As the hope of securing a continental ticket through the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) championship playoffs is dashed after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Remo Stars, Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin now shifts their attention to the Federation Cup final with Rangers International of Enugu.
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The Benin Arsenals face Rangers International in the 2023 Federation Cup final, scheduled to hold on June 21, 2023, at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba.
The winner of the Asaba battle gets the ticket to play alongside Rivers Utd in the CAF Confederations Cup, and victory for the Monday Odigie-led side would be a great reward for their hard work in the just concluded season.
Insurance FC broke Akwa Utd 18 matches unbeaten record and set 21 games unbeaten run until the super six playoffs in Lagos where they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Rivers Utd on match-day-4 and a 1-0 loss to Remo Stars on the last day of the season. Qudus Akanni scored the only goal of the match for Remo Stars to earn his side’s CAF champions league ticket ahead of Rivers Utd.
Insurance FC needed a 2-0 win over Remo Stars on the last day of the NPFL Championship Playoffs to get the CAF Confederations Cup ticket but the result turned out to be in favor of the Ikenne-based side who already had six points in the bag before the big clash.
The Benin Arsenals finished the regular season as leaders of Group A of the abridged league with 34 points ahead of Remo Stars and Enyimba to qualify for the just concluded Super Six playoffs but could not replicate that feat at the league-ending tournament in Lagos.
Bendel Insurance FC who returned to the top-flight league from the second-tier league NNL as the underdogs in group A ended the Super Six playoffs with three draws and two losses from the five engagements. They need victory over Rangers to enjoy continental play which has eluded them for decades.
Meanwhile, Enyimba FC has been crowned champions of the 2022/23 Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, and went away with an N100m prize.
George Finidi led Enyimba FC have now won the Nigeria Premier League title for a record nine times. The two-time CAF champions will be representing Nigeria in the CAF Champions League.
