Both Heartland Football Club of Owerri and Katsina United FC of Katsina showed up for their quarter-final matches of the 2022 Aiteo Cup competition in Ilorin but refused to play.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on Wednesday the two teams had earlier honored their pre-match meeting in the day and signed all necessary documents for the game to commence.
However, NAN gathered that the two teams confirmed to the match commissioner that they were waiting for directives from their respective chairpersons to play the match.
NAN reports that both team’s players were present at the Kwara Stadium Complex, Ilorin, for the match but none of them dressed up to play even with the presence of the match officials.
Speculations are rife that the teams were protesting the nomination of Kwara United FC of Ilorin for the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) Cup competition, it is expected that the winner of the Aiteo Cup is to represent Nigeria.
NAN reports that Kwara United Football Club was listed as the second representative for the country in the CAF Confederation Cup competition.
Rivers United FC and Plateau United FC will play in the CAF Champions League, while Remo Stars, which ended in the third position on the final league table, and fourth-placed Kwara United will play in the CAF Confederation Cup.