	PLATEAU UTD FC
23	AMANDA FC OWERRI	Vs	CALABAR ROVERS FC
24	WIKKI TOURIST FC	Vs	QATAR FC, MAIDUGURI
25	LAYIN ZOMO FC	Vs	SUNSHINE STARS FC
26	FC DE – LEO	Vs	EFCC FC
27	KATSINA UTD FEEEDERS FC	Vs	NASARAWA UTD FC
28	AKLOSENDI FC	Vs	ZABGAI FC
29	CROWN FC	Vs	BAYELSA FEEEDER FC
30	KWARA UTD FC	Vs	BEN AYADE FC CALABAR
31	ADAMAWA HEROS FC	Vs	ABS FC
32	ASPIRE FC AWKA	Vs	KANO PILLARS