The management of Heartland FC has taken its case to the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare over the on-going t Aiteo Cup crisis.
The club said in a statement it wants the sports minister to wade into the crisis and ensure that it is not unjustly made to go and replay the quarterfinal match against Katsina United which had been won and lost on the field of play.
The NFF had after its Abuja meeting last week surprisingly inserted a clause in which it said Heartland and Katsina would be compensated with N5m should they chose to replay, a clause which Heartland totally rejected.
The club said the only way the NFF would clear any doubt of foul play is to make an unambiguous statement confirming that Heartland is through to the semi-final while awaiting the other three quarter final matches billed for August 20.
“The only way the NFF would reassure us that they are not up to anything sinister is to make it clear that Heartland is through to the semifinal,” the statement added.
Heartland’s Acting General Manager, Promise Nwachukwu in the release stressed that no club should be given undue advantage in the Aiteo FA Cup race, especially now that the competition is in its crucial stage even as the sponsors and the Nigerian football community are watching to see how the oldest cup competition in the country is being organized.
Recalled that Clubs in the top flight staged a protest owing to the undemocratic manner in which Kwara United were unduly rewarded with a continental ticket at the expense of the expected winners of this year’s Aiteo Cup.