The Nigeria Federation Cup (known as the Tingo Cup due to sponsorship reasons) is the main football single-elimination tournament in Nigeria contested by 74 teams, representing the 36 states + 1 FCT of Nigeria. It is the Nigerian domestic cup and the Nigerian equivalent of the FA Cup, Emperor's Cup, Copa do Brasil, Coupe de France, Hrvatski nogometni kup among others. It was created in 1945 as the "Governor's Cup",[1] succeeding the War Memorial Challenge Cup that had been limited to teams from Lagos.
| Founded | 1942 |
|---|---|
| Number of teams | 72 |
| Qualifier for | Nigeria Super Cup CAF Confederation Cup |
| Current champions | Bendel Insurance (4th title) |
| Most successful club(s) | Shooting Stars FC (8 titles) |
 2023 Nigeria Federation Cup | |
The tournament was created in 1945 as the Governor's Cup and was initially dominated by Lagosian teams, later it was known as the Nigeria FA Cup from (1954–1959), Nigeria Challenge Cup (1960–1998), Coca-Cola FA Cup (1999–2008) and Nigeria Federation Cup (2009–2016). Between 2017 and 2022, the competition was sponsored by the AITEO group and known as the AITEO Cup including the women's tournament.[2]
On 8 August 2021, Bayelsa became the first state to have two clubs win the FA cup in the men's and women's editions in the same year.[3] Shooting Stars are the most successful clubs, having won the competition eight times, followed by the defunct Lagos Railways with 7 titles and Enugu Rangers with six titles.
Bendel Insurance are the current champions.
Format edit
The competition is a single elimination knockout tournament featuring 74 teams from the 36 states + 1 FCT in Nigeria. All clubs qualify via their states cup championships, the winners and runners-up of each state cup championship qualifies for the tournament regardless of their position at the Nigerian football league system. A 'Rookie' play-off will be held for the 20 lowest ranked clubs, the 10 winners then joins the remaining 54 at the first round. All matches are held at neutral venues.
The winner qualifies automatically for the next season's CAF Confederation Cup or the runners-up if the winner had already qualified for a CAF club competition based on league's position.
Finals edit
- ^ The 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Total (not including War Memorial Cup) edit
| Club | Titles |
|---|---|
| Shooting Stars FC (Ibadan) [includes Ibadan Lions and WNDC] | 8 |
| Lagos Railways (Lagos) | 8 |
| Enugu Rangers | 6 |
| Bendel Insurance (Benin City) | 4 |
| BCC Lions (Gboko) | 4 |
| Dolphins FC [formerly known as Eagle Cement] | 4 |
| Stationery Stores (Lagos) | 4 |
| Enyimba FC (Aba) | 4 |
| Iwuanyanwu Nationale/Heartland (Owerri) | 3 |
| Lagos ECN (Lagos) (later renamed NEPA) | 3 |
| Port Harcourt FC | 3 |
| Kano Pillars F.C. (Kano) | 2 |
| Abiola Babes (Abeokuta) | 2 |
| Akwa United F.C. | 2 |
| El-Kanemi Warriors (Maiduguri) | 2 |
| Julius Berger FC (Lagos) | 2 |
| Leventis United (Ibadan) | 2 |
| Marine | 2 |
| Calabar | 1 |
| Ifeanyi Ubah (Nnewi) | 1 |
| Kaduna United (Kaduna) | 1 |
| Lagos PAN Bank (Lagos) | 1 |
| Lagos UAC (Lagos) | 1 |
| Lobi Stars (Makurdi) | 1 |
| Niger Tornadoes (Minna) | 1 |
| Ocean Boys FC (Brass) | 1 |
| Plateau United (Jos) | 1 |
| Police (Lagos) | 1 |
| Wikki Tourists (Bauchi) | 1 |
| Bayelsa United (Yenagoa) | 1 |
References edit
- ^ "The Federation Cup... 67 years Of Nigerian History, Through Football". ngrguardiannews.com. 30 September 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
- ^ "Nigerian FA Cup signs 5 year sponsorship deal with Aiteo group". thecable.ng. 28 June 2017.
- ^ "Bayelsa teams emerge double 2021 Aiteo cup champions". premiumtimesng.com. 8 August 2021.
- ^ Eludini, Tunde (2016-11-06). "FC Ifeanyi Ubah emerge 2016 Federation Cup Champions - Premium Times Nigeria". Retrieved 2020-05-23.
- ^ "AITEO Cup: Akwa United beat Tornadoes to win competition – Premium Times Nigeria". Premium Times Nigeria. 15 October 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
- ^ "Enugu Rangers break 35-year Aiteo Cup jinx". ESPN.com.