The Enugu State Football Association confirmed Coal City United FC as the champions of the state’s Federation Cup, as Enugu Rangers allegedly declined to participate in penalties after the final game ended 1-1 in regulation time. The match, held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu, was supposed to proceed topenalties according to the competition’s officials, but Rangers reportedly rejected this option after regulation time. Lloyd Ekweremadu, the State’s Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, praised Coal City United as deserving champions and assured them of government support for their national-level endeavors.
Coal City United received the trophy from the State’s Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Lloyd Ekweremadu, who commended them for their performance against Rangers. Enugu FA Chairman Tony Ugwu explained that the association relied on the match officials’ report in deciding to present the trophy to Coal City United. Ugwu stated that the match officials reported the final game, played on March 30, as concluded, with one team (Rangers) refusing to proceed to penalties.
Ugwu emphasized that the Enugu FA acted based on the match officials’ report, which confirmed that the match had concluded but one team declined to continue. He clarified that according to the rules, there must be a reason for declaring a match inconclusive, but the match commissioner’s report indicated that the match was concluded, albeit with one team refusing to continue. Therefore, the Enugu FA acted upon the match officials’ report. Both Coal City and Rangers are set to represent Enugu at the upcoming Federation Cup.
