Fireworks expected as Flying Eagles tackle Junior Chipolopolo in Abuja

Egypt-bound Nigeria and Zambia U20 teams clash in a prestige encounter at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium on Friday evening, in what promises to be a fierce encounter with both gearing up for the Africa U20 Cup of Nations starting in the North African nation in a fortnight.

A 35-man delegation of the 2017 Africa U20 Cup of Nations champions landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Thursday afternoon, aboard an Ethiopian Airline flight from Addis Ababa. The delegation included 23 players and 12 officials.

They will confront the Flying Eagles, seven-time champions of Africa, at the main bowl of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium from 4pm on Friday.

Champions of the WAFU B U20 Championship held in Niger Republic in May 2022, the Flying Eagles have been drawn to play hosts Egypt, Senegal and Mozambique in Group A of the Africa U20 Cup of Nations taking place 18^th February – 12^th March this year.

Zambia won the 2017 Africa U20 Cup of Nations which they hosted, and then reached the quarter-finals of the FIFA U20 World Cup in Korea Republic the same year, before losing to Italy after extra time in Suwon.

In Egypt, Zambia will be up against Tunisia, Benin Republic and The Gambia in Group C, while Uganda, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Congo battle things out in Group B.

NFF lectures Clubs on new CAF Club Licensing System and Stadium Regulations

The Nigeria Football Federation on Tuesday organized a seminar for General Managers and Club Licensing Managers of teams in the Nigeria Premier Football League and the Nigeria Women Football League, with a view to briefing them adequately on the Confederation of African Football’s new regulatory framework for the Club Licensing System and Stadium Regulations.

The regulations include a fresh edition of the CAF Men’s Club Licensing Regulations, first-ever edition of the CAF Women’s Club Licensing Regulations, a fresh CAF Club Licensing Quality Standard, a dedicated CAF Club Licensing Catalogue of Sanctions and a fresh CAF Stadium Regulations.

Inside the Conference Room of the NFF/FIFA Goal Project facility of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, the Club Licensing Unit of the NFF took participants through the frameworks, regulations and requirements that strengthen the Club Licensing System for men and women’s football for continental and domestic competitions, define the minimum standards that Member Associations or affiliated Leagues (as Licensors) must comply with in order to operate the Club Licensing System, establish a categorization of stadium technical requirements per type of CAF Competition and set out sanctions to be applied for lack of proper implementation by Member Associations.

The changes include: 1) CAF has moved away from the A, B and C types of criteria. Under the CAF Men’s Club Licensing Regulations (edition 2022), two types of criteria are introduced: continental and domestic criteria. ‘Continental’ applies to Clubs participating in CAF Interclubs competitions and the ‘Domestic’ must be defined by each MA for their men’s top tier competition, respecting the minimum criteria and requirements established in the CAF regulations.

2) Licensors must now include as a criterion, at a minimum in their top tier men’s national club competition, articles 26, 26, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 39, 40, 41, 42, 47, 48, 53, 54, 55, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62 and 63 from the CAF Men’s Club Licensing regulations into their National Men’s Club Licensing Regulations, while adjusting the requirements in each criterion to the domestic competition regulations.

3) Improvements have been made to areas such as child protection and welfare, medical care of players, women’s football teams, club administrative positions and qualifications, and tighter deadlines for overdue payables.

4) There is now a requirement for women’s football teams, which means that clubs intending to participate in the CAF Interclubs competitions must have a minimum one women’s first team participating in a competition sanctioned by the Member Association.

5) The purpose of the CAF Stadium Regulations is to define the technical requirements to be met by stadiums for use in football competitions under the auspices of CAF, with a view to providing the best conditions for football practice, safety, functionality and comfort for players, fans and officials. The regulations govern the minimum structural criteria to be fulfilled by a stadium for it to be classified (in ascending order) as CAF category 1, 2, 3 or 4 based on the different types, grades and categories of matches and championships.