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No more glamour in FA Cups, says Ekpo

By Samuel Ifetoye
05 November 2016   |   1:53 am
Three-time winner of the Challenge Cup (now rechristened Federation Cup), Friday Ekpo, has decried the level of publicity and dearth of stars available for recent editions of the competition.
Joseph Osadiaye of Enyimba against Adeleye Olamilekan of FC Ifeanyiubah during the just concluded NPFL season. FC IfeanyiUbah will face Nasarawa United in the Federation Cup final tomorrow.

Joseph Osadiaye of Enyimba against Adeleye Olamilekan of FC Ifeanyiubah during the just concluded NPFL season. FC IfeanyiUbah will face Nasarawa United in the Federation Cup final tomorrow.

Three-time winner of the Challenge Cup (now rechristened Federation Cup), Friday Ekpo, has decried the level of publicity and dearth of stars available for recent editions of the competition.

The finalists, FC IfeanyiUbah and Nasarawa United will be appearing in their first FA Cup final tomorrow to decide the winner of this year’s Federation Cup. Akwa United of Akwa Ibom won the title last year.

The match will hold at the Main Bowl of the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, Ekpo said the glamour and the notable names associated with the Cup when it was Challenge Cup, is no longer there. According to him, all the electrifying moments in the past Cup finals are all gone.

“I must say that the glamour of the competition is no longer there. I can remember the days of clubs like Bendel Insurance, Rangers, IICC Shooting Stars, Abiola Babes e.t.c where their supporters would have been at the venue of the match three days before kickoff.

“Then at the venue, you see fans chatting the names of players they think will make the difference for their clubs. Players like Segun Odegbami, Christian Chukwu and several of them were like gods to the fans. But these days, you could hardly see or hear fans mentioning names. Those glamour, the razzmatazz are missing,” he said.

Ekpo, who won the Cup with Leventis United of Ibadan, Abiola Babes of Abeokuta and Iwuanyanwu Nationale of Owerri, said lack of enough publicity and the build up towards the match is also missing unlike in the finals in the past.

“The publicity of the FA Cup final has not being encouraging in recent organised finals. Back in the days when it was known as the Challenge Cup, you hear of players seen as stars of their clubs. Even the coaches received enough media attention explaining their missions as regards the final.

“If you go to the Teslim Balogun Stadium now, you will rarely see fans of either clubs lurking around, anticipating what will befall their opponents. All these are absent now in the recently organised FA Cups. Something drastic needs to be done to resuscitate the oldest competition in the land,” Ekpo stated.

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