Kano Pillars defeated Niger Tornadoes to emerge champion of the 2019 Aiteo Cup For The First Time in 66 years. This victory will see ‘Sai Masu Gida’ receive the sum of N25 million winning prize money and N10 million to Niger Tornadoes.
The Aiteo Cup which is also known as the Challenge Cup was played at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium on Sunday 28th of July, between the Niger Tornadoes and Kano Pillars. Pillars defeated Tornadoes 4-3 on penalties after regulation time which ended 0-0.
The last time Pillars won the Federation Cup was in 1953 when they defeated Lagos Dynamos 2 - 1. Pillars has however appeared in three (4) finals, loosing to Calabar in 1954, 3 - 2 loss to El-Kanemi Warriors in 1991, before emerging Victorious in the 2019 edition.
Niger Tornadoes had also been to four (4) finals, with the first appearance in 1982, losing 4 -1 to Stationery Stores of Lagos, 3-2 loss to Akwa United F.C. in 2017. Their sole triumph came in 2000 when they defeated Nigerian football giant Enugu Rangers 1 - 0 to claim the prestigious award (then known as Coca-Cola FA Cup).
This victory has put Pillars on par with Abiola Babes of Abeokuta, Akwa United F.C., El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri, Julius Berger FC of Lagos, Leventis United of Ibadan and Marine who has won the competition twice (2). So far, the most successful team of the competition is Shooting Stars FC of Ibadan (8 times).
However, the finals were marred by crowd violence as fans stormed the pitch after Pillars won the game which had the Kano State governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the Nigeria Football Federation’s top hierarchy in attendance.
This action forced the security agents to fire tear gas to scare away fans. The resultant effects had everyone in the stadium scampering for safety. After normalcy was restored, the medals presentation was not without its own hitches as the Cup was nowhere to be found. The dignitaries waited at the podium for over twenty minutes before the cup was given to the players.
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