Plateau State defeated Nasarawa State 12-11 in a pulsating marathon penalty shootout after regulation time had ended 1-1 to win the Arewa Consultative Forum U-17 Unity Cup Football Tournament, at the Lafia City Stadium in Nasarawa State, Nigeria.
Plateau opened the scoring through Timothy Akila in the 34th minute, before Mohammed Goma equalised from the spot three minutes before the interval, with further efforts on goal yielding no result, leading the game to straight spot kicks.
Governor Abdullahi Sule, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Nasarawa State Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, presented the champions’ trophy to the maiden winners.
Usman Mohammed Maaji and Aliyu Mohammed of Nasarawa State scooped the Most Valuable Player and Best Goalkeeper Awards, while Plateau State’s Abduljabar Musa picked up the Highest Goalscorer gong after ending the tournament with five goals.
Medals of honour and certificates of participation were also presented to key stakeholders who contributed to the successful completion of the zonal tournament.
Governor Abdullahi Sule, congratulated the new zonal champions, urging them to represent the North Central Zone well at the Super-Four Playoff in Kaduna. He noted that every participant from the Zone should work in synergy to achieve success at the grand finale.
He commended the organisers of the tournament and assured of his administration’s sustained support for talent and sports development in Nasarawa State and beyond.
Coordinator of the Arewa Consultative Forum U-17 Unity Cup Football Tournament, Hon. Sadiq Abubakar Sa’adu Fakai, expressed gratitude to the Nasarawa State Government for providing a conducive environment for the tournament to hold.
Fakai added that the eventual overall champions will be determined through a Super-Four Playoff in Kaduna State later in November 2025, disclosing that the sum of One Hundred Million Naira(N100,000,000.00) is being proposed by the ACF to aid the development of thirty exceptional talents discovered from the tournament.
Other participants from the North Central Zone were Kogi, Benue, Niger, Kwara and FCT, Abuja.